QUEEN MARY Mapes

Former CBS News producer Mary Mapes has rejoined her old running partner Dan Rather at Mark Cuban's HDNet channel. Rather, 74, is starting all over at hi-def cable network with a weekly one-hour show that will translate the day's events into awkwardly-worded homespun similes. It debuts in October.

Mapes, of course, was at the center of the scandal that triggered Rather's abrupt retirement from CBS: She was the producer of a 60 Minutes segment that showcased documents suggesting that, just maybe, George W. Bush's record as a National Guardsman was less than sterling.

The documents' authenticity (though not their substance) was successfully refuted by the same principled wingnuts currently leading the charge against Reuters. Mapes was canned like gooseberry jam, and Rather was put out to pasture like a draft horse with a busted fetlock.

Mapes, who says she's "thrilled to be on board," told Radar she will primarily be working on documentaries for Rather, as well as the occasional news feature. "Mark Cuban has told Dan, 'I don't give a damn about ratings,'" she says. "'Let's just break news and have some fun breaking balls.'"