• Brought to you by EPT: The battle rages over whether or not Britney Spears is really pregnant again (call it spin control should she try to abort). A ray of sunshine: So far, there are no reports of Brit accidentally running over her own fetus.

• Cancellation notice: The Democratic National Committee cancels the upcoming CBS debate due to the writers' strike. Question: greater loss, yet another chance for the boys to gang up on Hillary, or new episodes of Private Practice? You decide, America.

• Naughty, naughty: Who says today's youth has no moral compass? An online poll reports that American children think Britney Spears and Paris Hilton should be at the top of Santa's naughty list.

• American reject?: American Idol winner Jordin Sparks barely cracks the Billboard Top 10, suggesting either she, the show as a whole, or Simon's nipple-hugging tees are really turning viewers off.

• Punny Ann: Asked if Ted Kennedy will come clean on the Chappaquiddick scandal in his forthcoming $8.5 million memoir, conservative scribe Ann Coulter quips "He'll cross that bridge when he comes to it...." So that's what WGA writers are doing in their spare time.

• Sundance kids: The lineup for the 2008 Sundance Film Fest is announced. Tiny thesps Mary Kate Olsen and Elle Fanning are among the stars who will grace the Utah screens. Elle won't be following in her older sis's Sundance-rape-movie footsteps, however.

• Lights on: Midwestern retirees rejoice as Broadway theaters and stagehands hammer out a deal, ending the strike that started on November 10. Just in time for a hot date at Wicked this weekend!

• Daddy dearest: Fox News reports that Papa Joe Simpson set Jessica up with a new beau, footballer Tony Romo. No word yet on the dowry.