Strange night Monday. President Bush on "Deal or No Deal." McCain, Clinton, Obama on "WWE Monday Night RAW." All four had pretaped segments within the shows — plus Clinton and Obama were twice featured in wrestling matches, one using animated characters (and plugging the Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008 video game), the other with actors appearing as them.

It was all pandering, of course, just like going on "SNL." But there are degrees. Bush's appearance — to congratulate an Iraq war veteran who was competing on "Deal" — felt the least sleazy of the lot. True, he's still trying to sell his war, but at least he wasn't begging for votes the way the other three did. I could have done without the federal-budget/"Deal or No Deal" joke, but part of this whole situation involves trying to seem clever.

An actor playing Hillary Clinton gets rough with an actor playing Barack Obama on "WWE Monday Night RAW." Obama got some payback later, but both candidates lost to the WWE wrestle Umaga the Samoan Bulldozer.(From WWE.com)

The best line of the night was Obama's "Can you smell what Barack is cooking." Made McCain look even less impressive that his video, run after Obama's, had "Can you smell what the Mac is cooking." But McCain overall seemed more forced than the others, more willing to kowtow to WWE fans than to just use the appearance to push his candidacy.

Clinton looked comfortable enough in her taped remarks even with the strained WWE-referring comments. (A president who "will go to the mat for you"? Please.) But I have to wonder how she felt about being treated as half of a team with Bill for the faux-Clinton/faux-Obama faceoff in the WWE ring.

At the end of the day, did these folks want votes so badly that they were willing to appear in the middle of the head kicks, shouting and overstuffed Divas in a brawl on "RAW"?

The answer is an obvious yes. And they may have helped WWE move some product along the way; that Smackdown Vs. Raw logo took up a nice chunk of screen during the animated Obama-Clinton match. But did the candidates at least get a free video game for their efforts?

Among the lines stuck in my head of late is this one:

“If you can't trust the faith-based assistant to the president, who can you trust?”

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Since I draw on news and gossip sites a good bit for the HeldenFiles, I'm glad I didn't grab the story about a $10,000 tip supposedly left by Donald Trump. Trump himself denied the story, and now the Los Angeles Times has this story about the way the fakery was accomplished. But it's a scary moment for the gossip biz. There's already enough to be skeptical about thanks to checkbook journalism, unnamed sources, confrontational reporters/photogs and the side-taking by various gossip orgs. (I always try to attribute things to the entities I find them in.) All the more to beware when someone can concoct a fake story that is both this outlandish and yet vaguely plausible.

For those of you who have not yet found it online, my fall-season rumination is here. (The first line in text is actually a subhead, with the story beginning on the following line.)

But, even as we all get psyched about the TV season to varying degrees, there are still those who view TV as an entertainment stepchild to the movies. I am thinking specifically of Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly, who wrote a recent article about writer-director Paul Haggis ("The Great Divider," Sept. 21 issue).

Paul Haggis, movie guy — and TV guy

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David Beckham's soccer season might be over. While this certainly matters to the L.A. Galaxy, and possibly to England's national team, does it make any difference to Beckham's planned conquest of America? Probably not.

He came here as a handsome face and body, as part of a movie title ("Bend It Like Beckham," for those of you tuning in late) and as the husband of the much photographed Victoria, aka Posh Spice. He was not expecting to use soccer as springboard to bigger U.S. fame; rather, he was supposed to bring the hordes to soccer.

Whether or not he plays, Beckham will undoubtedly continue to be photographed, poster fodder for people who have never seen him play — not even on television. That audience is attracted by the look and the image, whatever that image may now prove to be.

Selected Bob Marley tunes are now available as ringtones. Announcement after the jump, including a list of the songs Verizon is offering. Which leads to this question: If you were trying to match a given Marley ringtone with someone, what would be a good match?

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I took Friday off to help younger son move into his college room, followed by errands, chores and a little bit of extra sleep on Saturday and Sunday. I did write my weekend HeldenFiles columns, and caught up on some TV viewing, but did not get around to the blog.

Of course, there are always things to blog about. For example, the current reports that Owen Wilson has been hospitalized; CNN isn't giving a reason at the moment, but the National Enquirer is promoting "exclusive" news that it was a suicide attempt. We shall see.

Also, New York magazine has a long profile of Matt Drudge that devotes a fair amount of space to Drudge's current reluctance to be interviewed, given his own pursuit of fame — and dishing about others. I remember when Drudge was much less shy; in 1998 he attended the TV critics' summer press tour, thanks to his deal with Fox News, and he seemed to relish the fireworks his appearance generated.

The Drudge saga fits in with what I posted earlier: That I have been thinking about the nature of fame, the Britney/Paris/Lindsay/Nicole/Lauren/Heidi/whoever mob — and Albert Einstein …

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My review of "High School Musical 2" is here. My review of "Superbad" is here.

After the jump, Barry Corbin, and the perils of magazine deadlines … and a new part 2, with "Damages," "Mad Men," "Rescue Me" (so beware of spoilers if you haven't caught up)…

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Since I've mentioned control-freak behavior by celebrities and studios, I should also take note of this item about a control-freak reporter. (Acknowledgement: I saw it thanks to Jim Romensko's media site.) …

You would think that a member of the press would have accepted another organization's coverage. But you could also think that it as another demonstration of the entitlement some writers come to expect once they work for the New York Times.

Couple of new, related links on Romenesko, including one about the group that let Greenhouse get away with this, and this defense of Greenhouse. But I still think she was wrong.

Interesting piece about the contemporary challenges of the celebrity interview in the Washington Post.

Since the piece talks about Gay Talese's landmark "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold," I have added an excerpt after the jump, and some remarks of my own.

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ABC does well, Fox not — although Fox gets a bit of praise that highlights the real meaning of diversity. More after the jump …

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Covering just about any entertainment medium these days can involve some tap-dances, but I really don't like the steps that I'm having to take for "The Simpsons Movie." …

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Starting today, you'll be seeing posts around the blogosphere from the Television Critics Association summer press tour in California. But you won't find them here …

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A good story from CBS, via Jim Romenesko's site. …

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I think that I have written before about the way watching TV has come to require watching TV. But the evidence keeps piling up, as in this announcement today:

ESPN, ABC and the National Basketball Association (NBA) will significantly expand their global relationship with ESPN’s most comprehensive digital rights package negotiated with any major professional sports league and enhanced television coverage in an eight-year extension beginning in 2008-09, it was announced today. … Under the terms of the new deal, the NBA will deliver content for 17 ESPN platforms, including: ABC, ABC HD, ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2, ESPN2 HD, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPN International, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile Publishing, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPNU and ESPN podcasts. The deal will also cover all new platforms ESPN creates or develops relationships with through the end of the agreement in 2016.

That ties in with the announcement a couple of weeks ago from CBS about "Big Brother" (continued after the jump) …

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