Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

Sarah Palin has denied Oprah an interview, all sassy like. Who does she think she is? We think it actually might have been good for career, as pretty much everyone (except for YOU NUTS, JAMES FREY and TOM CRUISE) who goes onto her show emerges more well-liked than when they arrived. But there's been some bad blood between the two since Oprah said she'd not have Palin on until the election was over.

So, Oprah snub: good or bad for Palin?

The seemingly abstract image at right, dear readers, is actually a photo of an eager Akon fan getting a handful of the singer's sweaty crotch on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. She wanna fuck him.

Video after the jump.

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Welp, Lorne Michaels has (begrudgingly, we're sure) decided to hire a new cast member for Saturday Night Live, this one a black male who can pretend to be Barack Obama in poorly written comedy sketches for the next four to eight years. Currently, Fred Armisen, who's of Hispanic, European and Japanese descent, plays the role of Obama on SNL.

After the jump, two of the front-runners in the search for the fake Barack, Wyatt Cenac and Jordan Carlos. We think Carlos has him beat, but who knows! SNL hasn't made any good decisions in years.

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There are certain moments in daytime television that one must witness for himself to truly grasp the magnitutde; Snoop Dogg's appearance on Martha Stewart's show is one of those moments. The rapper lurched onto the set yesterday as Martha described herself as "a homegirl from New Jersey" and then asked him — likely in all seriousness — if he can spell. Can these two get their own show instead of that Shot at Love rubbish?

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Six weeks in and Chocolate News still has yet to wow us. As usual, David Alan Grier's ability to step easily into any number of characters is quite impressive, but his acting talent is neutered by poor writing.

Not only is the clip above (NSFW), based around a farting jazz man, not funny and a bit nauseating, it's a less clever, less satiric ripoff of a sketch by the New York-based comedy troupe Derrick Comedy. Click through for DC's (also NSFW) version, in which the farting isn't the joke at all, but the reaction of a hilarious character fed up with racism.

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Now that a majority of the country has made it clear that it's OK with the half-black Barack Obama, look for the major TV networks to finally begin airing programs about African Americans, who apparently aren't completely off-putting to people who spend money on useless products they see in commercials (aka "the preferred demographic").

NBC is going first and taking a crack at the black market with their aptly named comedy Making Friends with Black People. Based on a book of the same name, Friends is described as a show about "two guys — one African-American and one white — who become close friends, but who don't necessarily see things the same way." AND HILARITY ENSUES, no doubt!!!!

Just what American comedy needs: another joke about how white people and black people have such a hard time agreeing on things. Which is totally what Obama's streamlined, efficient and politically brilliant campaign proved.

What is happening to our heroic musicians?!?!?

First the Artist Formerly Known as Not a Conservative Zealot spews some weird nonsense about gays to The New Yorker, and now this disaster: a rumor currently gaining credence around the Internet says that Philly supergroup The Roots is going into semi-retirement next year to be Jimmy Fallon's house band when he takes over Conan O'Brien's late show. DOUBLE-U TEE EFF?

Have albums sales really dipped this low, or was Roots emcee Black Thought just not listening to himself when he said, "The principles of true hip-hop have been forsaken/ it's all contractual and about money makin'" on 1996's "What They Do"? Wow do we ever hope this is a rotten lie.

After the jump, the brilliantly snarky video for "What They Do." Watch it, nod your head, cross your fingers and hope this story quietly disappears.

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Purists around the world, prepare to be shaken and stirred.

Daniel Craig, the latest beefy incarnation of fictional superspy James Bond, believes that the world is ready for a black Bond. Spurred on by the election of Barack Obama, Craig, who caught flack for being the first blonde actor to play Bond, said, "I think the role could easily be played by a black actor because the character created by Ian Fleming in the '50s has undergone a great deal of evolution and continues to be updated."

A jump from blonde to black is a major one, but it's not unprecedented for black actors to be cast in parts written for whites. Ving Rhames took over Telly Savalas' Kojak in 2005, and James Earl Jones received rave reviews as King Lear on Broadway.

But just because there's precedent, should a black Bond be inevitable? Is seeing black actors take over roles written for whites an integral step in the move toward racial justice? It seems to me that casting a black James Bond would accomplish little more than riling up racists – "See? They want EVERYTHING!!!" – which, though fun, is often more trouble than it's worth. What do you think?

On this day in 1969, transcendent children's program Sesame Street debuted on PBS, changing television forever. After the jump, a collection of some of the Street's most memorable guest appearances, complete with our favorite: kids freaking out to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition."

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In case you're watching television around 8 o'clock tonight and wondering why Barack Obama's face is plastered on every single channel, here's the answer in advance: his campaign is loaded with cash. It's so loaded that he purchased a 30-minute primetime block on MSNBC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Univision, and, yes, BET and TVOne, to air his own campaign infomercial. No one knows what the content of this mystery infomercial will be, but if you don't care to watch, ABC will be airing a new episode of Pushing Daisies. Oh, and of course there's America's Next Top Model on the CW. [TVW]

I wagered early on that Chocolate News was going to be terrible. Though I'll hate to see David Alan Grier without work yet again, it feels good to be right.

Surprisingly, the Afrocentric fake news show's premiere numbers were relatively large. According to the Nielsen ratings, 2.2 million viewers tuned into the debut episode last week, a million more than had watched the hit Colbert Report's first episode. Now if only Chocolate News' content could keep up with Colbert's.

As I said in my original post on CN, Grier is far too theatrical an actor for his part, that of "Dag," a mouthy, ballsy newscaster out to slaughter sacred cows in the black community. Occasionally he's funny, but most of the time he's just over the top and irritating.

That said, though, Chocolate News' biggest liability isn't Dag. In fact, even if Grier toned down his act, or was replaced with a more appropriate host, CN would still be difficult to watch. That's because, frankly, it's rarely funny. And occasionally, it's downright offensive.

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Comedy Central's first attempt at black (as in African American) comedy following Dave Chappelle's untimely 2006 departure, Chocolate News, premieres tomorrow night. In the same vein as prime time heavyweights The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Chocolate News will attempt to mock news of the day with a wry, liberal bent. From what I've seen, it's not going to work.

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