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Today's Page Six asks "WHICH slave-driving producer of a morning TV show was ordered by the network's legal department to cease and desist offering staffers tequila shots on Friday afternoons?" We haven't had a good poll here in awhile, but this one's pretty obvious. Over at the CBS 'Early Show,' producer Shelley Ross has been breaking balls since she arrived in September, prompting a number of staffers to walk. Ross herself was fired a couple of years ago from her ABC News gig in the wake of staff complaints about her um, rather intense management style. One CBS staffer, who sent a protest manifesto to network executives, complained that despite "tequila Fridays" being nixed, "there is much evidence that drinking tequila or alcohol but especially tequila with Shelley is considered the way 'in' with her and her group." Oh my God, the same thing happened to me in the ninth grade! After the jump, more bitchery and unrest at the consistently third-ranked network morning talk show.

  • Senior producer Michael Rosen "is a tyrant to the staff...and that's being kind," the staffer said.
  • Laurye Blackford, another senior producer who worked with Ross at ABC's 'Good Morning America,' is set to leave the 'Early Show' in March, and nobody likes her much either.
  • Blackford and Ross are the pseudo-mean girls of the 'Early Show,' and there have been complaints that the both "prefer dealing with men...female producers are noticing this." Catty corporate women are so much fun!
  • One producer found out he was being replaced earlier this month when he discovered the new guy had already moved into his office. Lovely!