Here's a recently re-discovered oldie—and goodie!—to show how far technology has come in the last two decades. Watch this Today Show clip from 1994, featuring Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel's complete confusion about what, exactly, the Internet is.
• Goodbyes: After 53 years on the air, CBS has canceled As the World Turns; meanwhile, the Bonnie Hunt Show won't be renewed after this season.
• JuJu Chang will take over for Chris Cuomo on Good Morning America. [NYP]
• Vevo, which is hoping to become the Hulu of music videos and is owned by Universal Music and Sony Music, made its debut today. [NYT, Reuters]
• Advertising is picking up again at the New York Times. Surprise! [AP, NYT]
• Related: The number of people who accepted Times buyouts has topped 50; tech reporter Saul Hansell is leaving the paper for AOL. And the Times is working with Google on a plan to "change the way news is consumed online."
• Bryant Gumbel revealed on Live with Regis and Kelly this morning that he has lung cancer and had surgery to remove a tumor two months ago. [NYP]
• Random House announced plans today to restructure its Crown Publishing Group; the division's publisher, Jenny Frost, is leaving the company. [NYT]
• Daily Variety has hired LAT veteran Leo Wolinsky as its new editor. [Variety]
• Will James Cameron's Avatar achieve Titanic-like success? Not so much. [AP]
Former Today and Early Show host Bryant Gumbel turns 61 today. John Sexton, the president of New York University, is 67. Faded comic Andrew Dice Clay is turning 52. Jerry Lee Lewis is 74. Florida Senator Bill Nelson is turning 67. And Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is celebrating his 73rd birthday today.
New York turned out to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the historic Apollo Theater on Monday night. Prince, Mariah Carey, Steve Harvey, Bill Cosby, Fantasia Barrino, and Chanj all took turns on the stage; Jamie Foxx introduced Quincy Jones, who was inducted into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame; and the crowd included Michael Bloomberg and Diana Taylor, New York First Lady Michelle Patterson, Patti LaBelle, Dick Parsons, Al Sharpton, Gayle King, Sherri Shepard, Phylicia Rashad, Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr., Ruby Dee, Ron Perelman and daughter Samantha Perelman, Sade Baderinwa, Devyn Simone, Kevin Liles, Jonelle Procope, Susan Magrino, Robin Roberts, Doug E. Fresh, Bryant and Hilary Gumbel, Bethenny Frankel, Denise Rich, and designer (and secret soul music fan) Roberto Cavalli. [PMc, Wireimage, VF]
An army of A-listers showed to last night's 69th annual American Ballet Theatre spring gala (and, if they were lucky, got a glimpse of Michelle Obama dressed in a black Alaia dress and Thakoon jacket). Among those in attendance: Anna Wintour, Carolina and Reinaldo Herrera, Chuck Schumer, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, David and Julia Koch, Caroline Kennedy and Ed Schlossberg, Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, Ivanka Trump, Caryn and Jeff Zucker, Annette and Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Lorne Michaels, Desiree Rogers, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Renee Zellweger, Sigourney Weaver, Tory Burch, Iman, Grace Hightower, Rachel Roy, Robbie Myers, Hamish Bowles, Renee Fleming, Lisa Perry, Muffie Potter Aston, Amanda Brooks, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Yvonne Force Villareal, Marina Rust Connor, Marjorie Gubelmann, Nina Griscom and Leonel Piraino, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Blaine Trump, Harry Evans, Hilary Rhoda, Coco Rocha, Mariska Hargitay, Lindsay Price, Kim Raver, Ruben Toledo and Isabel Toledo, Dree Hemingway, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, and Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos (left), a former dancer himself. [PMc, Wireimage, Style.com]
UNICEF's 5th annual Snowflake Gala took place on Wednesday night at Cipriani 42nd Street. Bryant Gumbel entertained the crowd of 500 and Lucy Liu was honored with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian award. Attendees included Michael Bloomberg, Jenna and Barbara Bush, Maggie Betts, Roland Betts, Lauren Bush and David Lauren (left), Marcus Samuelsson, Charlie Trotter, Charlotte Moss, Pamela Fiori, Gillian Miniter, Douglas Hannant and Frederick Anderson, Elyse Newhouse, Donny Deutsch, Alexandra Lebenthal, Jessica Joffe, Tea Leoni, Matt Lauer, Meredith Melling Burke, Cynthia Lufkin, and CNN's Sanjay Gupta. [PMc, Wireimage, Style.com, The Daily]
♦ Alex Rodriguez won't be eating turkey with his tots. His estranged wife Cynthia says her "6-foot-3, 220-pound soul-less, soon-to-be ex-husband is abandoning his kids on Thanksgiving to be with Madonna." [P6]
♦ Amy Winehouse is back in the hospital after yet another "reaction to a medication." [NYDN]
♦ Ann Coulter broke her jaw. And now her mouth has been wired shut! [P6]
♦ Kate Moss was spotted leaving a party with "some mysterious scratches on her cheek." [Daily Mail]
♦ Fashion designer Stacey Bendet and her husband, the son of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, had a baby. [P6]
Lucky hosted its fifth annual "Lucky Shops" last night inside the Metropolitan Pavilion. Lucky editor Kim France and publisher Gina Sanders welcomed Leighton Meester, Jessica Szohr, Georgina Chapman, Katrina Bowden, Alexandra Richards, Charlotte Ronson, Thalia, Beverly Johnson, Ginny Barber, and Michaela McManus, who all did a little shopping to benefit the Robin Hood Foundation. [The Daily, PMc, Wireimage]
If it seems like Bryant Gumbel has been on TV forever, well, that's because he has. The former Today show fixture and Real Sports host on HBO is 60 years old today. Also celebrating: NYU's bearded president, John Sexton, is 66. Comedian Andrew Dice Clay is 51. Barbra Streisand's son, actor/director Jason Gould, is 42. Filmmaker Robert Benton is turning 76. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida is 66. And Lech Walesa, who championed democratic reforms in Poland in the '80s and later served as the nation's president, is 65.
Gumbel is a veteran newscaster, former Today Show anchor, and current host of the HBO jock show Real Sports. Don't be confused: his older brother, Greg Gumbel, is also a sportscaster.
