NBC‘s new series “Lipstick Jungle,” from the pen of urban chic Boswell Candace Bushnell, looked like it was getting dropped by NBC.

Only nine of 13 episoded made had aired and the ratings looked grim for the Brooke Shields nighttime NYC soaper. But the New York Times, always the benefactor of bedraggled TV shows it likes, reared its head today.

Fans of the skein have been sending lipsticks to NBC chairman Jeff Zucker. Not sure if it’s working or if he’s taking advantage of them in some cross-dressing tone. But it certainly represents loyal viewership. Sick as it might sound.

Martin Scorsese won the DGA award for directing The Departed, making him the one to beat for the Oscar, which he should have won eons ago. In the Best Documentary category, Lithuianian filmmaker Arunas Matelis won for Before Flying Back to the Earth, which got an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film.

Super-producer Rick Rubin, who looks like Santa’s stoner baby brother, might move into a corner office at Columbia Records. He’d have to get out of his Warner Bros. deal first.

The On the Town bloggers heard Woody Allen marveling at Arthur Krim for owning a ranch in Texas (just a guess, but that’s catholic, not Catholic taste). Krim was pals with LBJ , so why the surprise? Woody needs to get out more.

Joss Whedon is splitting up with Wonder Woman, citing creative differences, as he didn’t see the film as a period piece, but the other script is circa WWII. His fans are, however, working on getting a Hollywood Blvd. star. (And props to his biggest fan, Sherlynn Hicks, who keeps us on our toes.)

Pilot season finds Brooke Shields cast in NBC’s Lipstick Jungle. Two different pilots feature actors in wheelchairs–Norbert Leo Butz in Chicken and Christopher Thornton in I’m with Stupid–and another two are ensemble cop shows, which are so rare on tv.

Rod Lurie will direct the pilot of Page Armstrong, from his script for the CW. Armstrong is the story of “a naive but incredibly bright 27-year-old female congressional aide” who decides to run against her boss, because he’s such a scumbag. Whee.