— DIANE CLEHANE

What a difference a day makes. If only we'd come by yesterday we could have gotten in on the party for Peggy Siegal who was being feted for her birthday by gal pals Barbara Walters, Liz Smith, Rita Wilson (one of the most pleasant celebrities I've ever interviewed on the red carpet) and Nora Ephron. Michael Caine, in town for The Dark Knight premiere (he plays Alfred to Christian Bale's Batman) and his gorgeous wife. Shakira were there, too. Oh well.

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. "The Imber Gang" minus regular Jerry Della Femina — Jeff Greenfield, Dr. Gerry Imber, Michael Kramer and Andy Berger. When the guys stopped to talk to me at the bar on their way out, I asked them what they'd been dishing. "Not much to write about today, eh?" joked Gerry. Seems the controversial cover of The New Yorker was a hot topic at their table. Jeff's verdict: "Too clever by half."

2. Producer Jon Hart and Ken Davenport (nice to meet you). Jon is off to see "The Dark Knight" tonight and predicts the film will do boffo box office. "I think it's going to be the biggest opening ever."

3. Diane Sokolov and agent Martha Lutrell.

4. John Huey and a dark-haired gal sipping soup.

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— DIANE CLEHANE

If we'd come by Michael's on Monday we could have chatted with Chris Rock who was lunching with Jeffrey Katzenberg. Instead, we had to settle for The Real Housewives of New York City. What can I tell you, it's summertime. It's amazing how the 'stars' of the Bravo series are seemingly everywhere, isn't it? For the uninitiated, the reality show (which folks seem to either love or hate) chronicles the lives of five strivers and their obsession with status, shopping and the minutiae of their lives. Today LuAnn de Lesseps (who, according to Bravo's Web site, is a "real-life countess" through marriage to Count Alexandre de Lesseps "of the Suez Canal dynasty"), Jill Zarin (the redhead) and Ramona Singer (the more frenetic of the two blondes) were lunching with Patricia Watt. Here's an interesting tidbit: word is the Housewives are so enamored with Michael's they'd like to shoot part of an upcoming episode in the dining room. Fair warning to all of you publicity-shy regulars (All three of you). We just hope it's on a Wednesday so we can report on every last detail...

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. Today's BFFs Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb with a table full of pals.

2. Early Shift: Jimmy Buffet, Mike Flanagan and a well-dressed grey-haired gent whose face looked familiar but whose name no one seemed to know. Second seating: Former celebrity flack-turned-OK! editor Rob Shuter with Courtney Hazlett and another journo. For those of you who follow such things, the new cover of OK! boasts the magazine's exclusive with teen tartlet Jamie Lynn Spears about being a new mom at the ripe old age of 17. According to the report in today's New York Post, in the story, mama Lynn Spears was glad her youngest daughter had an easy delivery because she didn't want Jamie Lynn to be turned off to having more kiddies. The mind reels...

3. 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong with Maureen White.

4. Michael J. Wolf with a serious-looking fellow...

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— DIANE CLEHANE

With most of the media mavens and boldfaced names we know planning an early escape from town this week, we weren't expecting big doings at Michael's but there were still some interesting goings-on in the dining room at lunch. It's a low cal serving of dish today — so save room for an extra helping after the holiday weekend.

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. GCI's Marc Rosen with his wife Arlene Dahl (mother of Lorenzo Lamas, just in case you didn't know) with another well heeled couple we didn't recognize...

2. Former New York City Council president Andrew Stein (Loved the pink gingham tie!) and two distinguished gents.

3. 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong with Paula Zahn who looked lovelier than ever. Seems Paula and Joe have been friends "forever." They met in Texas — where else? way back in the eighties when Paula was a fledgling reporter there and Joe, one of the Lone Star state's favorite sons, was "starting a magazine." They've been good pals ever since.

4. CNBC's Jonathan Wald with Reuter's Jolie Hunt. Speaking of CNBC, a little birdie told me Jerry Burke has just been hired as 'Mr. Fix-it' for the network. My source describes Jerry as 'Roger Ailes go-to guy' when they first launched Shepard Smith's hour. Burke then moved on to strike ratings gold for FNC's day time programming. Jerry's position was eliminated last year as part of some cost-cutting layoffs. Now, says my tipster, "Jerry can take the lessons learned at Ailes' knee to Fox's prime business-news competition." Stay tuned...

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— DIANE CLEHANE

Forget the lazy days of summer. The joint was jumping at Michael's today as the lunchtime crowd of television types, fashionistas, media mavens and bold-faced names table-hopped like mad. There was plenty of air kissing and back slapping all around as the gang, turned out in their summer finery, made their way to and from the dining room. But once folks settled in to break bread (or at least pick at their salads), the mood was all business. We would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear what a few folks (Katie Couric this means you) chatted about between bites.

As much as I love being invited to eat with the grown-ups in the dining room, my usual perch at the bar gives me a bird's eye view to take everything in as it happens. Sometimes, too, it's the ideal spot to catch up someone who is waiting for their date. I've gotten to know Vogue's main man Andre Leon Talley over the past year or so from his Wednesday visits under just such circumstances and today we had a nice chat about a number of things. Andre, fresh off his appearance in Sex and The City: The Movie ("I loved it, loved being in it. Loved that it was so well received.") is surviving the summer in his own inimitable style. He's taken up gardening at his Westchester weekend home. "It's hard work but godly. I'm loving it!" He's getting ready to go to the couture shows next week and then spend a few days in Rome. While he waited for his good friend Melania Trump to arrive, he entertained me by assessing a few unwitting passersby's sartorial savvy. When The New York Observer's Jared Kushner was departing with his dad, Andre decreed the elder Mr. Kushner was much more stylish than his son. "Look at the shoes," admonished Andre to a bemused Jared. "They're divine!" I was happy I made time for a shoe shine at Grand Central before hopping into a cab today.

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. A gaggle of social swans: Felicia Taylor, Terry Allen Kramer, Sommers White and a dark-haired gal that was spotted getting a shoulder massage from their server, Billy. It was the eagle-eyed Andre Leon Talley who pointed out that the sensuous side order being served up across the room as we chatted at the bar. I'll have what she's having.

2. Boy wonder Jared Kushner with his charming and dapper father, Charlie Kushner (Glad to make your acquaintance) and a dashing dark-haired young gent.

3. 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong with Jonathan Mahler, Danielle Mattoon and Holly Peterson. I sat with the 'Mayor' while he waited for his guests to arrive and he told me about his recent trip to Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall camp where the tireless Joe bunked in with a cabin full of 15-year-old cancer patients for the week and marveled at the kids strength and spirit. "It is truly amazing what Paul has done up there," says Joe who makes time each year to visit the extraordinary haven for these seriously ill children who would otherwise have no outlet for true summer fun. "I was the oldest one there," joked the 'Mayor.' But surely, we're guessing, one of the most energetic camp counselors of the lot.

The 'Mayor' shared his advance copy of Jonathan's new book, The Challenge: Hamdan vs. Rumsfield and the Fight Over Presidential Power, which comes out in August from Farrar, Straus, Giroux, with me. The book chronicles the fascinating story of a man captured near the Pakistan border who confessed to once working as Osama bin Laden's driver and was taken to Guantanamo Bay to await trial. No one expected much from his Pentagon-appointed defense lawyer but then young naval lieutenant enlisted the aid of a constitutional law professor from Georgetown to sue the Bush administration over the legality of the tribunals. In 2006, they argued their case in front of the Supreme Court — and won. In light of this week's news about the administration and the justice department and the torrent of reports about abuse of power hemorrhaging out of Washington, The Challenge is sure to make headlines. It's definitely worth grabbing a copy to take along on your August vacation. Not exactly beach reading, I grant you, but you can't spend all your time reading Us Weekly.

4. Katie Couric and CNBC flack Kevin Goldman (Happy Birthday). Katie told me she's excited about working on the upcoming joint network telethon to raise money for cancer research scheduled for September 5. I asked Katie about doing a So What Do You? Interview timed to the broadcast and she sounded game, so we're calling your publicist now... Kevin and I chatted — off the record, sorry — about the ongoing and increasingly ugly battle between Keith Olbermann and Page Six. We both agreed there's no end — unfortunately — in sight.

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— DIANE CLEHANE

Got a script to pitch? The posse of producers at Michael's today generated enough heat to greenlight a slew of hits. Today, though, the big topic of conversation among these movers and shakers was what to do with their vacant west coast homes while they toiled in Gotham. Sorry, but we can't relate. The bicoastal Beverly Camhe, who was lunching with best-selling author and Vanity Fair scribe Gail Sheehy, was chatting with producer Fred Zollo over just such a vexing problem. After they decided to have a get together the next time they're both on the left coast, Beverly and I chatted about the biggest topic of conversation here on the East Coast — Tim Russert's untimely death. "I never missed Meet the Press," Beverly told me. "Everyone loved him. He was such a great guy. Even if you didn't know you him, you felt like you did." When Gail arrived, she dished with me and my pal (and former boss!) fashion exec extraordinarie Susan Malinowski about her upcoming article on Hillary Clinton — "Hillary's Land War" -- in the August issue of Vanity Fair. Given Gail's track record on the subject we're sure it's going to be newsmaking. We can't wait, can you?

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. Producer Jean Doumanian celebrating her Tony win with "August Osage County" producers Barbara Freitag and Jennifer Manocherian, producer Susan Gallan and Merle Reskin, a Board of Trustees at Steppenwolf. Cheers!

2. Peter Brown — looking fab — and a young bespecatacled gent.

3. Bobby Zarem with casting director Bonnie Zimmerman and a fellow we didn't recognize...

4. Barry Diller, who arrived sporting aviator shades and surveying the dining room like a general about to do battle and only removed them when he got to Peter Brown's table for some glad-handing and hellos to nearby pals including Arnold Scaasi.

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— DIANE CLEHANE

It was a tasty tossed summer salad of movers, shakers — and football players at Michael's today. Now that the power set has to cram in five days of plotting into a truncated work week — Why miss out on a Friday afternoon in the Hamptons if you don't have to? — the dining room was buzzing. We noticed diners were opting for deep conversation over table-hopping today so there must be plenty of big doings afoot.

I was lunching today with my new friend, Denise Cobb, who just arrived from Naples, Florida for a few days of fun. This weekend she celebrated with her good pal Desiree Gruber at her baby shower at the rooftop garden at the Gramercy Park Hotel and is planning to go to Judge Judy's housewarming for the mega-mansion she had built — in just four months! — in Greenwich. "She's really proud that she could get the builder to work so fast," reports Denise. Fear is a great motivator, I suppose. Who would dare incur the wrath of Judge Judy? I love to watch her cut delinquent dads off at the knees on her television show, don't you? After our lunch, Denise was off to visit with our mutual pal Carol Brodie, who is newly installed at Faberge and has big things in store for the iconic house. Denise and I are collaborating on a top secret project for Gulf Shore Life with editor-in-chief David Sendler. You'll be the first to know all the details, I promise.

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. New York Jets D'Brickshaw Ferguson, Leon Washington and Nick Mangold with some handlers and managers we didn't recognize.

2. Peggy Siegal channeling Jackie O in a stunning white sheath, great earrings and her new 'do with a dark-haired young power gal "in training" so we're told...

3. Susan Zirinksy, whose show 48 Hours Mystery on Saturday nights on CBS is one of my favorite guilty pleasures with Mattea Gold.

4. John Huey and a bespectacled gent whose face we recognized but whose name escapes us...

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— DIANE CLEHANE

If you felt the tremors in midtown around lunchtime, you weren't imagining things. There were so many honchos and heavy weights at Michael's today it's amazing 55th Street didn't buckle under its own weight. But when Alec Baldwin came strolling in for a late lunch there were more than a few of us who held our breath waiting to see if there would be fireworks when the actor who plays the egomaniacal television exec Jack Donaghy with such gusto on 30 Rockcame face-to-face with the guys that clearly must provide him with a little inspiration. Sorry to disappoint the tabs, but there was nothing but glad handing all around.

I was lunching today with my pal Tony Hoyt who knows everyone. While I kept my eye on the Tinseltown twosome of Baldwin and Natasha Richardson (who was seated a few tables away), Tony filled me in on the goings on of practically every publishing exec in the room — and believe me that's saying something. He's also been one of Michael's most faithful patrons since his early days in Santa Monica. "I knew him when he was just a young punk!" jokes Tony. A longtime publishing consultant who has been at the helm of many a masthead including Cosmopolitan and The National Enquirer, Tony has got a top secret big deal cooking at the moment. We'll be the first to know when there's news, yes? We talked about plenty over lunch including our mutual friend Dominick Dunne who is currently undergoing treatment for bladder cancer. Turns out Tony has known 'Nick' forever and recently had dinner with everyone's favorite writer. "He's hard a work finishing the novel," reports Tony. Here's to your speedy recovery — we can't wait to read the book!

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. Les Moonves, Bruce Wasserstein and a mystery man...

2. Showtime's CEO Matt Blank , who was nice enough to introduce me to AMI's David Pecker. Matt and I had a great chat for my next So What Do You Do interview coming out next week. In it, the affable and formidable long time premium cable vet weighs in on everything from where he gets his best ideas (he reads everything) to his impressive slate of new pilots (We're dying to see Edie Falco in her first starring role since hanging up Carmela Soprano's acrylic nails — fingers crossed!) Today I asked Matt about the serendipitous timing of Secret Diary of a Call Girl — a British show Showtime bought at the end of last year. "Since Eliot Spitzer got caught with his pants down we look incredibly smart — and very lucky," says Matt. Indeed. Word is British actress Billie Piper makes Ashley Dupre look like an amateur. Don't miss it!

3. First seating: Playboy CEO Christie Hefner and Huffington Post CEO Betsy Morgan. Second shift: Alec Baldwin and a young lady who seemed more than a bit nervous waiting for him to arrive.

4. Gerald Schoenfeld and two lovely ladies.

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— DIANE CLEHANE

Bill Clinton isn't the only one who is getting a little testy about the endlessly long and increasingly tabloid-y battle for the democratic nomination. At today's lunch, politics were on the menu as supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama took sides over their Cobb Salads. Our unofficial dining room poll finds Obama holding a commanding lead. Producer Joan Gelman — between commuting from Canada where her show Triple Sensation is going great guns — has taken to handing out her very own campaign buttons. "I do one for every election," she told us. Her latest creation got lots of attention at a party at Tina Brown's recently when 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong arrived wearing one. It boasts a picture of President George Bush and John McCain in an embrace and is emblazoned with the words — Four More Years. Here's the punch line: There's a question mark at the end of the phrase. Joan was handing them out today (thanks!) and people were gobbling them up like mad. A few tables down, the exchange at David Patrick Columbia 's regular perch between David (a Hillary booster — "I just don't know why she is the subject of so much hate"), Charlie Scheips and Terry Allen Kramer (decidedly not a fan) rivaled the dust ups on Sunday morning on The McLaughlin Group. But it was all in good fun. Isn't it always?

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. One big happy family: Michael's wife Kim McCarty and kids Clancy and Chas with Martin von Haselberg and daughter Sophie. The families' friendship goes back 30 years, says Michael. To wit: a painting of Martin (done by Kim) hangs in the reception area of the restaurant. There was plenty to celebrate all around: Clancy just graduated from NYU last week, Chas is starting his first year at Bard and Sophie is at Yale. Impressive! We were hoping that Martin's wife — none other than Bette Midler — would join the party but, said Michael, she was rehearsing for her eagerly anticipated Las Vegas show (the family leaves for the desert tomorrow). Knock 'em dead, Bette!

2. Peter Brown.

3. 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong and yours truly. The Mayor was the subject of a glowing New York Times piece last week which bore more than a passing resemblance to this column. But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, isn't it?

4. Phil Smith and agent extraordinaire Ron Konecky.

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— DIANE CLEHANE

When we arrived at Michael's, at first blush the squadron of suits and celeb-free dining room (Okay, Kathie Lee was there) told us it would be a somewhat staid lunch today. Then things got interesting when David Gergen walked into the dining room — and was ushered to the Garden Room. Take that all you wannabees! Power is where you find it!

I've long considered Mr. Gergen, currently a professor Harvard's John F. Kennedy's School of Government who moonlights as CNN's senior political analyst, the voice of reason among the increasingly hysterical Greek chorus that is covering the battle between Hillary and Obama as if they were reviewing a long running soap opera. (I know, but still...) The formidable (and tall!) Mr. Gergen graciously stopped to talk to me at length at the bar after I made a beeline for him as he waited for the crowd to thin at the stairs by the exit. So when is Hillary going to throw in the towel? I asked. "She wants to stay in it," he said. "At least until there's a resolution about Florida and Michigan." When asked about the prospect of any possible permutation that might give her nomination, the pundit who appeared on CNN last night, offered this assessment: "He's far enough ahead, but there could be some acknowledgment of her position that would not strip him of the nomination." Translation: "Not a full seating of the delegates at the convention. No Florida super delegates." And what of the reports of Obama possibly helping to repay Hillary's $20 million campaign debt if he gets the nod? "Some of those around him would like to see him help her with her finances." Interesting. But, he offered, the law prohibits direct payback. Instead, said Mr. Gergen, "He could hold fundraisers." Just imagine: Hill, Bill, Michelle and Barack — arms linked together waving to the crowd. Unimaginable now but come mid June, who knows?

Mr. Gergen, who knows his way around the White House having served under Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, cautions the two camps better kiss and make up come June or suffer the consequences. "The level of nastiness has been ratcheting up. Claims of 'racism' and 'sexism' are being talked about more now. The Republicans would like nothing more for this fight to go right to the convention." As would, we're guessing, Chris Matthews, Tim Russert and Keith Olbermann.

Between plenty of air kissing and glad handing, I was lunching at the bar today with my longtime pal Susan Ashbrook, executive vice president of Film Fashion, the first — and premiere — Hollywood 'matchmaking' agency that has been pairing up fashion companies with celebrities since 1994. Susan has toiled in that other minefield of fragile but huge egos otherwise known as Hollywood — long before every C-lister and reality "star" became cover worthy to the Us Weeklys and InTouchs of the world. She counts Alber Elbaz, Lavin and bling broker Chopard as clients (just to name two on the long and illustrious list). She was in town this week from Los Angeles to talk to some Gotham fashionistas about this and that. She and I had some laughs over our salads while we traded red carpet horror stories from Oscars past. Having both witnessed some pretty horrendous behavior from the most glittering stars in Hollywood and their petulant stylists (If you think you know who we're talking about email me and we can dish!), we both agreed that Cannes has eclipsed the Oscars as the fashion event of the season — at least this year. "This year the Oscars were so boring," said Susan. "Cannes has really taken over. It's 12 days of red carpet so there are so many opportunities for the stars to dress and look fabulous and there is a spirit about the event that makes it truly exciting and spontaneous. That's something the Oscars seems to have lost."

Oh, the perils of being fabulous!

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. "The Boys Who Lunch" — Jeff Schneider of ABC News, Patrick Reilly of Sirius, Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici, MPA's Howard Polskin, Matthew Hiltzik, Matthew Traub and Matthew Frankel of The Weinstein Company. The guys invited Kent Brownridge to join them today. Another regular, Showtime's Stu Zakim, was absent today — he's in New Orleans at The Cable Show.

2. Ed Victor and a handsome gent we didn't recognize.

3. Ed Blier.

4. John Sykes and, we're told, Peter Flanagan.

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— DIANE CLEHANE

We were hoping for a star-studded dining room since it's Upfront week when the networks trot out their overpaid and underfed stars to shill for their supper, but we had to settle for a smattering of television titans who toil behind the scenes. (Note to NBC: You might want to move your red carpet inside next year if the forecast calls for winter coats, pleez!). We heard Jimmy Buffet and John Mellencamp dined and dished at neighboring tables yesterday and Lance Armstrong is expected tomorrow, but today Michael's was jam packed with the usual suspects.

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. Gerald Schoenfeld, Herb Sturz and Judge John Keating.

2. Today's executive producer Jim Bell with Dick Wolf. I congratulated Law & Order's main man on last night's devastating season finale of L&O: SVU, which wrote off the characters played by Diane Neal and Adam Beach in the show's signature jaw-dropping fashion. Beach, who scored a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in HBO's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, spent only one season with the franchise. Says Wolf: "Adam has all kinds of things going on..." Neal, who has played A.D.A Casey Novak for several years reportedly told several insiders she'd been fired. I asked Dick about L&O's inevitable "ripped from the headlines" treatment based on Eliot Spitzer's downfall. "It's the finale — you can watch it next week." We wouldn't miss it!

3. Terry Allen Kramer and, we're told, Howard Lorber.

4. Reality show guru Mark Burnett with Teddy Forstmann. Could it be that the formidable Mr. F is considering a foray into reality TV? Just imagine: Survivor: The Billionaire Edition or perhaps he could duel with the Donald on The Apprentice? The mind reels with the possibilities...

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