It’s the kind of juicy feature article pull quote that publicists usually can only dream of in the midst of a Skinny Margarita evening confab:

Aaron Sorkin on the multi-million dollar reshoots of the first few episodes of Season Two: “I doubt HBO’s going to be happy with my telling you this, but I got off to a false start with Season Two. With my hat in my hand, I went to HBO and said, ‘Would it be all right if I started again? I know it’s going to cost time and it’s going to cost a lot of money.’ Other networks would have said no.”

That email-bulletined excerpt and a whole lot more make up a cover story in the June 28 edition of The Hollywood Reporter magazine by senior TV writer Lacey Rose. The article also runs down the list of The Newsroom Season Two consultants, a group that includes CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and former TIME editor Jim Kelly.

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TVSpy: A sad story finds a way to get even sadder, as some Oklahoma tornado survivors blame a local meteorologist for several deaths.

GalleyCat: Ringo Starr is adapting the song “Octopus’s Garden” into a picture book. Early reviews wonder what the book would look like if Paul adapted it.

TVNewser: In the battle between Bill O’Reilly and Chris Matthews, the only victory is if both lose.

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House of Cards, Jerry Seinfeld Top Webby Awards (HuffPost / AP)
Netflix’s groundbreaking House of Cards may be the first digital series nominated for a best drama Emmy. But it will start with a Webby. The Webby Awards are honoring House of Cards producers Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti with a Webby special achievement award. The Wrap / Media Alley R&B artist Frank Ocean was named the Webby Person of the Year for proving the power of the Web as a medium for cultural change by publishing his coming-out letter on his Tumblr. The Webby Breakout of the Year award went to the Obama administration for its America 2012 campaign for its tech team’s Internet-savvy effort to reelect President Obama. The Webby Awards The star-studded ceremony will be available to view on-demand in HD at watch.webbyawards.com beginning at 9 a.m. ET on May 22, 2013. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, writer and actor Patton Oswalt. Read more

TVNewser: Chris Matthews said “I’m so glad we had that storm last week” just to prove that idiots come in all shapes and sizes.

AppNewser: Another highlight for President Barack Obama — his victory post is the most retweeted tweet ever.

AllFacebook: If you want people to pay attention to your posts, use your words.

AllFacebook: Old Navy showed its appreciation to its Facebook fans by asking them to participate in an ad. All those “likes” sure did pay off!

TVNewser: Chris Matthews is holding out hope that his head doesn’t explode after the vice presidential debate.

LostRemote: Here is some data suggesting that GetGlue isn’t the worst social media site ever created.

• TVNewser: Chris Matthews, Lizzie O’Leary and Robert Gibbs will be on ”Jeopardy!” tonight. Alex Trebek will do his best not to be disappointed by them.
• AgencySpy: Larry David joined Twitter, but we don’t expect him to take to it. The site isn’t exactly something someone who kind of hates everything would appreciate.
• FishbowlDC: CNN is trying to lure Jake Trapper away from ABC. This would be easier if they weren’t CNN.

New York based-Zeta Interactive has once again compiled its annual Most Buzzed Report of the media personalities who generate the intense online traffic. Using keywords and phrases online and on social media sites, FishbowlNY has learned exclusively that Anderson Cooper is number one. Cooper, already an established prime time star at CNN, started a daytime syndicated talk show in September.

The additional workload may be a major reason why Cooper saw huge gains in this year’s Zeta report, up from ninth place in 2010.

The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart is as steady as ever, holding at number two for the second straight year.

Zeta Interactive CEO Al DiGuido says his company uses a specific algorithm to create the report.

“It basically kind of jogs the most often used word,” DiGuido says.

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On Sunday, it will be eight years since George Bush stood on an aircraft carrier and proudly declared “Mission Accomplished.” Bush – to put it in the nicest way possible – was being an idiot, because the Iraq war continues to rage on, 4,000 U.S. casualties (not to mention thousands of Iraqi deaths) later.

But Bush wasn’t the only one to join in the stupidity. The media was quick to jump on the bandwagon too. On the Huffington Post today, Greg Mitchell, a contributor to The Nation, explains how virtually every major media outlet jumped at the chance to announce that the Iraq war was over, and that the United States prevailed.

There was Chris Matthews, who got weird with this quote:

Women like a guy who’s president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It’s simple.

Then Brian Williams told us all how “beautiful” the event was and USA Today ran a column titled “Relax, Celebrate Victory.” But perhaps no reaction was as ridiculous as the Op-Ed by Maureen Dowd, who took Top Gun references to an all time high:

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• TVNewser: MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is going to be hosting a President’s Day special focusing on Bill Clinton. Here’s hoping Clinton busts out the sunglasses and sax for old times sake.
• GalleyCat: What’s happening in Egypt is both scary and fascinating. Add this bit of news to what you’ve already digested about that story: Young people are protecting libraries from rioters.
• AllTwitter: Lady Gaga will probably reach eight million followers sometime this week. But hey, your 37 followers is nothing to be ashamed about – you keep telling them about your toe fungus – they need to know!

— DIANE CLEHANE

Now that summer is unofficially over and the glitterati have shuttered their cottages in the Hamptons, the regulars have begun to trickle into Michael’s for catch-up power lunches. Things weren’t exactly operating at full tilt today, but there were enough media mavens and moguls scattered around the dining room to signal that the city’s busy social season is upon us. So, pack up those summer whites and buckle down. It’s back to business.

I was joined today by jewelry designer Lisa Salzer and my good pal Miriam Driot, who is handling international public relations and marketing for Lisa’s line of vintage costume jewelry, Lulu Frost. The gals were all abuzz about Lisa’s first-ever Fashion Week presentation with live models at MAC & Milk Studio next Monday. Lisa says the show will have an “elegant, fifties feel” and feature Mad Men-inspired period clothes from Amarcord. Despite the frenzy going on in showrooms all over town, this afternoon Lisa was the embodiment of Grace Kelly cool. “It’s the calm before the storm,” she joked.

In just six years, Lisa went from being a Dartmouth college student who sold jewelry out of her dorm room to respected talent whose vintage pieces are carried in Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman and overseas in Paris and Japan. “It’s my passion,” she said. She also told me she inherited her love of all that glitters from her grandmother who ran an antique estate jewelry firm in England.

When I asked her how her business has been affected by the lingering recession, she said: “We’ve been lucky. Things have been very good. Because the collection is costume, women are still buying the pieces they love. It’s much different than selling apparel.” I’ll say. In fact, Lisa is so optimistic about her clients’ bling obsession that she’s planning to launch a fine jewelry collection next year.

Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:

1. Diana Taylor and Susan Mercandetti

2. Terry Allen Kramer and James Nederlander

3. Women’s Day‘s Carlos Lamadrid

4. Public relations scion Steve Rubenstein

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