Last night, TVNewser headed out Greenwich Village for the release party for Al Roker's new mystery novel, "Morning Show Murders." Matt, Meredith and Ann were there, as were Steve Capus, Jeff Zucker, Hoda Kotb, Natalie Morales, and Willie Geist. Also on hand the show's EP Jim Bell. In "Morning Show Murders," it's the EP who gets the axe -- or rather, the poison -- and a TV host who is the prime suspect.

TVNewser caught up with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira who were all for the murder of their EP.

"We were fully supportive," said Lauer. Vieira agreed. "Absolutely, it was one of those, 'What took so long?' He's been dead to us for years anyway."

Lauer joked, "To be honest, we thought it was ridiculous and we were wondering why he didn't kill Ann."

Roker tells TVNewser he's been an avid fan of the genre since he was a kid reading Hardy Boys novels. "I always thought, someday I'm going to write a mystery. I never actually thought I'd do it, but I kept thinking, someday I'm going to do this."

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It was an emotional send-off for one of the CNBC originals this afternoon. As we first reported earlier this month, "Power Lunch" co-anchor Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC for the next year.

Griffeth got a round of applause from the newsroom and hugs from his co-anchors Sue Herera and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera as he told the audience, "Life is a multi-legged stool and your job is only one of those legs. So, do take the time... have the courage, take the time to do something for yourself. I know I am fortunate to take the whole year off, but even if it's not a whole year, take some time off for yourself."

Whoops. We love a good Post headline, but it looks like, this time around, the editors should have spent less time on the wordplay and more time on the names of the networks they're reporting on. From today's edition:

That would be ABC, not NBC.

Previously: Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Concert

Last night's finale of Dancing with the Stars, at which Donny Osmond took home the bedazzled top prize, gave ABC's "Nightline" a boost. The ABC News broadcast drew 5.09M Total Viewers last night, enough for first place. CBS's "Late Show" drew 4.28M and NBC's "Tonight Show" had 2.55M Total Viewers.

"Nightline" is also leading for the week with a Monday-Tuesday average of 4.90M to Letterman's 4.31M and Conan's 2.46M. (Nightline is measured for the half hour, while Late Show and Tonight are measured for the hour). The ABC News show also leads the week in the A25-54 demo with a 1.56 rating to Letterman's 1.45 and Conan's 1.12.

Former truTV anchor Jami Floyd is filling in on MSNBC today. The NoonET hour, which is normally occupied by Dr. Nancy Snyderman, is preempted for news of the day, anchored by Floyd, a former lawyer who joined CourtTV in 2005. Floyd was an anchor of "In Session" trial programming. truTV shuttered the New York operations of "In Session" earlier this month.

The NY Times reports that former-CNNer Lou Dobbs is not only mulling a future presidential campaign, but is also looking into the New Jersey U.S. Senate seat held by Robert Menendez:

A spokesman played down the idea of a presidential race, but said Mr. Dobbs was taking seriously the idea of running against Mr. Menendez. "I think Lou is realistically saying, that's a long way off, but if he did run for office there'd have to be an intermediary step, such as the Menendez seat," said the spokesman, Robert L. Dilenschneider. He said Mr. Dobbs was impressed by Republican gains in New Jersey in November and by President Obama's sinking popularity.

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CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta attended the state dinner at the White House yesterday, and tweeted out some great photos from inside.

If you look to the far left in this one, you might spot a familiar face:

More of Gupta's twitpics after the jump, including a special guest appearance by another famous newser.

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B&C's Marisa Guthrie talks with CBS News & Sports president Sean McManus who is bullish on the new year -- when a rare seismic shift takes place on planet Broadcast News.

"I think everybody will be much more on their game in January," McManus says. "Everybody will be trying hard. I think that's good for the viewers. And I think if we get more sampling it will be good for CBS News also. So I look it as an opportunity for everybody to showcase what they do and how well they do it. And in that race, I think we stack up pretty darn well."

Pres. Barack Obama will unveil his plan for Afghanistan, including a decision about a U.S. troop increase, during a primetime speech Tuesday night. MSNBC.com reports the address will originate from West Point at 8pmET.

We're checking with the broadcast networks to see who will be carrying the president's remarks.

> Updates:
• 11:45am: NBC will carry the president's remarks with Brian Williams anchoring.
• 1:43pm: CBS will broadcast the address with Katie Couric anchoring, (delaying NCIS and, later, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show)

"Sesame Street" EVP Sherrie Westin appeared on the "O'Reilly Factor" to discuss the recent controversy with Pox News and to introduce Spill O'Reilly, a new Grouch News Network anchor who follows in the footsteps of the legendary Walter Cranky and Dan Rathernot.

Swedish Chef: Pinhead or Patriot?

CBS' "The Early Show" got the most out of its late add Adam Lambert this morning. Lambert, who was scheduled to appear on GMA this morning, was canceled by ABC late yesterday morning due to his sexually charged performance at the AMAs Sunday night.

On "Early," a story and interview aired in the 7:30am half hour, Lambert answered viewer questions in the 8am half hour before performing the first of two songs at 8:42am.

In the interview with Maggie Rodriguez, Lambert said the outrage after his AMA performance was a "double whammy."

"I think it's because I'm a gay male and I think people haven't seen that before," said Lambert.

Asked if he would do anything differently, Lambert laughed and said, "I would sing it a little bit better." Lambert then assured parents watching that his morning show concert "is appropriate, I promise."

Interestingly, in the story leading up to Lambert's interview, the kiss and the crotch smash, which were part of his AMA act were blurred out, but in the same story, Madonna's kiss with Britney Spears at the 2003 VMAs was not, leading some to accuse CBS of a double standard. Or it may be, as ABC News told us yesterday, that that kind of performance just isn't appropriate "so early in the morning."

After his first song, Lambert's mom came to the stage and Rodriguez asked her what she thought of the controversy surrounding the AMA performance: "I was a little taken aback," she said, "but I just went with the flow."

As for morning show leader the "Today" show, EP Jim Bell tells the AP's David Bauder they did not consider booking Lambert because the show already had planned a performance with NBC's artist in resident Jon Bon Jovi.

> Update: Video of the interview, after the jump...

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CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric was among a handful of media types at tonight's state dinner at the White House. And, as NYTimes.com features in a slideshow, Couric made a rare public appearance with her boyfriend Brooks Perlin.

• The Times' Jeff Zeleny has the full guest list, which includes Jeffrey Immelt, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Gayle King, who is the focus of tomorrow's "So What Do You Do?" interview on mediabistro.com.