A CBS insider tells TVNewser day one of Rick Kaplan's limited run at The Early Show "went great," despite the 4am in-time. Kaplan told TVNewser yesterday, "most of my attention will be on the Early Show" while his "superb" Evening News staff would keep the Katie Couric broadcast steady.

As for the short list for a permanent replacement for Shelley Ross...someone who's replaced Ross before: Ben Sherwood. Sherwood was EP of Good Morning America after Ross and before the current team of Jim Murphy and Tom Cibrowski. Sherwood left GMA in the summer of 2006. In his announcement to the staff then, Sherwood wrote, "As you know when I arrived, I spoke of the need to balance the personal and professional — no easy feat in morning television."

Insiders tell TVNewser, CBS executives have already spoken with Sherwood, who is also a best-selling author, about the job.