Ask Joy Behar how she got her new HLN gig, and she gives a simple answer. “They asked me to dance,” Behar jokes with TVNewser, “and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll dance with you guys!’”

Her boss, CNN Worldwide EVP Ken Jautz, is a little more specific. “She has a strong point of view, she’s an excellent conversationalist,” he says. “She’s a genuine star.”

The Joy Behar Show debuts tomorrow at 9pmET, part of a primetime lineup dominated by women hosts (think Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell) who provide HLN with what Jautz calls “point-of-view programming.”

Opinion, Jautz says, positions the 27 year-old HLN as “something different from CNN” in order to attract “different audience niches.” He’s confident that HLN’s ratings growth — its average of 597,000 prime time viewers this year has more than tripled since 2004, a boost greater than “we had dared hope for”, says Jautz — has not drawn viewers away from its sister cabler. Jautz cites internal research showing “little overlap” among those who watch the two networks.

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FNC’s Griff Jenkins scored an impromptu interview with Janeane Garofalo Friday night before her comedy show that evening, and parts of the video aired Monday night on every prime time program and yesterday on Fox & Friends and the Glenn Beck Program. It has been prominently featured on TheFoxNation, with the headline: “See Full Clip! Janeane Stands by Her ‘Teabaggers Are Racists’ Comments!?!?”

But while Jenkins has been identified as a “Fox News Correspondent” or producer during his interviews this week about the incident, he did not tell Garofalo he was with Fox News during the interview. When she asked him who he was, Jenkins responded: “I’m just a blogger who reads blogs.”

On Fox & Friends yesterday, Jenkins gave a different explanation. “She didn’t watch enough Fox, guys, she did not know who I was,” he said.

During the infamous FNC ambushes (of which Jenkins has participated), the MO has been to acknowledge the Fox affiliation from the beginning.

Garofalo responded to the incident yesterday, but at the time did not know Jenkins was involved (just that radio host Ken Pittman was there as well).

Click continued to see Jenkins’ appearance Monday on “Hannity”…

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THR’s Paul Bond reports things got “testy” at today’s GE shareholder meeting. When it came time for shareholders to question CEO Jeff Immelt many wanted to ask about MSNBC and CNBC.

First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies. Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not say about politics.

One specific complaint about MSNBC concerned Keith Olbermann‘s interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of “the limbic brain inside a right-winger.”

“They were upset that Olbermann didn’t bother to challenge her,” one GE shareholder said. Immelt said he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company’s news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni effectively.

And who else showed up at the meeting?

> Update: Audio of O’Reilly Factor producer Jesse Watters asking Immelt about Janeane Garofalo.

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Bill O’Reilly has attacked GE and NBC before, even recently. But last night on The Factor, O’Reilly ran the gamut from GE’s ties to the Obama administration and financial woes to Janeane Garofalo to the recent CNBC dinner. He even had some harsh words for Tom Brokaw.

Joining O’Reilly were Fox News contributor Tobin Smith and FBN anchor Stuart Varney. Varney talked about Garofalo’s comments about the tea parties on Countdown last week. “I find that shocking,” he said. “There was no response to that statement from that on-air host.”

Here’s an O’Reilly line sure to draw attention: “They’re in partnership, GE, with the Obama administration on a number of different levels, which makes it imperative that NBC News say good things, and attack critics of the administration.”

Click continued to see the full segment…

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