Big Story

Fox News has indefinitely sidelined its daily afternoon program "The Big Story," hosted by John Gibson, to extend the run of a new hourlong political newscast called "America's Election HQ." The campaign-oriented show, anchored by Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly, premiered in late February. The network decided to keep it on the air because of strong viewer interest in the 2008 race, which has helped lift the ratings of all the cable news channels this year. The move was first reported by the blog TVNewser.

FILMS don't come more cynical, scathing or brilliant than Billy Wilder's 1951 drama "Ace in the Hole," which finally makes its DVD debut Tuesday. What's most shocking about the film, though, is that it ever got made. That's because Wilder was riding high when he made the film, having just scored an artistic and commercial triumph with his 1950 black comedy about Hollywood, "Sunset Boulevard." So Paramount gave him the green light to do "Ace."

An 11-part series that begins Sunday night on Showtime, "Brotherhood" tells the story -- or rather gathers together the small stories that make up a big story -- of two brothers, one a politician, one a mobster, and of their friends, families, neighbors, colleagues and enemies.

In the end, Yuan Baojing's wealth couldn't save his life but merely ensured a less messy execution. On a windy March morning, Yuan was sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in the killing of a local policeman. Only six months earlier, authorities had given the corporate raider a reprieve after, by some accounts, his wife promised to surrender $6 billion in oil company stock to the state. Yuan, dressed in white, appeared stunned when the latest verdict was read. "I can't accept this.

When Missy Buttry of little Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, came to the big city Wednesday to be honored as one of the elite female collegiate athletes in the country, she brought along her two coaches. It's not that families aren't welcome. It's just that, in the case of this Division III cross-country runner, hers would have filled the back of an airplane.

Dan Rather was on the run, chasing big stories from New York to Florida to Texas and back to CBS headquarters in Manhattan. In less than a week: The Republican National Convention. A deadly hurricane. An interview for a blockbuster CBS investigation. Former President Clinton's open-heart surgery. Exhausted and stretched to the limit, the veteran anchorman didn't find time that week to learn much about a news source named Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, he would later explain.

If you stand on the steps of the white gazebo and focus on the wet, mud-splattered car parked in front of the corner restaurant, maybe squint to avoid seeing the leafy maple tree, and overlook the green grass, then it's beginning to look a little bit like Christmas ... more or less. After days of overcast skies, the June sun is blazing down on the set of "Secret Santa" on the fabled Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.

Jeremy Shockey, a second-year tight end for the New York Giants, made a familiar excuse this week when asked about the gay slur he used to describe Bill Parcells in a taped interview with New York magazine. "It's something that got turned around," said Shockey. "You can't trust anyone. If they want to sell papers and make their quote of the month, they're going to do it, no matter what you say. [Parcells] coached here and he understands how the media is. I'm sure he didn't think much of it."

Used to be the worst thing that could happen to you while fishing was a hook in the ear or a bout with seasickness. But fishermen on Missouri's rivers now have to watch out that they don't get knocked senseless by giant carp jumping into boats. One state fisheries biologist was seriously injured when hit in the head by a high-flying fish and another lost a tooth.

George O'Leary's hours-long career as Notre Dame's football coach began to unravel early this week, when a veteran New Hampshire sportswriter started making phone calls for his Sunday notes column. John "Doc" Hussey, 59, a retired high school Latin teacher and part-time reporter for the Union Leader of Manchester, wanted to get some local reaction to O'Leary's hiring. "We're a small state," Hussey said Friday from his New Hampshire home.