National Broadcasting Co

THE network upfronts are known for their stunts and surprises, and CBS managed to pull off one particularly unexpected appearance Wednesday during its presentation at Carnegie Hall. About half an hour into the show, soon-to-be CBS News anchor Katie Couric came out to greet the crowd of advertisers, two weeks before her 15-year run at NBC's "Today" concludes. Couric was introduced by CBS Corp. President Leslie Moonves and came out on stage to applause and some whistles.

After first blaming time constraints as the reason certain references to God were cut from a popular children's television series, NBC on Friday acknowledged that the edits were made because the network did not want to appear to be advocating any religion. The new statement came in the wake of mounting criticism from advocacy groups that questioned why NBC had asked the creators of "VeggieTales" to take out the references.

NBC didn't set the ratings ablaze with two star-studded specials this past weekend. The network's broadcast of "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope" averaged 5.7 million viewers Saturday, though NBC said that more than 19.6 million people sampled some of it either there or on other channels, including Bravo, USA, Trio, the Sci-Fi Network, CNBC, MSNBC, PAX and Telemundo. By comparison, Fox's telecast of the NFC Division Playoffs at that time averaged 21.5 million viewers.

NBC's coverage of last year's Summer Olympics in Athens topped the field Wednesday in competition for the 26th annual Sports Emmy Awards, earning 14 nominations. ESPN led the network totals with 29 nominations, compared with 23 for NBC, 18 for Fox and 17 each for ABC and HBO. The nominees for outstanding play-by-play announcer were Al Michaels of ABC and ESPN, Dick Enberg of CBS, Jim Lampley of HBO, Jim Nantz of CBS and Joe Buck of Fox.

When it comes to high dramatic stakes, it's tough to beat the plot of NBC's upcoming drama "Revelations." Inspired by the New Testament's Book of Revelation, the show is about a Harvard professor, played by Bill Pullman, who teams with a nun to try to stop what they believe is the beginning of Armageddon.

The NBC Self-Deprecation Tour made a pit stop at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday, where Kevin Reilly, the network's president of entertainment, faced television critics alone -- top honcho Jeff Zucker sat in the back of the room -- and compared NBC's last season fourth-place finish to undergoing a colonic. "It wasn't a lot of fun to go through at the time, but it's going to be healthy in the long run," Reilly joked.

For most of the last 20 years, NBC had a lock on upscale TV viewers, thanks to such relatable yuppie favorites as "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "The West Wing." So what's the bright new hope for reversing last year's double-digit ratings slide? "My Name Is Earl," a comedy about a scruffy working-class guy struggling to redeem a lifetime of boorish behavior. "Earl," which has its debut Sept. 20, is part of a larger shift at NBC, where the overall lineup has an unmistakably populist feeling this fall.

On Tuesday, NBC made it official: Steve Capus, who has served as acting president of the network's news division since September, was formally named to the post. The announcement marks the quick ascension of Capus, who served as executive producer of "NBC Nightly News" from May 2001 until June of this year, when he was promoted to senior vice president of the news division.

CBS didn't wait long to claim the comedy crown that rival NBC has held for upwards of 20 years. Reacting to the juggernaut of Fox's "American Idol," which trounced all competition Wednesday, NBC announced late Thursday that it was moving its promising new unscripted series "The Apprentice" from 9 p.m. Wednesdays to that same hour on Thursday, pushing "Will & Grace" to 8:30, and "Scrubs" to 9:30 Tuesdays.

NBC has acquired audiotapes made by Princess Diana talking about her life and will air them in a two-part documentary that will be telecast next month. The never-before-broadcast tapes were made inside London's Kensington Palace and were used by Andrew Morton to write his book "Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words."