Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Best TV Dad:

In 2007, the folks at TiVo surveyed viewers to find Top TV Dads of All Time. "The Cosby Show's" Cliff Huxtable (played by Bill Cosby, of course) came in at number one. The top five on the list:
5. Sheriff Andy Taylor from "The Andy Griffith Show."
4. Pa Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie" (played by Michael Landon);
3. Howard Cunningham from "Happy Days" (played by Tom Bosley)
2. Ward Cleaver from "Leave It To Beaver" (played by Hugh Beaumont)
1. Cliff Huxtable from "The Cosby Show."

Bottom five (Worst TV Dads):

5. Peter Griffin from "The Family Guy,"
4. Al Bundy from "Married ...With Children (played by Ed O'Neill);
3. Homer SImpson from "The Simpsons,"
2. Tony Soprano from "The Sopranos" (played by James Gandolfini)
1. Ozzy Osbourne from "The Osbournes"

Trash talk and satellite dish:

Once again, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced its list of honorees for the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Among the celebrities getting a plaque will be:
   --From motion pictures: PENELOPE CRUZ, BRUCE DERN, LAURA DERN, DIANE LADD, ED HARRIS, The MUPPETS, KENNY ORTEGA, GWYNETH PALTROW, RIDLEY SCOTT, SISSY SPACEK, DONALD SUTHERLAND and REESE WITHERSPOON.
   --From TV: DANNY DeVITO, TINA FEY, SIMON FULLER, NEIL PATRICK HARRIS,  JOHN LANGLEY, ED O'NEILL, JOHN WELLS and OPRAH WINFREY.
   --From the music field: MELISSA ETHERIDGE, LOS TIGRES DEL NORTE, RASCAL FLATTS, GO-GO's, SLASH, WILL I. AM and BEBE and CECE WINANS.
   --Posthumous stars will go to: BUDDY HOLLY and LOUIS PRIMA
   --And from theatre: JOE MANTEGNA

The Supremes:

In a 9-0 ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that bosses are within their rights to read employee text messages if they have reason to believe that work rules are being broken.
   The case of the 'sexy texts' emerged after a police chief in Ontario, CA, was taken to court after reading thousands of messages that a SWAT team officer had sent to his wife and mistress.
   Sgt JEFF QUON and three others sued the department and the city "despite signing a city policy that allows only limited personal use of employer-owned electronic equipment and that warns them not to expect any privacy in use of the devices."
   It's the first time the Court has ruled on whether Constitutional privacy rights extend to on-the-job texting. (Expect future rulings on sexy cell phone and IM conversations, legal analysts say).
   Writing for the majority, Justice ANTHONY KENNEDY said that employers have the right to check in on employees, and "because it was not excessive in scope, the search was reasonable." (Maiman)

Grace Notes:

What is the most popular MICHAEL JACKSON song of all time? Nope. It's "Say Say Say," his 1983 duet with PAUL McCARTNEY. Billboard magazine says the obvious choice, "Billie Jean," was number one for seven weeks, while "Say Say Say" held the top spot for six weeks ...but, the duet stayed in the top 10 longer. Here are the top 10 most popular Michael Jackson songs:
10. "The Girl Is Mine" with Paul McCartney
9. "ABC" by The Jackson 5
8. "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5
7. "Man In The Mirror"
6. "Dancing Machine" by The Jackson 5
5. "Rock With You"
4. "Beat It"
3. "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5
2. "Billie Jean"
1. "Say Say Say" with Paul McCartney (Marino)