Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Apr 25, 2011

Election Central:

If DONALD TRUMP's only motivation for a White House bid is to try to boost ratings for his reality TV show (as some have claimed), it doesn't appear to be working.
Even as polls show him tied for first among Republicans, the Congressional newspaper, The Hill, notes that the "Apprentice" had the lowest ratings of the season last Sunday with only 7.6 million viewers, a drop from 9.7 million on April 03 (that's about a 20 percent decline). Trump's advisers have said he will use the show's finale to announce plans about his presidential bid. (Maiman)

Easter weekend follow-up:

What's the only thing better than Easter candy? Buying the good stuff at a deep discount the day after.
The blog The Nerdist offers these candy-buying tips for Monday-after bargain hunters:
--Get there early. If the signs only offer 25 to 30 percent off, walk out, that's basically regular price. If you see 40 percent off or more, it's time to shop.
--Get the brand-named candy bars --your Snickers, your M&Ms, your Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It's the candy you love, but priced to move because all the wrappers are pastel-colored. Load up and it will carry you through until the November's day-after Halloween sales.
--Candy that features a licensed cartoon character is usually your low-quality chocolate.
--Cadbury Mini-Eggs offer the chocolate goodness of the creme eggs, but without the messy residue.
--Just ignore the calorie-count on the front of M&M wrappers! (Bartha)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

The producers on "Desperate Housewives" may have made the best casting decision ever. Sources at ABC tell the NY Post's Page Six gossip column that SUSAN LUCCI might be headed to Wisteria Lane since "All My Children" is going the way of the Edsel. Her rep won't confirm the news, but a network talking head says it won't be happening when the show starts filming in July. (Lee)

Grace notes from Vinny Marino:

GREEN DAY's Broadway musical, "American Idiot" closed last night. BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG played St. Jimmy once again, and the sold-out crowd at the St. James Theater was treated to an even bigger surprise. After the show ended, and the producers came out to say a few words, the director, MICHAEL MAYER grabbed a mic and said, "Ladies and gentlemen... Green Day!" The band did a 40-minute set that included tunes from its entire career. What an amazing way to end a Broadway run. A national tour of "American Idiot" begins in the fall, and the show will eventually make it all over the globe. (Marino)

Taking everything much too seriously:

That girl in Mexico who fasted for 16-days to get an invite to the royal wedding finally got her wish.
Orange.co.uk says an anonymous donor decided to pay for ESTIBALIS CHAVEZ to fly to London for the April 29th wedding. Chavez camped out in front of the British Embassy in Mexico City, refusing to eat. The 19-year-old lost nearly 20-pounds during the stunt.
She says, "I've been a fan of LADY DI since I was little and my mother's a fan as well."
Editor's note: Unfortunately, Lady Di will not be present for the nuptials. (Still)

Chocolate, Caffeine, Alcohol:

If you gave up coffee because you were concerned about high blood pressure, researchers say that's probably not necessary. New findings suggest there's no link between coffee and an increased risk of hypertension.
A report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition breaks down data from six previous studies. More than 170-thousand people in all were questioned about how much coffee they drink a day. Researchers kept in touch with the participants for up to 33 years. About 20-percent of the subjects eventually developed high blood pressure, and of those, the heavy coffee drinkers were no more likely to be diagnosed than those who drank very little.
Researchers say the studies they analyzed were each a little different, so their results aren't conclusive, but they still see no evidence that drinking coffee can lead to high blood pressure. It's not certain if there's a difference in results between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee because some participants reported drinking both equally and other studies only asked about caffeinated coffee. In addition to that, caffeine doesn't work the same in every person. For some people it may be okay to drink a lot of coffee, but for others with a different genetic background, it could be unsafe to drink very much. (Page)