"The Hudson Hotel bar should have a permanent booth for Early Show going away parties," says a CBS veteran, who reports another two staffers on the network's morning show quit this week, and there are more exits on the way.

It turns out Shelley Ross' departure hasn't been the panacea that brass tried convincing everyone, including the press, it would be. Even with interim executive producer Rick Kaplan at the A.M. helm, we're told "things aren't any better [there]. No former staffers have returned to CBS despite the media plants to the contrary."

So how come problems remain? Because of Ross' "mean girl" confidants are still on the inside, even though, we're told, they're the ones responsible for brandishing the largest, most serrated knives when it came to stabbing her in the back.

And look no farther than former Good Morning America colleague and Early Show EP hopeful Ben Sherwood and CBS VP of talent/development Barbara Fedida, who were both, reportedly, on great terms with Ross to her face, but not when she left the room. (Fedida worked in talent at ABC before CBS poached her.)

Fedida and CBS News chief Sean McManus, meanwhile, are taking heat from staffers for "hand pick[ing] one executive disaster after the next" without repercussion.

And that's easy to do when Les Moonves is asleep at the wheel.

Lots of Ben Sherwood rumors going around. Some have the rumored item-planter edging to become the next executive producer of The Early Show; others say the CBS Evening News will have Rick Kaplan decamp for the morning show and Sherwood replace him at Katie Couric's haunt. (Even one that has him gunning for the American Morning EP job.)

Naturally, there are the requisite denials: Kaplan will return to News and Sherwood has only had talks about positions there.

But how do we know who Ben Sherwood The Man is? Maybe looking at some of his emails from his days at ABC's Good Morning America, where he was paired with ousted Early Show EP Shelley Ross, might shed some light.

Where Ross was belligerent to her staff, does Sherwood go out of his way to make his team feel the warm fuzzies?

We got our hands on a Christmas Eve 2004 email that Sherwood, the former exec producer, sent to the entire GMA staff — including the email editing session he had with his wife to make sure everything was phrased just right.

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What happens when you're on-air during The Early Show and half-heartedly suggest your guest, Tracy Ullman, audition for an anchor spot, and then she blurts out that she knows your show is looking for a producer? Awkwardness, that's what. [via TVN]

So happy are The Early Show staffers now that Shelley Ross is gone, some of the 21 who left under her tenure are thinking about coming back now that Rick Kaplan is, at least temporarily, manning the show. [Mixed Media]

Some official movement on The Early Show front: Zev Shalev joins the show today as senior producer. Meanwhile, no word yet on the fate of executive producer hopeful Ben Sherwood (pictured), who, we're told, resigned from his post at Good Morning America before he could be fired, leaving a tidy severance package on the table to avoid industry ridicule.

Why the ouster? Not only were ratings an issue, but apparently some folks had problems with his nepotism. Rumor has it Sherwood secured on-air promotion for porn doc Inside Deep Throat, which just happened to produced by wife Karen Kehela's Imagine Entertainment, the studio founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

Meanwhile, reports a spy, Sherwood dined at Tribeca's Blaue Gans over the weekend with a large group when, supposedly, a former GMA staffer accosted him in front of his party and "gave Ben quite a piece of his mind." And what's this about the incriminating emails of Ben's that the employee saved?

We're hearing rumors item-planter Ben Sherwood, the former Good Morning America executive producer currently gunning for the same gig at The Early Show, is also pursuing the EP title at CNN's American Morning after the post was unceremoniously vacated by Ed Litvak. Who can confirm? Add details?

Though Ben Sherwood may be the leading candidate to take over Shelley Ross' executive producer job at The Early Show, network brass is fuming over reports in Page Six that are said to have been leaked by Sherwood himself, or from inside his camp.

On Thursday, Page Six reported that at the funeral of GMA producer James Bogdonoff, ABC anchor Charlie Gibson muttered, "It took us six years to get rid of her. How come it only took them [CBS] five months?" From inside CBS, we're told Les Moonves & Co. understand Sherwood fed that item, and they're furious he'd go to such lengths to sabotage his predecessor.

And it's not just them. Gibson is raging, too, that P6 ran that quote, and more furious since he too suspects it was Sherwood-provided. (These two know each other from Sherwood's days at ABC; he exec produced GMA through 2006, after he returned from writing novels for two years after leaving his No. 2 producer gig at NBC Nightly News.)

But all of that might be swept under the carpet, eventually. We're told Sherwood retains his lead role on the list Early Show job candidates because of a strong personal friendship, beginning in college, with a senior CBS News executive.

As Steve Forbes is apt to repeat from his father: "There is nothing wrong with nepotism so long as you keep it in the family." Or, at the very least, the university class.

While some folks are doing silly things like worrying about the future of The Early Show, others can't help but look to the past. Turns out, during Shelley Ross' tenure running the CBS morning show, viewership may have actually increased. Number crunching TVNewser reveals audience figures may have eeked upward, with a net gain of 64,000 viewers. Nothing substantial, but that's certainly a better direction than the alternative. But with Radar's bullet-pointed list of all of Ross' missteps – her No. 2 that never left; making weatherman Dave Price miserable by flying him around the country on costly assignments; never answering email; and, oh, that demoralizing of staffers – perhaps maybe hypothetically possibly potentially theoretically it wasn't enough to keep her from getting canned?

More from the anonymous mailbag on The Early Show executive producer hopeful Ben Sherwood: "He was seen at an out of the way East Side bar with interim Early Show EP Rick Kaplan earlier this week." To the untrained eye, this might appear like someone's trying to get Sherwood the job!

An anonymous tip making its way to our inbox: "Former GMA executive producer Ben Sherwood is the leading candidate to (once again) replace his nemesis Shelley Ross, this time at CBS' Early Show. He is working with his superagent, CAA's Alan Berger, as well as through his powerful Hollywood studio exec wife, to secure the position."

CBS News just sent out a press release confirming what we already knew: The Early Show executive producer is out. Who's in? None other than Evening News exec producer Rick Kaplan, who's gonna have crazy hours, at least until they find a replacement.

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"It took us six years to get rid of her. How come it only took them [CBS] five months?" That's what Charlie Gibson's said to be wondering aloud, to Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts, following rumors that The Early Show exec producer Shelley Ross is a goner. Not only has Shelley not shown up for work this week, but boxes are being moved out of her office. On Monday, which was potentially Ross' last day, a meeting was held for staffers to vent their frustrations with Ross. She attended the meeting. It was awkward.

Since arriving in September, Ross has maintained The Early Show's third-place ranking (that's not a compliment), seen 21 staffers leave, seen Les Moonves wife and Early Show co-anchor threaten to quit, and suffered through rampant rumors of tequila shots and joyfully humiliating staffers.

After all this, it looks like somebody might need the happiness gene — which, as the The Early Show reported today, explains why some people are genetically wired to be happy. That the B-roll included footage of girls getting wasted at a bar is completely unrelated.

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Yesterday, as you might have heard, Hillary Clinton won Ohio and Texas. It didn't just recharge (or rather, re-enable) her presidential campaign; it was also a slap in the face to the media who have been relentless in their criticism for her while leaving Barack Obama's CV alone.

Which might explain why, when she made the morning show rounds earlier today (hitting the "sextecta" of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, MSNBC, and CNN) as part of her own media relations campaign, her groundbreaking suggestion that she might entertain a joint ticket with Obama went without any follow up.

Look who's got it easy now.

Normally the biggest question Shelley Ross must answer is: "Patron or Cuervo?" But following the latest round of gossipmongering about the The Early Show exec producer and "cruel tyrant," she might be forced out of her job within the next few weeks after only coming on board in September (and overseeing the exits of more than 20 staffers). Though Ross' recent tendency not to come into the office might push things along. Perhaps you know if she was at work this morning?

Best known for allegedly serving her staff (non-optional) tequila shots as a means of motivating the troops, embroiled Early Show exec producer Shelley Ross has more leaks to worry about. (Obvious criticism: She's getting harsher treatment because she's a female exec, an assessment we wouldn't argue with)

Some Chatty Cathys at the ratings-challenged morning show are eager to share gossipy anecdotes. Like the time medical reporter Rob Foreman, who dared challenge the program's commitment to scientific evidence, was forced to write an apology and read it aloud to the staff. Or the time when another producer was forced to reschedule his colonoscopy because it conflicted with sweeps.

Apparently, her tactics have made for an unhealthy working environment! Which explains why, since September, some 21 staffers have exited. Probably to "spend more time with their families."