Was Laurye Blackford’s exit from The Early Show not the voluntarily departure we heard it was? Earlier this month we heard the “mean girls” producer gave her two weeks notice when Zev Shalev was installed as interim executive producer.

Now one rumor being floated is that the idea of her exiting the CBS show wasn’t something she actually wanted to do, and that she was nudged out the door when her 6-month contract, signed in January, expired. She’s said to be weighing a move back to Los Angeles, which might help her escape one unconfirmed rumor we heard that she’s secretly living with one of her own staffers, who she hired, here in New York.

Meanwhile, Shalev, who’s been on the job just a couple weeks and is well liked by CBS News head Sean McManus (McManus fought with Shelley Ross to bring him on board), is already facing off against Michael Rosen, the show’s No. 2 who’s been clamoring for the top EP slot himself. The “poor chemistry is visible on the air,” reports a spy; timing errors and sloppy live producing are cited as evidence. But Rosen does have something to look forward to: We hear he’s getting married to CNN’s human resources head this summer.

Which is actually very bad news for any Early Show staffers looking to jump ship: His new wife will be the first to know and, presumably, able to alert Rosen that they’re job hunting.

Not that staffers are really expecting him to return in a better mood post-nuptials.

CONTINUED »

There are so many new faces at The Early Show that everyone should be wearing name tags, suggests one insider who’s been witness to the super-negativity at the CBS morning program. So many new faces, and not one to recognize.

But at least the A.M. troops have a new leader: Zev Shalev was named interim executive producer, as Jossip was the first to tell you. Now word arrives that CBS brass want to install him as the permanent head, if only to save face amidst a crumbling operation. And while Shalev has been described to us as a decent guy and a robust resume, he’s also said to be clueless about how to run things.

As we also told you, in naming Shalev to the EP slot, The Early Show also lost Shelley Ross hire and “mean girl” Laurye Blackford, who quit in protest. Her last day was Thursday. Her slot could be filled by Today’s Betsy Alexander, who was brought in to help out with sweeps week, but is still around and is expected to take reigns of Early’s second hour.

Meanwhile, those who are still on staff have another reason to groan:

CONTINUED »

JOSSIP REPORTS

Laurye Blackford, one of Shelley Ross’ hires and one of the notorious “mean girls” at The Early Show, told bosses yesterday that she’s quitting. She submitted her two weeks notice, Jossip hears, in protest of Zev Shalev being named executive producer of the A.M. show, following Rick Kaplan’s exit, which we were the first to tell you about this week. (Interesting, because David Shenfeld, the senior producer who stopped showing up for work last week, is said to have left the show because he lost all power to Blackford.)

Blackford was only supposed to be with the show through January, but stayed on because she thought she might be named to Ross’ top spot, says a source.

Oh, and in case you missed it in there: Shalev is officially replacing Kaplan.

When Rick Kaplan makes his exit from The Early Show on Friday, who’s going to replace him? One name being floated to us is Tom Cibrowski, the Good Morning America exec producer. We’re told his contract is up this summer and won’t be renewed; perhaps because “he is only allowed in the control room two days a week due to his temper”?

Another possibility is Zev Shalev, a Shelley Ross hire from Canada. He’s a senior producer at TES right now. One of many. Snipes one source: “He has NO news background, certainly not recently. And the trio – Paul Friedman, Barbara Feddida, and Sean McManus – are simply looking for quick answers.”