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.

Rosen comes across as a bitter type to many. Back when he was elevated from the weekend show to the weekday version, Rosen is said to have gone behind the back of then-EP Shelley Ross, and straight to talent VP Barbara Fedida, demanding a formal press release announcing his title as "senior broadcast producer" and The Early Show's No. 2. It never came, but a salary increase did after he continued complaining when Rick Kaplan came on board.

Rosen, along with Blackford, reportedly began dumping on Shalev as soon as he arrived, never failing to mention the fact that he came from the world of "gay TV."