The Hollywood Post

Today is the first day of the rest of The Huffington Post‘s life. The site debuts with a business plan in hand and staffers behind the scenes. Howard Kurtz reports on the set-up in his Media Notes column for the Washinton Post: “Dazzle, yes. But can they blog?”
The site’s format is striking, with a home page that has the feel of a newspaper rather than a blog. Bloggers are featured down the left column of the home page, with a “News wire” (headlines and photos linking to news stories) taking up most of the center and right columns; Harry Shearer’s “Eat the press” feature runs across the bottom of the center and left columns. The format is impressive and attractive. The blog contributors lean heavily to the Hollywood left, although David Frum and Michael Isikoff are visible exceptions today.
Of most interest to me on first look this morning is the discovery that the notoriously lefty Laurie David, the wife of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David, appears to be about as attractive as Larry’s “Curb” wife Cheryl. In her maiden post — “Ford: The logic escapes me” — Laurie sounds as grating as Larry does on “Curb,” but unfunny. Click on Laurie’s “bio”; it advises that she “is principally focused on global warming and fuel economy issues.” Ouch! I was interested to learn, however, that Larry watches American Idol with his two daughters.
I wonder if Larry and Laurie have experienced or discussed any emotional conflict in contributing to the smashing success of Fox’s marquee show. (A photograph of Rupert Murdoch coincidentally anchors the home page this morning.) It’s the kind of discussion that Larry could turn into a good episode of “Curb.”