The TV Zone

Yes! "GMA" has the big story of the day. Was the Prez checking out the scenery? Was 'Kozy?

-Photos: Barack Obama and his family

The network's investigative unit put together a hard look at the controversy.

Watch!

Yes, those are the key facts. Whitney Houston's comeback album is due out then, and she'll launch "GMA's" fall concert series. This September. A big get for "GMA," suffice it to say. No other details at this point.

-Photos: Whitey Houston

Sad news - Jack Reilly, the veteran producer of "Good Morning America," has died. Charlie Gibson sent out a nice note to ABC News staffers this morning: "One of the finest people I ever had the good fortune to work with and for. Modest, shy, self-effacing, not an ounce of inflated ego, and yet a cracker jack producer who understood when he should intrude, and when to stand back and let others do their work." Indeed, Reilly was the Quiet One - a rare presence in columns, and not one to boast about his many accomplishments, most notably (or at least memorably) the turnaround at "GMA." That success certainly had many fathers and mothers - notably David Hartman, Joan Lunden, Charlie (of course), and off camera, Phil Beuth, along with many many others. But Reilly's years there ('86-94) were among the best years of "GMA's" life...huge audience growth and the unseating (however briefly) of "Today." He went on to become an esteemed producer and executive at CNBC. He was 84 and the industry he helped build just got a little poorer.

Meanwhile, if you missed tonight's "World News," Charlie Gibson has a tribute that closes the broadcast. Here's the link, and the Reilly piece cues up after John Berman's story.

"GMA "is billing as exclusive, and airs Friday...

Details: " In an emotional and inspirational interview, Connie Culp reveals the events leading-up to a moment of violence that destroyed her face and changed her life forever. Culp talks with Sawyer about the donor, the man who shot her, the decision to undergo the transplant surgery, as well as her journey of recovery and aspirations for the future.

"Connie Culp is the first person in the United States of America to undergo a face transplant. The first face transplant was performed in 2005 on Isabelle Dinoire of France."
(Pix: ABC)

Gov. Rod Blagojevich - Blago - will appear on "GMA" Monday and "The View" later in the morning.

Unless, of course, "60 Minutes" gets the interview first.

No details, but Blago will appear on "View" with his wife, Patricia.

Does anyone smell high-octane damage control?

Let's see - what questions could anyone possibly ask of this guy? What's the weather like in Chicago? How about them Cubs? Did ya ever meet Oprah?

I'm running out of questions here - will someone help me?

"Blago, what do you call that hair?"

And so on.

Here's a brief and intriguing program note: "GMA" will interview Williams Ayres on tomorrow's show. Ayres? You know - the former Weatherman who became a reasonably visible part of the McCain campaign in the waning days, as it attempted to link him to some sort of "terrorist" sympathies on the part of Barack Obama.

It all backfired (of course), and now Ayres will have his say.

Here's the "GMA" presser: "In his first first television interview since he became the center of controversy in the Presidential race, Chicago activist Williams Ayers breaks his silence in an exclusive interview with Chris Cuomo on Friday's "Good Morning America."

"Ayers, a leader of 60s radical group the Weathermen, became a political lightning rod over past associations with president-elect Barack Obama. In his first exclusive interview, Ayers talks about the re-issue of his 2001 memoir "Fugitive Days" and his journey from privileged youth to 60s radical."

(Ahhh, "re-issue" of his book; always always always a motive for interviews like this.)