Short Ends: Laughing Through Tragedy

· You know how it goes: It’s late, it’s been a long shift on the overnight anchor desk, a weird little man rides across the bottom of the screen screaming about Uncle Hoe, and suddenly even a tragic celebrity suicide story seems hilarious. (They did, however, apologise for their poorly timed loopiness.)
· We thought that Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t going to be as controversial a View co-host as Rosie O’Donnell, but she certainly surprised the ladies with her thoughts on the Michael Vick dogfighting mess on her first day on the couch.
· Amazingly, Brad Pitt’s inclusion on People.com’s highly selective “Hollywood’s Secret Braniacs” list (requirements: getting at least within a couple of credits of a college degree) makes no mention of his love of architecture.
· The Smoking Gun digs up the embattled Jerry Lewis’s tour rider, which seeks to guarantee that his live comedy appearances don’t get mixed up with MDA events.