For vivid proof of the weakening dollar, look no further that the annual salary survey in the forthcoming issue of TV Guide: After two years of slumming alongside the likes of Zach Braff and seeing everyone from William Petersen ($600,000 per episode) to the Simpsons cast (each $400,000 per episode) pass him by, Charlie Sheen has reclaimed his spot at the top of the prime-time cash heap, earning $800,000 per 30-minute episode of Two and a Half Men. Granted, it's not seven-figure Friends money (which Sheen originally asked for in negotiations back in 2006), but we still think it bears repeating: Charlie Sheen makes $800,000 per episode of Two and a Half Men. Join us in getting our heads around it (and a few other hot-ticket raises) after the jump.

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· The eldest denizens of the Dark Knight cast, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, made an obligatory promotional stop-off to hobnob with the ladies of The View this morning. And, of course, they used the opportunity to stump for a Heath Ledger Oscar nomination. We'll weigh in tomorrow morning with our own thoughts, as both Seth and STV saw the movie earlier this eve. [The View]
· Woody Allen's longtime producing partner, Charles Joffe, passed away at age 78. [NYT]
· Continuing the moribund nature of tonight's edition of Short Ends, we're sad to report that nearly 150 staffers at the Los Angeles Times, including publisher David Hiller and truth-challenged reporter Chuck Philips, found themselves on the receiving end of a pink slip. [LA Observed]
· Even though we don't know a single person who watches CSI, we're pretty sure that millions of people will be upset to learn that all-around bad-arse William Peterson is leaving the show mid-season. [Michael Ausiello]
· Your Uncle Grambo's dreamgirl extraordinaire, Miss Amanda Bynes, is dating ... Seth MacFarlane??? NOOOOOO! We are so glad this day is over, we're not sure we could take anymore bad news. [ONTD]

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Kudos today to James Hibberd, the Hollywood Reporter TV blogger who is perhaps the only reason we have any clue (or rather, care to have any clue) about the horrors unfolding presently at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. Apparently the Florence Henderson/Ed Asner days are over, with the one-two punch of confirmed buddies Karl Rove and Seth MacFarlane taking over Monday as the off-colour star tandem to beat.

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Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is the highest paid writer/producer in Hollywood and, as of today, he's also one of the most THC-free. Recently, MacFarlane announced that he will no longer be smoking marijuana because it makes him too paranoid. "One of the last times I was stoned, I was convinced that I would die unless I kept moving my body. So I sat there, baked, waving my arms around like a crazy person," he explains.

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· Baby-faced Freaks and Geeks (and Bones) star John Francis Daley and writing partner Jonathan Goldstein will rewrite Hours of Fun for Disney, a great premise about what happens when all those back-of-the-comic-book novelty items actually live up to their promises. Oh man, Sea-Monkeys: The Movie! We're so there. [THR]
· So beyond four more years of Family Guy and its offspring, what else does Seth MacFarlane's $100 million deal mean for you? How about a Family Guy movie?! Don't say you came out of this empty handed. [TV Week]
· Jennifer Love Hewitt's legendary, spirit-channeling rack will live on the syndicated afterlife, as Sci Fi Channel and WE have jointly acquired rerun rights to the CBS drama. [Variety]
· Worried that a PG-13 rating will water down Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the next installment of the cyborg-killing-machine franchise? Says Salvation-producer Victor Kubicek, "The PG-13 has increased in intensity." [Variety]
· This is great: An FCC ruling has deemed TMZ and The 700 Club "bona fide newscasts," making them exempt from political equal-time requirement laws. We guess that makes Harvey Levin the Walter Cronkite of the exposed ladyparts generation? "And that's the way it's shaved." *Long sip from sippy cup.* [Variety]

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It was less than six months ago that Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was picketing along with his fellow WGA members, saying of Fox's plans to air Guy episodes that had not yet been completed: "It would just be a colossal dick move if they did that." At the time, MacFarlane had the luxury of knowing his deal with the studio—two years in the making, and reportedly astronomical—had yet to be finalised, putting him "in breach of nothing" during the work stoppage. Well, the dotted-lines have at last been signed, the fences, apparently mended: 20th Century Fox TV will make MacFarlane the highest-paid writer/producer/gay-baby-voicer in television.

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The Advocate cornered Seth MacFarlane, the multi-talented creator of venerable envelope-nudging Fox animated hit The Family Guy, for an off-the-velvet-cuff conversation about how homosexuality figures into his own brand of flashback-reliant comedy. Despite an affection for musical numbers that would suggest otherwise, MacFarlane is straight. Still, he's had the opportunity to explore his same-sex-loving side through his voicing of Family favorite Stewie, who's evolved in recent seasons from a nefarious infant hellbent on world domination, into perhaps the only TV diaper-pooper grappling with his own sexual identity. Some highlights from the highly entertaining exchange follow, including a graphic proposition for frequently outraged Family-monitors, The Parents Television Council:

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