Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• It's official: Will Ferrell is the most overpaid man in show business. [THR]
• Layoffs: BusinessWeek's cuts kicked off today; layoffs now loom at Time Inc. as the company awaits word on how many volunteers will accept buyout packages; and there's a bit more detail on this week's cuts at the AP.
• MSNBC's Joe Scarborough isn't exactly on fire at the moment. [NYO]
• Palinitis: The ex-governor's sit-down with Oprah on Monday generated the talk show queen her highest ratings in two years; Fox News clowns Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are now at war over their respective Palin interviews; and people are still talking about that Palin Newsweek cover, for some reason.
• Vivendi has tossed a last-minute complication into the NBC deal. [NYT]
• Times reporter Jodi Kantor has landed a seven-figure book deal. [NYO]
• Breaking! The Emmys are moving from September to August. [THR]
• CNN's Candy Crowley is speaking out about her weight loss. At last! [LAT]

• Is New York magazine up for sale now that Bruce Wasserstein has died?  There's no reason to assume so, but that isn't stopping people from tossing around the names of some very unlikely "contenders." [NYP, AdAge, DF]
• Related: David Carr of the Times details how Wasserstein benefited the magazine; Daniel Gross of Slate focuses on his commitment to journalism; and New York's editors offer up their own heartfelt tribute to the mag's late owner.
• The cuts at Condé continue: Golf World felt the pain today. [Gawker]
• SNL has cut a deal with Anheuser-Busch to stick beer ads into the show. "Maybe if we drink enough the show will actually seem funny." [LAT] More

• It's all over for Dan Rather and his long-running legal campaign against CBS. A state appeals court dismissed the ex-anchor's lawsuit today. [Reuters, NYP]
• At least four parties are still in the bidding for BusinessWeek. But Bloomberg LP remains the most likely acquirer of the struggling magazine. [BW, Reuters]
• An "unbelievably conscientious" Sarah Palin has finishing her memoir in less than four months. You can not buy the book beginning on November 17. [WP]
• Michelle Obama will appear as guest on Sesame Street's season debut. [NYT]
• TLC announced today it's dropping Jon Gosselin from Jon & Kate Plus 8. This news calls out for name change, obvs, so it'll be Kate Plus 8 from now on. [THR]More

• An autopsy is scheduled to be performed on Michael Jackson this morning; just when the results will be back isn't clear. Meanwhile, attention is being focused on the drugs Jackson may have been taking just before he went into cardiac arrest yesterday, a "cocktail" that may have included the powerful narcotic Demerol. [AP, NYP, Sun, TMZ]
• Naturally, Jackson's death has led just about every living celebrity to issue a statement, extend condolences, and/or use otherwise clog up Twitter with some sort of thought on Jackson's passing. [People, Mirror, NYP]
• Jackson was reportedly $500 million in debt when he died. [NYP]
• As for how Jackson's kids are coping with the news, they're supposedly "very upset" but "fine," whatever that means. But no one knows who will take custody of them or if Jackson left behind and instructions. [Sun]
• In the meantime, Jackson's fans have been holding vigils outside the hospital where his body is located, outside the Neverland Ranch, and in front of his childhood home in Gary, Indiana, among other places. [TMZ, TMZ] More

Happy Birthday | Marc Jacobs has several reasons to celebrate today. In addition to his recent engagement, he'll also be blowing out 46 candles on his birthday cake today. Others marking the big day: NBC chief Jeff Zucker is 44. Hugh Hefner turns 83. Cynthia Nixon is 43. Leighton Meester is turning 23. Albert Hammond Jr. is turning 29. Joe Scarborough is 46. Porn queen Jenna Jameson is 35. Dennis Quaid turns 55. Fashion designer Martin Margiela is 52. Restaurateur Taavo Somer turns 36. Twilight actress Kristen Stewart is 19. Jesse McCartney turns 22. America's Next Top Model winner Yoanna House is 29. And former model-turned-ANTM judge Paulina Porizkova is 44.

♦  Following a small incident yesterday, MSNBC is reportedly planning to institute a tape-delay on Morning Joe beginning on Monday. [TVNewser]
♦  Vivian Schiller, the head of NYTimes.com, is leaving to join NPR as its new CEO. [Gawker]
♦  NBC political director Chuck Todd is co-authoring a book called How Obama Won that will be published by Knopf before the inauguration in January. [NYO]
♦  Ted Turner doesn't have too many good things to say about Time Warner as he hits the trail to promote his new book. [Portfolio, Gawker]
♦  Why was Cindy Adams so furious about her Wikipedia entry a few weeks ago? It says she's 83 when she's actually 78. [HuffPo] More

Joe Scarborough's Slip of the Tongue | Here's a way keep up cable news ratings now that the election is over: MSNBC's Joe Scarborough casually dropped the F-word into his commentary on Morning Joe this morning, much to the surprise of his guests. A clip of the slip-up is on your left. [YouTube via Atrios]

• Michael Lohan is is convinced his daughter is drinking again, and that Lindsay's relationship with Samantha Ronson is to blame. In other Lohan family news, Samantha may be writing a book about her relationship with Lindsay—whose 48-year-old father recently popped the question to his 24-year-old girlfriend, Erin Muller. [MSNBC, E!, OK]
• MSNBC personalities Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Shuster don't get along much, in case you haven't heard the news. [P6]
• Tragic news: More than two years after they first got engaged, Michael Bolton and Nicolette Sheridan have called it quits. [NYDN]