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The Morning Fix: Pixar rules the world ... again! Kilborn’s comeback attempt. Legal questions over kids in reality TV.

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After the coffee. Before the drive back from Las Vegas. It’s Pixar’s world, we just live in it. ‘Toy Story 3’ ruled the box office for the second week in a row, taking in almost $60 million. Adam Sandler’s ‘Grown Ups’ did $41 million, which is on par with Sandler’s other comedies that get panned by critics. Tom Cruise’s and Cameron Diaz’s ‘Knight and Day’ took in a disappointing $20.5 million even though it got some decent reviews. Box-office analysis from the Los Angeles Times, Hot Blog and IndieWire.

Move over, Adam Sandler. The New Yorker profiles Steve Carell, star of NBC’s ‘The Office’ as well as several recent box-office blasts and declares him Hollywood’s most reliable star. Carell will have a big decision to make after the next season of ‘The Office.’ Does he stay on the show and guarantee a nice big pay raise or does he make the move to movies full time? He’s already indicated he’s leaning toward leaving Dunder Mifflin. He doesn’t need my advice, but I’d say ‘The Office’ has kind of peaked creatively. Not saying the show still doesn’t have its charms, but better to leave while it’s starting to jump the shark rather than when it’s somersaulting over it again and again.

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Spidey senses tingling? Deadline Hollywood’s Mike Fleming gives us the latest on the search for a new Spider-Man. Unfortunately what that means is a bunch of names of people who might be in line for the part. In other words, throw enough at the wall, and sooner or later something sticks. Since we like to provide a little media analysis with our media round-up, blogger Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool used Fleming’s post to lament the speculative nature of reporting by the Hollywood trades. Yes, it’s come to this. A blogger is criticizing other media outlets for being speculative.

Marketing in the Twitter age. Variety looks at the challenges studios face in hyping their films in the age of bloggers, Facebook and Twitter. Obviously it’s gotten harder to keep the lid on projects, but not impossible. I have no clue what ‘Inception’ is about, but I can’t wait to see it.

This makes sense. The broadcast networks just finished selling advertising inventory for the fall season and, as usual, they’ll be paying more for less. Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age looks at the ratings that advertising agencies are expecting the networks to generate next season with their lineups -- and it’s not a pretty picture.

Goodbye, here’s a trophy. CBS’ canceled soap ‘As the World Turns’ was a big winner at Sunday night’s Daytime Emmy awards. Ellen DeGeneres also won for best talk show (although she took herself out of the running for best host). The show, which was on CBS, should get better ratings than it did last year on the CW. However, between the tribute to Dick Clark (very touching) and the various Las Vegas acts that were there (the show was broadcast live from there), it was sometimes hard to remember that it is an awards show for daytime television. Winners and losers from the Hollywood Reporter.

It’s Monday so it must be time to ... restart those rumors of merger talks between CBS News and CNN. This time it’s the New York Post saying once again that CNN and CBS are looking into a joint venture. The Post buries this in a story about Katie Couric getting ready to renegotiate her deal with CBS and implies that somehow there is a link between her staying and a combination with CNN. Yet she doesn’t want to replace Larry King. Look, cry wolf enough and one day a wolf will show up (sorry, used the throwing-paint analogy earlier). That said, there are lots of business and union issues that make a marriage between these two a lot harder than people seem to realize. Not saying it won’t ever happen, just saying it’s not as easy as people think.

Scooped on their own story. Time and Politico decided they couldn’t wait for Rolling Stone to put its big story on Gen. McChrystal online, so they did it themselves. Not too cool, said Rolling Stone. New York Times columnist David Carr on this media hijacking.

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Here’s Craig Kilborn ... again. The man who mysteriously walked away from his CBS late-night show, Craig Kilborn, is back on TV Monday night with a new show airing on several big-city Fox stations. ‘The Kilborn File’ is a six-week test, and if all goes well, he’ll be on full time again next year. But unlike ‘The Late Late Show’ and ‘The Daily Show,’ Kilborn’s new show is running in the early evening. So not only does he have to get his fans back after a six-year hiatus, he also has to bring an audience to a time period that is typically home to game shows, reruns and ‘Entertainment Tonight.’ Kilborn talks to Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times (that’s right, I just name checked myself) about why he quit CBS, what he’s been up to since then and how he loathes those tormented comedians. For more on the challenges facing his show from the business side, Broadcasting & Cable’s Paige Albaniak looks at the hurdles he’ll face.

Inside the Los Angeles Times. Matea Gold and Richard Verrier look at whether reality shows are skirting rules aimed at protecting children. Seems that many states do not know how to classify the kids who appear in some shows. Wounded Iraqi war vet J.R. Martinez has found an opportunity at ABC soap ‘All My Children.’

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter because it’s just a nice thing to do. Twitter.com/JBFlint

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