The Courier-Mail is this morning saying what yesterday's Channel 9 media statement implied - that Rick Burnett was sacked from Extra. ("Spending more time with his family" is generally regarded as a coded statement.) The C-M says Burnett failed to get assurances from the network about his future after speculation raised first by the C-M's Dianne Butler on Saturday. Former Nine sport reporter Chris Bombolas is quoted as saying he fears there'll be more blood-letting at the station. Inevitably, speculation about the long-term future of the one-of-a-kind Extra will now resume.

How many degrees of separation are there between Tom Cruise and Hugh Jackman? As has been reported almost everywhere, Cruise has been sacked by Paramount on the basis that he's weird and he hasn't been giving the studio sufficient return on its investment. Jackman, meanwhile, is touring Australia with what is likely to be a very profitable production of The Boy from Oz, both for him and for the show's producers. The connection is that both of them have brought into focus the issue of "star power" and how much it is worth. Cruise was expendable but Jackman, at least for now, is deemed to be worth the reported $250,000 per performance he is getting for Oz. Indeed, the show would not have happened without his participation. If nothing else, that's something to think about next

So, this is what we've been waiting 50 years for: Channel 7 will be celebrating a half-century of television in Australian with a reunion of the original cast from A Country Practice. A gala event hosted by Mel and Kochie (that's Melissa Doyle and David Koch for the benefit of the 19,500,000 Australians who don't watch Sunrise) on September 17 will also see a reunion of the Daddo brothers - Cameron, Andrew and Lachie - and will feature appearances by Hollywood actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (who, presumably, will just happen to be in the country at the time flogging their latest film, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby). Other "big" names to take part will be John Burgess, Lindy Chamberlain, Alan Bond, Stuart Diver and Molly Meldrum. It's so exciting.