The New (Old) Golden Boy

When did Pat O'Brien become the king of all media scoops? The Access Hollywood host/cheerleader has come out of nowhere to land three recent high-profile interviews. First he got the exclusive Affleck/Lopez interview, beating out the likes of Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and the Exclusive Interview Queen Barbara Walters . I thought "Well, maybe J-Fleck wanted to reward Pat for all the months of fawing and promotion his show has provided for the couple." Then on Tuesday, O'Brien got the now-infamous Mark Cuban interview in which discussed the financial benefits of the Kobe ordeal. At that point I thought "Well, he probably just got lucky. There was no way he expected Cuban to drop that bombshell." But then to top of the interview coup, O'Brien was the first person to land an exclusive interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger immediately after his Tonight Show announcement. Now, I'm thinking "Well, maybe I've underestimated our old friend Pat."

Ever since he took over hosting Access Hollywood, I've felt a little sorry for Pat O'Brien. I mean, for most of the '90s he was a reputable fixture of CBS sports. Every time the Penzoil at the Half college basketball segments came on, there was O'Brien expertly moderating the proceedings. The guy used to be a real, respected journalist before CBS booted him. So I'm glad that he's emerged from the celebrity infotainment heap. With all these exclusive interviews and a recurring segment on the Today show, O'Brien's turning into everything Geraldo Rivera wishes he could be.