According to published reports pretty much everywhere, former ABC and NBC Studios head Ted Harbert is expected to take over at E!, with an announcement coming as early as today. Good luck to Ted as he takes his place at the head of an empire built on paparazzi video, the plastic surgery deathmask that is Joan Rivers' face, and Anna Nicole Smith trying to squeeze her enormous, drug-addled ass into a bathtub. (Yes, we know that Joan Rivers has moved on. He'll just have to find another mouthy self-mutilator to annoy people on the red carpet.)

Harbert has a tough act to follow. Mindy Herman, the outgoing E! chief/burlesque-show-parking-lot-brawler, was incredibly beloved by her underlings.

• Comcast Expected to Name E! Chief [LAT, reg. req'd]


• Mindy Herman Follow-Up: Yup, Still Fired From E! [Defamer]


• It's Official: Mindy Herman E!xecuted [Defamer]

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