Zelda Rubinstein, the small medium of “Poltergeist”, died yesterday, aged 76. And so did Howard Zinn, the social historian name-dropped by Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting”. Also, ABC has cancelled “Ugly Betty” and Chris Matthews is kind of an idiot.

And in the middle of all that, I find myself transfixed by this AP photo of Cameron Douglas, who yesterday pled guilty to drug-dealing charges in New York. It’s like a Magic Eye puzzle; if you cross your eyes at just the right angle, you can see his dad circa “The China Syndrome”.

I’m right, aren’t I? And now you cannot look away.

I’ve told you about io9, right? The geek site created by tech and culture journalist Annalee Newitz a couple of years back that’s become an invaluable source for nerdcore commentary and some very fine “Lost”, “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” coverage … as well providing news of everything Felicia Day does (even the weird stuff), and all sorts of spoilers that I don’t even glance at? Yeah, that’s the one.

Well, io9 has recently inaugurated a new television section, “TV Ate My Brain!“. (As far as I can tell, they did it so Meredith Woerner’s marvelous “True Blood” recaps have some sort of official standing.) Today, that section runs a comprehensive Fall Movie Preview, which you should probably check out if you’re at all curious about the new version of “V” (I kind of am), the latest new direction for “Heroes” (I am not), or whatever “Flash Forward” is.

It’s funny — with all the film festival stuff going on, I kind of forgot there was a new TV season starting up. But that’s probably because “Lost” and “Chuck” don’t return until 2010, and therefore the rest of 2009 can have no meaning.

In honor of the anniversary of the passing of another musical King, ABC News reporter Russell Goldman dares to wonder: “Was Elvis Death Similar to Michael Jackson?”

I mean, when you think about it, it’s so obvious:

Both Jackson and Elvis’ lives unfurled with similar progression. Born into working-class families, they were musical innovators whose success bridged cultures and generations, and whose fame made them prisoners in their own homes.

But their deaths have an even eerier congruence. With their best days behind them, each planned a concert tour to redefine their legacies. Before getting the chance, however, they each died quietly in their gilded cages from an overdose of powerful prescription drugs.

The whole “crazy as a shithouse rat” thing, though? I think that’s just Jackson. I mean, sure, there were stories of Elvis being kind of weird, but at least he died wearing his own face. That’s gotta count for something.

It appears the original voice cast of “Futurama” will be returning for the resurrected show’s new episodes after all — and my old friend and mentor Rob Salem was the one to break the story, which has been picked up by every outlet that matters.

So that’s a double happy. Onward and upward!

And you know, even if they did fake it, it looked great.

You heard about “Futurama” being returned to production after the success of those straight-to-video movies, right? Well, bad news, everyone — it looks like 20th Century Fox is bringing the show back without the original voice cast.

Apparently the new episodes are being produced at a reduced rate, and Fox doesn’t want to pay the actors what the actors want to be paid … so it’s recasting all the roles with new talent.

I refuse to accept this. There is only one Bender Bending Rodriguez, and his voice is supplied by John DiMaggio. Any replacement can bite his shiny metal ass.

… okay, there are hundreds of Bender units out there, but you know what I mean.

Dropped by the Washington Post last month, political watchman Dan Froomkin has landed on his feet with a new gig at the Huffington Post, where he’ll be running the Washington bureau and blogging semi-constantly.

This is awesome news. As Glenn Greenwald writes over at Salon, Froomkin has been doing an outstanding job of covering the coverage of modern American politics — and calling out journalists as well as politicians when lines are crossed, or facts are buffed.

He’s an excellent columnist, and any news organ would be privileged to have him on its staff … except the Washington Post, I guess. Well, it’s their loss. Literally.

… yeah, I’ve gone native. Who wouldn’t, when you can get kettle corn, baklava and Thai food on 6th Avenue?

Damn, but I love New York. Sure, Sarah Palin’s on the cover of every newspaper, but even that can’t harsh the buzz of a perfect summer weekend.

Fresh cherries from the Union Square greenmarket! Smaller crowds due to everyone going out of town for the Fourth! Dinner at a most wonderful Tribeca restaurant! Garbage and recycling bins that the city actually wants you to use!

Like the song says, it’s a hell of a town. Remind me again why I’m only visiting?

This has been coming for a week or so now, but I was hoping it wouldn’t happen — that the right people would realize their mistake and reverse themselves, restoring balance and sanity to the universe.

Dan Froomkin, author of the Washington Post’s excellent online column White House Watch, has been dumped.

Glenn Greenwald broke the story over at Salon.com, and has stayed on top of it ever since — he seems to think the firing is the result of Froomkin’s refusal to stop discussing the Bush-era torture revelations, which has offended the Post’s current management. Certainly, it’s not about what they say it’s about, which is that the column isn’t “working”.

For his part, Froomkin has refrained from speaking out on the situation, and he signed off in Friday’s column as the mensch he is:

I wish The Washington Post well. I’m proud to have been associated with it for 12 years (I was a producer and editor at the Web site before starting the column.) I remain a big believer in the “traditional media,” especially when it sticks to traditional journalistic values. The Post was, is and will always be a great newspaper, and I have confidence that it will rise to the challenges ahead.

I’m not so sure, myself; it sounds to me like they just failed a pretty big one.

Anyway, my blogroll link to Froomkin’s columns will stay up as long as it remains functional. If you aren’t a regular reader, take a few minutes and see what real reporting looks like in our age of political stenography.