Meredith Calls "The View" A "Joke"

How about this for a hot topic: Meredith Vieira now says that her old show "The View" is "hard to watch," that she got "blasé" about it after nine years, and even that it "sort of became a joke" after she left.

All of which should provide fodder for an interesting discussion when the current "View"-ers -- Barbara, Joy, Elisabeth, and, of course, Rosie -- get back to the studio next week.

The new "Today" show co-host disses her old colleagues on the ABC show in an interview with Time magazine, saying that she hasn't watched the show at all since she took off, except for the day after Star Jones announced she was "leaving." Even though the show has been garnering stellar ratings, Vieira says she thinks it's "very sad" what's happened to it. "I'm proud of the work we did there, but it's not a good time in the history of the show," says Meredith. "It's hard to watch. It sort of became a joke."

Vieira also adds that she's not overly excited about the hours at her new gig: "I'm not somebody who loves getting up at 4 in the morning, so this might kill me, but we'll see."

Cruise Gets Award for What He Didn't Say

Tom Cruise has been getting plenty of flak – and, last week, fired – for his remarks on psychiatry, on Katie Holmes, and plenty of other topics, but now he's been given an award in Australia for a possibly sexist comment that he didn't even make.

A gathering of 400 of Australia's most powerful women, reports People, bestowed the title of "Worst Derogatory Public Statement" on Cruise for supposedly saying, "I've got Katie tucked away so no one will get to us until my child is born." The only problem is that he didn't say it. Says his rep, "Anyone who knows him knows that he is a complete gentleman and would never ever say such a thing ... He has the utmost respect for women."

Wahlberg Sort of "Invincible" at Weekend Box

Mark Wahlberg's Rocky-on-the-gridiron football saga "Invincible" did good enough business to beat the competition in theaters over the weekend with an estimated $17 million. The triumph represents yet aother strong showing for a jock-flick released by Buena Vista, joining "Miracle" and "The Rookie" as notable successes.

"Talladega Nights" came in second place with $8 million, while indie darling "Little Miss Sunshine" continued to pick up speed, with $7.5 million to land it in third place. Several other new releases included "Beerfest," which chugged its way to fourth place with just $6.5 million, while OutKast's film debut, "Idlewild," performed more strongly than expected with $5.9 million in less than 1,000 locations.

Party Favors: Paris Mad At Ricky Gervais, Keith Richards in Trouble for Smoking, Spider-Man 3 Needs More Action

Paris Hilton is apparently miffed that Ricky Gervais, creator of the original "Office," passed her over for a cameo role on HBO's "Extras." The lodging heiress apparently asked Gervais for a plum cameo on the show, but he refused, causing her no end of grief. "I guess he's obviously scarred of starring alongside an A-lister," said Hilton to the San Francisco Chronicle ... Keith Richards may have to pay a whopping $90 fine for smoking on stage in Glasgow, says the BBC, where smoking is banned in all public places. The Rolling Stones guitarist and his bandmates allegedly puffed away throughout the performance last Friday ... "Spider-Man 3" is going back for reshoots, says co-star James Franco, after test audiences decided they needed more action. The actor tells MTV, "The next thing I'm shooting? Re-shoots on "Spider-Man" ... Probably next month. Director Sam Raimi wants more action." The third installment of the superhero series is scheduled to be in theaters next summer.