It’s sort of shocking to me that CNN continues to let Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper host CNN’s official New Year’s Eve coverage. This is the third year in a row, and they even brought Kathy back after last year’s hilarious debacle, where Kathy screamed at a heckler: “Screw you. Why don’t you get a job, buddy? You know what, I don’t go to your job and knock the d–ks out of your mouth!” Honestly, that was my favorite bullsh-t scandal. This year’s scandal is kind of “meh”.

So, anyway, Anderson pulled out some enlarged photos of some of the year’s biggest pop culture dipsh-ts, and had Kathy comment on them. They went through a couple, and then Anderson showed Kathy the photos of the Heenes, and “Balloon Boy” Falcon Heene. Kathy started in on them, but Anderson interrupted her to say “My favorite moment was when Balloon Boy – Falcon – interrupted to say ‘Who is Wolf?’” Kathy replied: “Fal– F-ckin? Falcon? How do you say it?” And all Anderson did was giggle (he giggles a lot) and say “You’re terrible. Really terrible.” Thankfully, no one seems to be getting their panties in a twist about this:

Does saying the F-word on live TV even matter anymore? Maybe not if you’re Kathy Griffin and expected to say outrageous things that will make Anderson Cooper look adorably abashed on CNN’s live New Year’s Eve special — because they both ignored it so smoothly. F-word? Live TV? Yawn.

Griffin and Cooper, whose New Year’s Eve pairing on CNN has become an annual tradition, were doing their usual jokey banter, discussing various moments of infamy from the past year, and particularly the saga of Balloon Boy (how hard is it gonna be for that kid to get a date in a few years, eh?). Cooper and Griffin were at their post in Times Square discussing Balloon Boy Perè, Richard Heene, and then the little one himself, Falcon Heene. Here’s how it went:

COOPER: Falcon Heene.
GRIFFIN: Fal — F-ckin? Falcon? How do you say it?
COOPER: (shaking head, eyes downcast) You’re terrible. Really terrible.

And that was it! F-bomb on CNN live, New Year’s Eve. No biggie. Welcome to 2010. Or is there more to it? It should be noted that Griffin was famously unprintable before — last year she shot down a heckler by saying, again on live TV, “I don’t go to your job and knock the d-cks out of your mouth.” This year, she promised to forfeit her salary if she said anything naughty. So maybe it’s only naughty if Anderson Cooper acts shocked. Or maybe it’s 2010 and EVERYTHING’S DIFFERENT. Or maybe we’re just used to the F-bomb on live TV by now.

[From Mediaite]

So, yeah. The bigger story is that Kathy might have f-bombed her way out of getting paid, but I doubt CNN is going to hold her to it. Besides, how much does CNN even pay Kathy for New Year’s Eve? Like, five bucks and a pint of Aristocrat vodka? Oh, and I think Kathy came close to “outing” Anderson too. Granted, I was drunk when I watched about 20 minutes of CNN’s coverage, but from what I remember, there were lots of double-entendres about tops and bottoms and “coming out” to see things.