In the same broadcast that saw him apologize to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for a joke about her daughter, late-night TV host David Letterman was back on controversial ground again during his show on Monday night, when comedian Jack Black inserted an “F-word” into his impromptu song. 

It was the kind of “fleeting expletive” that recently became the subject of a high profile case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided that the federal government can fine broadcasters for airing a single expletive blurted out on a live show. Fortunately for Letterman, his guest’s brief foray into profanity aired after 10 p.m., which means that it does not risk a fine from the Federal Communications Commission.

Black’s use of the “F-word” can be heard at the end of the video in the link below (warning: Fan Fare has not edited it out). He was talking about a song that he would like to record, and then things turned blue.

Normally, “Late Night with David Letterman” and similar talk shows bleep out profanity of the kind Black used on the program. But apparently they just missed it on Monday night.

Did the fleeting expletive go too far? Or is it alright for late night?

Batman movie “The Dark Knight” has been a box office behemoth with four straight weekends atop ticket sales charts, but some industry watchers expect the new comedy adventure “Tropic Thunder“ could knock it off its No. 1 perch this weekend.

“Tropic Thunder,” which stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr., opened in theaters on Wednesday with a healthy $6.5 million for the one night, slightly above expectations, said the DreamWorks movie studio which is behind the movie.
    
That was about half the $12.15 million first-day total of stoner comedy “Pineapple Express” last Wednesday, and ”Express” failed to beat ”Dark Knight” this past weekend when ticket sales were tallied. “Express” had $23 million for the weekend to $26 million for “Dark Knight.”

With a 44 percent drop – which is the average decline over the past few weeks for “Dark Knight” – it should have weekend ticket sales in the mid-teens, which is below the $20 million that DreamWorks expects from “Tropic Thunder” this weekend.
    
“Friday and Saturday I think are going to be big days for (”Tropic Thunder”), and it may have a shot at knocking out ‘Dark Knight’ from number one,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of box office tracker Media By Numbers.
    
As of Wednesday, “The Dark Knight” had taken in nearly $452 million in the United States and Canada, according to the Web site for Box Office Mojo. It has ruled the box office every weekend since it opened on July 18. 

As an R-rated movie, “Tropic Thunder” has been difficult to advertise on TV because the most outrageous parts of the movie cannot be shown to all audiences. DreamWorks hopes the midweek opening can help overcome that difficulty.
    
“The great word of mouth from the Wednesday and Thursday opening will push people to see the movie this weekend,” said Chip Sullivan, a spokesman for DreamWorks.

Hollywood has long been populated by egocentric actors, actresses, directors, writers, producers and other narcissists who are easy to poke fun at. This week “Tropic Thunder,” directed by Ben Stiller and starring him, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr., is the latest film to take a satirical look at high-profile stars. But is there any joke that goes too far when Hollywood insiders are making fun of Hollywood?

Not really, said Justin Theroux, a co-writer with Stiller on the movie. ”The good thing about Hollywood is that I don’t think you’d be able to show this to anyone and have them go, ‘God that’s so me,’ They’ll all go, ‘That’s that guy,’” Theroux, 37, told reporters in recent interviews.

“Tropic Thunder” is about a group of actors making a war movie. Shooting goes haywire and the leading man is kidnapped by drug dealers, forcing the other actors to overcome their personal hang-ups as they rescue their co-star. 

Stiller, 42, told reporters the idea for the film came from seeing actors attend boot camp before appearing in war movies then hearing them talk about how it was a life-changing experience, which Stiller said confounded him.
    
The movie’s main characters are based on Hollywood archetypes, such as the Oscar-winning actor (Robert Downey, Jr.), the fat comedian (Jack Black) and the hip-hop artist (Brandon T. Jackson) trying to make it as an actor. Stiller plays a movie action hero.
    
In the case of that last character — the hip-hop artist – the character is named Alpa Chino, which of course sounds like Al Pacino. Stiller said he told the acclaimed actor that he would have a namesake of sorts in “Tropic Thunder.” Pacino was tickled, Stiller said.
    
Theroux said writing the script was harder when the movie was just a concept years ago, because the average movie fan’s knowledge of Hollywood’s inner workings was not as advanced back then. With the advent of the celebrity Web site TMZ.com and other Hollywood news on the Internet, that is no longer a problem, Theroux said. 

“The knowledge of what goes on behind Hollywood now has sort of caught up with our script, weirdly,” he said.
    
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)  

Comedian Jack Black, 38, has emerged as a major comedy star with the success of movies such as “Kung Fu Panda” and “Nacho Libre.” Along with Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller, he is a virtual card-carrying member of the so-called Frat Pack of Hollywood funny men.

In upcoming movie “Tropic Thunder,” which opens on Aug. 13, the portly Black plays a comic actor named Jeff ‘Fats’ Portnoy, who is known for playing several parts in films that revolve around flatulence.

Hollywood has throughout its history had a rotund star ruling the comedy roost. The tradition goes back at least to Fatty Arbuckle at the turn of the century, and later Jackie Gleason. More recent comedians who have filled those shoes include John Belushi in the 1970s and Chris Farley in the 1990s. Some could say Black is the latest in that illustrious line of broad comedians.

So at a recent gathering of reporters to promote “Tropic Thunder,” we asked him how it feels to be in the club. “What’s it like to be the fat guy? The official fat guy?” Black answered. 
 
“It’s not easy,” he joked. “I’ve got a lot of fat guys trying to knock me off fat mountain. They’re all coming. They’re like, ‘I want to be the fat guy.’ I’m like, ‘No I’m the fattest fat guy. I’ll beat you fat guys.”’ 
 
Given Black’s kung fu prowess (http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=82400), it might be best to walk away from that battle.

(Reporting and Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)