Will Harvey Levin really host TMZ TV?

Insiders tell us the boys at TMZ have been taking our advice and cleaning up their act as they near the debut of a syndicated television series based on the corporate porn- pushing gossip site.

And the proof is in the pudding! In recent days the crass and often obscene headlines have been toned down considerably. In fact, in the last day or so, the only one that stands out as a groaner is yesterday’s

Is K-Fed Feeding It to Grandma?

And the only porn tape they've promoted recently is the gay version of Girls Gone Wild that promises wild "guys" who are "undressed, uncut" and "uninhibited." (We realize, old habits die hard.)

But the real question and controversy inside TMZ is who will host what will obviously be a watered-down, breeder vanilla TV version of the slobber-stained shrine to Mathew McConaughey.

Insiders tell us that the role of elder, untelegenic TMZ frontman Harvey Levin in the host search is being likened to Dick Cheney’s position as head of the Bush vice presidential search committee in 2000. (For those of you who don’t keep up on current events, Cheney got the gig himself).

Now don’t get upset, TMZ boys. We know you’re already surrounded by expensive, bullshitting corporate TV consultants and suits who are already picking away at your show the way they did to A Current Affair and Geraldo, and they’ll keep it up until TMZ TV looks like Celebrity Justice. But consider this some free advice from real pros who’ve been there and done that: if Harvey Levin hosts the TMZ TV show, failure is guaranteed in the first 13 weeks. Remember Mike Walker and that stupid, short-lived National Enquirer TV series. Wrong people behind the scenes. Wrong face in front of the camera.

(Free suggestion: Adrianna Costa and Brian Dunkleman.)

Meanwhile, the TMZ TV tips keep coming in. We’ll unspool a few more in the coming days about other high-profile hirings—and what the new Sunset Strip location of the TMZ offices means to Hyde, the celebrity haunt that’s already haunted by Harvey’s celeb-taunting kiddie cameramen (a fixed surveillance camera?).

Stay tuned.