Michael Schaffer has a great piece on TNR about the Larry Mendte/Alicia Lane brouhaha of last year, also making the astute observation that in most cities besides New York and L.A., the biggest celebrities in town are the news anchors.
The gossip columns in the New York papers are about actors, musicians, society people, and strip club-frequenting Yankees players. This is what Philly ones look like:
So readers were in the loop when Channel 29's Sue Serio had knee surgery. They knew when her Fox colleague Dorothy Krysiuk missed work for a back injury. Locals learned of a recent nightclub visit by Fox 29's Sharon Crowley, Tasha Jamerson and--presumably recovered from the back troubles--Krysiuk ("must have been ladies' night," mused the Inquirer) and a Brasserie Perrier sighting of Channel 6's Nydia Han and Erin O'Hearn (who displayed "a healthy dose of cleavage," according to the Daily News). It doesn't matter how prosaic the details are: Both dailies were hot on the story when Channel 10 weatherman Glenn Schwartz had rotator cuff surgery, making it temporarily impossible for him to don his trademark bowties. Locals learned when Channel 10's Jade McCarthy got engaged. And, sure, "Action News" anchor Monica Malpass made the news during her explosive divorce. But readers also knew about it when she filed paperwork to build a new deck for her Rittenhouse Square home, when she adopted a kitten, and when she showed up at a party last year looking "cougarific."Well, it's that, or flash-in-the-pan ex-Playboy chicks engaged to mediocre Eagles receivers.
I would disagree. The biggest celebs in Philly are the athletes. Speaking just for myself, I don't have any idea who any of those people are mentioned in the excerpt.
Posted by: Doc at February 27, 2009 12:58 PM