Channel Surfing
by Laura Nachman

Bucks County Courier Times

October 24, 2006

Though there hasn’t been an official announcement about who will co-anchor the upcoming Fox29 5 p.m. show with Dave Huddleston, a couple of names are being mentioned.

One possible candidate is former NBC10 anchor and reporter Karen Hepp, who is currently the evening weekend anchor for the Fox affiliate in New York City.

Insiders say Hepp auditioned for the newscast.  She and her husband still keep a residence in the Philadelphia area.

One in-house candidate is current 11 a.m. news anchor Kerri Lee Halkett.  Newsroom insiders say if Halkett got the job, she would anchor the 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. shows.

For the immediate future, Halkett will be co-anchoring the 10 p.m. show with Huddleston for November sweeps and Cecember.

In an email, Fox29 news director Holly Gauntt confirmed that Halkett will anchor the 10 p.m. shows, but said a decision about the 5 p.m. show has not been made.

The new 5 p.m. news is scheduled to launch in January.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday, get a free two-day dose of Howard Stern’s show on www.sirius.com.

Hometown Heroes

A few actors with local ties are featured on two of the top new rated shows.  Adrian Pasdar of Newtown Square, PA and Ali Larter of Cherry Hill, NJ star in “Heroes” on NBC.  Ana Ortiz of “Ugly Betty” is the daughter of former Philadelphia City Councilman Angel Ortiz.  Philadelphia’s Mark Indelicato of “Ugly” made his professional debut at the Walnut Street Theater.

Here is the good, bad, and ugly of the new television season.

Good - The new shows “Heroes” and “The Nine.” “The Office” is the funniest sitcom on the air. “Desperate Housewives” is mostly back to its first season glory and “Grey’s Anatomy” is the hottest “McShow” on the air. Though it doesn’t get the hype and magazine covers, “Criminal Minds” is starting to beat “Lost” in the ratings.

Bad - After a strong start, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” gets more pretentious and attracts less viewers each week.  Smith and Jones – “Smith” was canceled after three episodes.  Nobody is missing Star Jones on “The View.”

Ugly – “Ugly Betty” of course, which is actually good!  Tony Kornheiser is flopping on “Monday Night Football.”  Katie Couric isn’t setting the word on fire on CBS. 

Want a TV job? Boston sportscaster Mike Perlow makes it easy with his web site www.getatvjob.com.