R.I.P., TV Guide

I'm not sure if anyone read about this, or even cares, but TV Guide is under-going a radical change0ver. You can read about it at http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-07-26-tvguide-relaunch_x.htm, but basically what's happening is they are pretty much dumping the TV listings stuff and going the celebrity coverage route. Although it doesn't come out and say, it seems clear to me that the magazine's management is tired of all the grocery store moms picking up US Weekly and Star rather than their mag, and are throwing in the towel to join the celebrity coverage fest, figuring people can figure out their own damned TV listings.

Now don't get me wrong. I love the trashiness of the aforementioned titles and their numerous spin-offs. Try as I might to resist, I often find myself glued to the glossy pages full of the latest divorce rumors for Nick and Jessica; photos of Gwenyth and Apple stealing down a Manhattan street, the deliciously devilish fashion police in the backs of the magazines and such. Bonnie Fuller (the former editor of US and now publisher of Star, for those of you less-celebrity inclined readers) deserves nothing but accoldaes for creating an eminetly enjoyable and catty view for and of our celebrity obsessesed culture. And the growing roster of copycats proves its financial model-- the US version of OK!, which just launched here, apparently is paying Michael Jackson $2M Gs for his story.

But I can't help but shed a tear at the passing of TV Guide. As a young gay boy growing up in the middle of nowhere in PA, TV Guide was my only weekly insight into the wonderful world of Hollywood and the stars that made it up. I remember reading it each week, especially as the front part of the magazine, called 'The Grapevine', was beefed up over the passing years in celebrity-based coverage. Small bits would come out about stars' comings and goings in the shows, a couple of pictures would surface from awards shows, and I ate it up with a spoon. It was much more pure in its intentions-- not to create or react to rumors, but to simply report and perhaps add to my perceived glamour of what it was like to be a celebrity. With the rampant papparazzi and incessant lies created by the current crop of magazines, much of that glamour hardly seems worth it to me.

Again, I'm not knocking the current mags. I read them with naughty pleasure as much as the next guy. But when I see an icon like TV Guide passing from its current incarnation, I can't help but feel a bit wistful for the good ol days.

Good, I got that off my chest. Now, I need to get back to my US and see the summer's weight winners and losers, and oh!, the latest pictures of Linday Lohan shopping on Rodeo Drive, and.....