Gossip columnist Janet Charlton says Courtney Cox has missed the mark in portraying the world of celebrity gossip magazines in the new FX series, Dirt. While Dirt portrays the paparazzi lifestyle as both glamorous and trashy, Charlton says the people working in the world of celebrity gossip don't take themselves--or their jobs--so seriously. And, she says, the scenes where Cox's character is walking freely at parties is crap. Gossip magazine editors, she says, would never be invited to premiere parties and whatnot. Charlton says Cox's "fatal error was making the show a dreadful melodrama/soap opera" when, in reality, working in celebrity gossip is a laugh.

While I don't know anything about the gossip biz (although I consume more than the healthy amount), I agree that it was super dark. The editor and reporters at Dirt magazine seem vindictive about the rich and famous... so vindictive that they'll set people up with hookers just to destroy their public persona.

I have to admit, this is one show I thought I'd never see on DVD, so maybe there's hope for other short-lived shows from the 80s.

Anything But Love, the ABC comedy that ran from 1989 to 1992, will be released on DVD February 6. The first set will be the first two seasons (28 episodes total). Here's the info, including episode titles.

If you can't place the show, it starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis as writers at a top Chicago magazine. They're friends at first but eventually (of course) they become more than that. The show costarred Ann Magnuson as their boss, as well as Holly Fulger, Richard Frank, Louis Giambalvo, and Joseph Maher. It was a solid little show, smart and funny, so I'm really glad it's coming to DVD. The set will include commentaries by Curtis and Lewis.

Ted Koppel's post-ABC career is in full swing. First he and his old Nightline producer signed a deal with the Discovery Channel. Now comes word, via Rachel Sklar at Mediabistro's FishbowlNY blog, that Koppel will also become a contributor to the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. He joins the über-influential family of Times columnists that include Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman, and Frank Rich, and his occasional contributions will start on January 29. It's starting to look like leaving ABC might have been the best thing that Koppel's ever done, isn't it?

[via FishbowlNY]