An on-screen NBC News identifier for a fictional debate on "The West Wing" and a "news conference" by a fake Boston Red Sox executive on ESPN show how fuzzy the lines between news and entertainment have become.
An NBC News "bug" was kept on the screen Sunday night during the live debate between presidential candidates portrayed by Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits on "The West Wing."
Over at ESPN, "SportsCenter," in an effort to juice up a segment on baseball gossip, had analyst Steve Phillips pose as Red Sox general manager answering questions about the team's offseason priorities.
The news insignia was requested by "The West Wing" episode's producer, former real-life Washington insider Lawrence O'Donnell, to help make the presidential debate seem more realistic. Jeff Zucker, the NBC Universal executive who has run NBC's entertainment division and produced "Today" for NBC News, gave the OK.
NBC News programming like "Hardball" has been depicted on "The West Wing" in the past, news division spokeswoman Allison Gollust said.
Even with all the trappings -- including real-life TV newsman Forrest Sawyer as moderator -- no one at NBC believed viewers would mistake Alda's Arnold Vinick or Smits' Matt Santos for real-life politicians
Yet Jack Myers, a media business analyst, questioned whether NBC News diminished itself by allowing its name to be used.
"Is this an appropriate use of the NBC News and MSNBC News brand equity, or does it do more damage to these news brands than the positive branding it brings to NBC's entertainment series?" Myers asked on his Mediavillage.com Web site.
Over on ESPN, fans who watched "SportsCenter" Sunday and Monday may have done a double-take: There was Phillips, a former New York Mets general manager, sitting behind a bank of microphones and before a background with the Red Sox insignia, answering questions from ESPN reporters.
Was he the replacement for Theo Epstein, who quit last week?
No, Phillips was just playing one on television.
A text "crawl" on the screen identified it as a "simulated Red Sox news conference." Yet at a time news and sports networks constantly have a barrage of text information on their screens, it might not have immediately caught viewers' eyes.
Vince Doria, ESPN's news director, said it was done to enliven what is often a dull segment.
Phillips has already added the New York Yankees -- who, unlike the Red Sox, have a real general manager in place -- and will continue to do fake conferences with other teams, he said.
(David Bauder, Associated Press)
'Housewives' actor fired
Page Kennedy, who plays a fugitive from the law locked in a basement on "Desperate Housewives," was fired from the hit ABC drama for improper conduct, a series spokeswoman said yesterday.
Details of the allegations were unavailable. The alleged misconduct didn't involve another cast member, a source close to the production said.
Kennedy played Caleb, a character shrouded in mystery and seen only briefly as he was held captive in the basement of Wisteria Lane newcomer Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard). The role of Caleb is being recast; Kennedy's final appearance on the ABC series is Sunday.
(Lynn Elber, AP)
Martz leaving WTAE
WTAE meteorologist Jerry Martz, who was bumped from weekday mornings to weekends in August, will leave the station at the end of the year to become chief meteorologist at WSYX and WTTE, the ABC and Fox duopoly in Columbus, Ohio.
Martz, a Greensburg native who arrived at WTAE in 1997, will be released from the multiyear contract he signed in April.
Also at WTAE, evening anchor Mike Clark will fill in for morning anchor Wendy Bell when she goes on maternity leave, expected to begin early next month. Clark, who previously worked the morning anchor shift at Channel 4 after arriving there in 1995, will continue to anchor at 6 and 11 p.m., although if that becomes a burden, Scott Baker may sit in at 6 p.m.
(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)
First Published: November 9, 2005, 5:00 a.m.
