TV Guide's Extreme Makeover

Last week, I was stunned by the new format of TV Guide -- which has moved from a digest format to a more traditional glossy. Now it is a "national" magazine, as channel-specific editions have been put to pasture. The new cover format makes it look like a busy tabloid. The premiere issue featured housewife heartthrob Ty Pennington (from Extreme Makeover) and pix of Ellen, and assorted cast members of Lost and CSI.

Ian Birch's "Editor's Note" boldly proclaims, "There's more creativity on TV in any given week than in a year's worth of multiplex movies."

I wonder if this is what Mr. Birch had in mind: on page 79 of said issue, readers are informed that TONIGHT (October 25) E! will feature the winner of Trimspa's Million Dollar 12-Week Challenge. One expects Anna Nicole Smith to be involved. The question that will wrack many minds, particularly former viewers of her reality show: Where's Bobby Trendy?

Oh, I see that he's online, even if only in name.