April 9, 2004
thepitch

Good Riddance
We bid farewell to Jeremy and Taunia.

The Strip wonders -- will this town ever be the same after it loses its own Nick and Jessica?

Last week, sizzling TV couple Jeremy Hubbard and Taunia Hottman took their parting shots at Kansas City as they prepared to leave town for jobs at stations in Denver.

This meat patty had always appreciated Hottman's role as peppy yet vapid host for KMCI Channel 38's Simpsons and That 70s Show reruns, for which she provided unintentionally comedic station breaks. (The Strip especially enjoyed Hottman's habit of taking pity on Simpsons characters by pointing out how much better her lot in life was.) But with her departure imminent, Hottman turned a little mean in her last appearances, dissing members of her viewing audience who had dared to send her negative mail. She even blasted one critical viewer by name and sniffed that she, at least, had a television show. So there.

Her hunky husband, Hubbard, took pot shots of his own. The spiky-haired KMBC Channel 9 anchor roasted several local media figures on his final radio show at KCTE 1510 last Friday. He reserved special ire for the Strip's colleague, Night Ranger, who outed Hubbard last year as a boor. Hubbard had told the Night Ranger -- also known as Jen Chen -- that he'd help her review metro night spots but then kept standing her up. Apparently, he had some pent-up resentment about the way Chen subsequently printed some of his lame-excuse-filled e-mails.

Chen and this porterhouse were both listening and thought Hubbard's rant was funny. After all, turnabout is fair play. But things got a little nasty when the phone rang in the 1510 booth and Hubbard panicked, assuming he was about to get dressed down.

"Was that Jen Chen? Was it?" he squealed like a girlie man. (The Night Ranger had not called.)

"Yeah, that was her," answered Hubbard's producer and toady Matt Wilson, who then affected a bad Asian accent and said, "Me likey Jeremy Hubbard!"

The Night Ranger herself didn't take offense -- she's too cool for that. But after further reflection, Wilson realized he might have crossed a line.

"It was in poor taste, and I probably shouldn't have done it," the producer tells this chuck roast.

Regrets, regrets. For her own part, Chen has none. Though she once admitted to a distant celebrity crush on Hubbard, she's long since moved on. The Strip has learned that Wizards midfielder Stephen Armstrong is now among those catching her eye.

-As reported a few weeks ago.-
Taunia Hottman is leaving us to be an "airborne reporter" at KUSA in Denver.
She'll report on both news and traffic issues from their brand new
helicopter.

Jeremy will also take on a new position with KDVR, the Fox affiliate in
Denver -- and the two will be competing against each other once again!