Collegiate Times

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline marry and pop out a baby. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson split after turmoil. Tom Cruise asks Katie Holmes for her hand in marriage and disparages Brooke Shields for her use of medical assistance in recovering from post partum depression. And that?s just to start. With the celebrities always embarking on new scandals to fill the tabloids, it?s almost a full time job to keep up with the latest gossip on the ones we love, hate and love to hate. To help keep Virginia Tech students up to date with what Paris Hilton?s latest video reveals without shelling out a buck for US Weekly, VTTV is bringing back the former Thursday night entertainment show, ?Cutting Edge.?

Focusing on national entertainment news along with local events, ?Cutting Edge?s? premier airing since its demise in the Fall of 2005 offers a more comical perspective of entertainment news with spoofs of celebrities, tear-rendering funny commentary and surprises each week for its viewers.

?We want it to be a comedic take and slant on it,? said Joshua Stewart, co-producer and senior communication major. ?Obviously you can watch (Entertainment) Tonight if you want entertainment news so we?re hoping the fact that students are producing the show should be incentive for other students to watch the show and see what other people are doing, along with the commentary and little skits included.?

Inspired to bring the show back from the realm of cancellation, Stewart asked former main anchor Jessica Goldner Ortiz to co-produce with him in the hopes to ?revamp it up to what it used to be and also make it new and spicy,? said Ortiz, a senior communication and graphic design major. ?We want people to think of it as an option and bring it back to how it was in the good old days.?

And what was it like in the good old days? Ortiz described the former show as possessing the, ?perfect cast and perfect crew. Everyone got along together and it was a perfect mesh. Everyone wanted to be there and did what they were assigned to do well.?

With hard-nosed former producer Mandy Warren, whose vibrant presence pushed the cast and crew to work hard at generating a show commendable enough to compete with other television shows, the cancelled show sets a the bar high for the present show. Hiring a cast full of potential and energy, Stuart and Ortiz selected applicants that could carry on the show after their graduation and keep the show maturing as each year passes.