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Category: Entertainment

  • Wayne Gretzky coming to Stateside Live! with his TNT colleagues; Ross Tucker shines amid Tony Romo drama

    Wayne Gretzky coming to Stateside Live! with his TNT colleagues; Ross Tucker shines amid Tony Romo drama

    “The Great One” is coming to Philadelphia to kick off the NHL season, and he’s bringing a few friends with him.

    TNT is renting out Stateside Live! and bringing it’s full NHL studio crew — including Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky — for the Flyers’ opening night matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m.), the latest edition of their Battle of Pennsylvania rivalry.

    Liam McHugh will host the festivities beginning at 6 p.m. He’ll be joined by TNT analysts Henrik Lundqvist, Anson Carter, Paul Bissonnette, and Gretzky, who signed a multi-year extension with Turner Sports last year.

    Gretzky joined TNT as a hockey analyst in the 2021-22 season after it secured its media rights deal with the NHL. He appears on TNT’s coverage infrequently, but is there for all the major events, including the Winter Classic and the Stanley Cup playoffs.

    TNT’s NHL studio crew (from left) Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Liam McHugh, Anson Carter, and Henrik Lundqvist.Turner Sports

    “This city lives and breathes sports, and the passion of Flyers fans creates an incredible atmosphere that you can feel the moment you arrive,” said McHugh. “We’re excited to bring NHL on TNT back on the road, celebrate the start of another season, and give fans a front-row seat to all the energy, intensity, and personalities that make this sport so special.”

    It could be a busy night in South Philly. In addition to the Flyers’ opening-night game, it’s possible the Phillies could be hosting a wild-card game.

    The Orange and Black will certainly be a hot commodity. After last season’s surprising playoff run, 19 of the Flyers’ 84 games will be featured on national broadcasts, third-most in the league behind the Penguins and Boston Bruins.

    TNT is scheduled to get nine of those, including two matchups against the Washington Capitals in what could be Alexander Ovechkin’s final NHL season.

    Ross Tucker shines amid Tony Romo CBS drama

    Eagles preseason announcer Ross Tucker will call Sunday’s Eagles-Commanders game on CBS.CBS

    Ross Tucker shined in his debut in CBS’s No. 2 booth Sunday, which he’ll remain a part of for at least the next few weeks.

    CBS announced its broadcast schedule for Weeks 2 and 3, and the Wyomissing native and former NFL offensive lineman will continued to be paired with veteran play-by-player Ian Eagle.

    On Sunday, Eagle and Tucker will call a Week 2 matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos. In Week 3, the pair will broadcast an AFC North battle between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

    Tucker, who also serves as the Eagles preseason announcer, impressed fans and critics Sunday during CBS’s broadcast of the Buffalo Bills’ narrow win against the Houston Texans.

    Early on, during a failed fourth-down run by Josh Allen, Tucker was quick to note offensive lineman Dion Dawkins “took too big of an angle” on Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter, allowing him to undercut the block and make the play.

    “The Bills would have had it if Dawkins could have sealed that block,” Tucker said.

    Later in the game, when a pass went right through the fingertips of Texans receiver Xavier Hutchinson, Tucker pointed out the often-overlooked difficulty in making that type of catch.

    “That’s a tough spot to catch a football, right above your helmet, because your arms are restricted a little bit by the shoulder pads,” Tucker said. “It’s one of the tougher places to catch than you would think.”

    Going unmentioned in CBS’s announcement of its upcoming schedule was Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who remains suspended after pleading no contest to operating a vehicle while intoxicated. J.J. Watt will remain in the No. 1 booth alongside Jim Nantz for at least the next two weeks.

    The network has yet to respond to Romo’s statement tjat he plans to return to CBS “in time,” leading to speculation the network might be looking to part ways with its highly paid top NFL analyst.

    “What feels on the horizon is the use of the morals clause and other language in Romo’s contract to try to reach a settlement on the final $72 million on his contract,” wrote The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. “It could end up in a legal fight to determine how much Romo will receive to leave.”

    Quick hits

    Hall of Famer Drew Brees is in his second season with Fox as a color analyst. Tyler Kaufman
    • Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees will call his first Eagles game Sunday when the Birds take on the Tennessee Titans on Fox. Brees was run out of NBC in 2022 after a bad performance calling his first NFL game — a wild-card game — but has since rebounded in his second year with Fox.
    • Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy will miss a handful of games on NBC Sports Philadelphia over the next few weekends due to his NFL schedule for CBS. He’s slated to call Browns-Buccaneers in Week 2 and Texans-Colts in Week 3 alongside former Colts and Seahawks running back Robert Turbin.
    • Former Penn State football coach James Franklin is coaching Virginia Tech this season, and after Monday’s win against Old Dominion, he really wanted to know how Baltimore Sun reporter Michael Howes was doing.
    • 97.5 The Fanatic program director Scott Masteller is retiring following a 45-year career, the last three spent in Philly. Masteller’s last day will be Dec. 31, and it’s unclear where the station will turn after that. The last few years have seen a number of notable departures, including John Kincade, Anthony Gargano, and Mike Missanelli, who was unceremoniously dumped last year.
  • ‘Widow’s Bay’ breaks Emmys record with 14 wins, ‘Pitt’ wins best drama

    ‘Widow’s Bay’ breaks Emmys record with 14 wins, ‘Pitt’ wins best drama

    LOS ANGELES — A “Widow’s Bay” wave slammed into the Emmy Awards on Monday night as the Apple TV show set a single-season record for a comedy with 14 wins, including best comedy series and best actor for star Matthew Rhys, who personally took home three trophies.

    “The celebrations will be long, varied, and I hope at times wild,” Rhys said backstage while holding two of his Emmys.

    “The Pitt” won best drama series for the second straight year, and star Noah Wyle repeated as best actor in a drama, but the HBO Max emergency room drama won no other Emmys and underperformed its expectations.

    Rhea Seehorn won best actress in a drama for “Pluribus,” and Jean Smart won her fifth best actress in a comedy award for the fifth and final season of “Hacks.” No actor had won an Emmy every year for a series that lasted more than three seasons until Smart did it Monday.

    Every other comedy award went to “Widow’s Bay,” which unequivocally owned the night and broke the comedy series record set last year by “The Studio” when it won 13.

    The ‘weird’ ‘Widow’s Bay’ sweeps across categories

    Along with best actor in a comedy, Rhys won best actor in a limited series for “The Beast in Me,” becoming the first man to win two leading actor categories in the same year, and he gets one of the best comedy series trophies as an executive producer for “Widow’s Bay.”

    The first-season series created by Katie Dippold leans hard into both comedy and horror as it tells the story of a New England island community, with Rhys as its mayor, reckoning with a centuries-old curse.

    “Thank you, Apple, for letting us take this crazy, creative swing,” Dippold said as she accepted the best comedy award. ”They truly just let us do this weird show.”

    Apple TV solidified its status as the owner of the Emmy comedy categories. Between “Widow’s Bay,” “The Studio” and “Ted Lasso,” it has won best comedy series four times in six seasons. The latter two shows were between seasons and not eligible this year.

    “Widow’s Bay” also won for directing for Hiro Murai and for writing for its creator Dippold, a first-time Emmy winner and first-time nominee who was previously best known for a decade-old viral tweet showing her awkwardly dressed as “The Babadook.”

    “When I was sitting there in that costume,” Dippold said backstage after the show, “I did not think that this moment would happen.”

    “Widow’s Bay” had won eight Emmys in a previous ceremony before sweeping all six of its categories Monday night. Stephen Root won best supporting actor in a comedy series and Kate O’Flynn won best supporting actress.

    ‘The Pitt’ and ‘Hacks’ fail to run up numbers

    “The Pitt” was the top drama nominee with 25 and “Hacks” was the top comedy nominee with 24, but neither made much of a splash when it came time to claim trophies.

    Smart’s was the only win for “Hacks” on Monday night.

    “What a ride this has been,” an emotional Smart said after getting a standing ovation.

    The 75-year-old has won eight Emmys overall in a career that was already more than respectable when she landed her defining role of Deborah Vance, a brash stand-up comic pushing back against age, obscurity and sexism in the HBO Max series.

    And best drama and best actor were the only wins for “The Pitt,” though it had won four at an earlier ceremony.

    Wyle won for playing Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a role that brought him a major career revival after starring in “ER” in the 1990s.

    “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and this is the only club I’ve ever wanted to join,” Wyle said in his acceptance.

    Seehorn gets her first Emmy, Janney and Pelphrey beat ‘Pitt’ competition

    Seehorn won her first Emmy for playing the lone central character on Apple TV’s “Pluribus.”

    The 54-year-old had been nominated twice without winning for her breakthrough role on “Better Call Saul,” a show from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, who put Seehorn at the center of “Pluribus.” Gilligan won his fifth career Emmy for his writing on the show.

    Allison Janney won best supporting actress in a drama for “The Diplomat,” and Tom Pelphrey won supporting actor in a drama for “Task,” both beating several nominees from “The Pitt.”

    “DTF St. Louis” won best limited series. Stars David Harbour and Linda Cardellini both won for supporting acting at a previous ceremony on Sept. 6 as the Television Academy moved several categories off the main telecast to shorten the show. “DTF St. Louis” won seven Emmys overall.

    ‘Widow’s Bay’ gets rewarded for its elite cast

    “Widow’s Bay” brought a combination of younger, well-respected unknowns and widely known and beloved veterans to work on the show.

    It was the first Emmy for both O’Flynn and Root.

    O’Flynn, a 40-year-old British actor whose previous acclaim came mostly for her work in theater, plays Patricia Moyer, a city worker and social outcast dealing with a demonic darkness on “Widow’s Bay.”

    “This is the role of a lifetime,” O’Flynn said from the stage. “This is for all the Patricias out there.”

    Root, one of the most ubiquitous character actors of the last few decades, beat out Harrison Ford, who many thought would get his first major competitive Hollywood award for his role on “Shrinking.”

    “Thank you, sir, for all your many years of great, great, great acting,” Root said to Ford during his acceptance.

    Root, 74, is the oldest person to win the category.

    Sally Field, 79, became the oldest woman to win best actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie for “Remarkably Bright Creatures.”

    Colbert wins after cancellation again

    “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” taken off the air by CBS, won best variety series. It’s one of six Emmys the show has won this year after the show was cancelled for what the network said was economic reasons while many believe it was his criticism of the Trump administration.

    “If you like the comedy tonight, my old writers wrote it,” Colbert said.

    Mariska Hargitay hosted the NBC telecast held at the traditional Emmys home of the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

    “NBC is celebrating its 100th year, and I have been on ‘Law & Order: SVU’ for all of them,” said Hargitay, a three-time Emmy winner who has starred in the show for 27 seasons, during her opening monologue.

    Hargitay closed the show — which came in at a relatively lean three hours with the shortened awards slate — with the famous “Law & Order” gavel sound.

    Michael J. Fox, a nominee for his work with Ford on “Shrinking,” received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.

    Tearful tributes to Parton, O’Hara and Reiner

    Field paid tribute to her “Steel Magnolias” co-star Dolly Parton, who died last month, in a tribute during the telecast that also included Reba McEntire.

    There were also emotional tributes to Catherine O’Hara, who died in March, and Rob Reiner, who was killed along with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, in their home in December.

    Reiner, who won a posthumous Emmy at an earlier ceremony for best guest actor in a comedy series for his role on “The Bear,” was honored by his friend and “Bear” co-star Jamie Lee Curtis.

    “He was generous, kind and funny as hell, and a friend to all,” Curtis said. “And we all miss Rob and Michele and all those we lost this year.”

  • Rapper Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop Tour’ Philadelphia stop, while supporting acts quit

    Rapper Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop Tour’ Philadelphia stop, while supporting acts quit

    Just days before Ed Sheeran’s concert on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, rapper Macklemore was dropped over pro-Palestine comments. Following that, several of Sheeran’s supporting acts have quit in support of Macklemore.

    Aaron Rowe, Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Sheeran’s backing band, Beoga, have all announced they were dropping out of the tour, Deadline reported. Lincoln Financial Field officials didn’t immediately return a phone call for comment on what this might mean for this weekend’s concert.

    Macklemore, a Grammy winner, joined the tour earlier this month and was slated to open for Sheeran on eight of his last 10 shows on the U.S. leg of the tour.

    According to Rolling Stone, Macklemore was dropped because of the rapper’s pro-Palestine statements at two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., earlier this month.

    On Sept. 4, Macklemore performed his 2024 protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University and chanted “Free Palestine” while a screen behind him showed footage from the war in Gaza.

    Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran performs during “Ed Sheeran’s Play: Live from New York” presented by TikTok at Domino Square in Brooklyn on Sept. 13, 2025. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)Andy Kropa

    On Tuesday, Sheeran issued a statement on Instagram, writing that he was in contact last week with venue owners, promoters, and activists to “find a mutual resolution for all.”

    While he respects Macklemore’s “strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,” Sheeran said he was unable to “build bridges” with venue owners and promoters because of the way the rapper “conveyed part of his message” during his two New Jersey shows.

    Messina Touring Group, the promotional team behind the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, told Rolling Stone that several venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.” That list of venues includes Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.; Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium; Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.; and the South Philadelphia venue.

    Not removing Macklemore from the lineup, Messina representatives said, would “result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.”

    Lincoln Financial Field representatives did not respond to requests for comment from The Inquirer at the time of publishing.

    U.S. rapper Macklemore (center) attends a demonstration in support of Palestinians calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, near the Dolby Theatre where the 96th Academy Awards Oscars ceremony were being held, on March 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)Etienne Laurent

    “What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years,” Macklemore wrote in a social media post on Monday. “So why is it an issue now? Because now I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America.”

    The rapper wrote that he was dropped from the tour after Sheeran, whom he called a friend, received a call from Robert Kraft, the owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium.

    “Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave [Sheeran] an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,” the post reads.

    “I agree with Macklemore,” Kraft said in a statement obtained by USA Today Sports, in which he acknowledged his decision that Macklemore’s “participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”

    Kraft also wrote: “Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.”

    Macklemore’s shows at MetLife spurred backlash from pro-Israel groups like StopAntisemitism. In a social media post, the group accused Macklemore of spreading “anti‑Israel propaganda,” an assertion that was amplified by Bucks County-bred pop star Pink.

    “A repost isn’t a statement,” Pink clarified in an Instagram post, adding that she didn’t object to Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” chants, and said that she believes that “Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations.”

    “I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund,” she said. “What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?” she wrote. She also pointed to her “decade as a UNICEF ambassador” during which she worked for “kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into.”

    In this Feb. 20, 2019 file photo, singer Pink poses for photographers at the Brit Awards in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP, File)Vianney Le Caer

    The Israeli American Council also launched a petition, demanding that Macklemore be removed from the tour.

    Macklemore performs at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater during the South by Southwest Music Festival on March 17, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File)Jack Plunkett

    Despite one “painful disagreement, Macklemore contends that he will remain friends with Sheeran and understands his position. “Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I’ve lost all of those things,” Macklemore wrote in his social media post.

    The North American leg of the “Loop Tour” wraps up at Raymond James Stadium on Nov. 7. A South American leg of the tour will follow in November and December.

    An earlier version of this article misstated the day of Ed Sheeran’s concert. It is on Saturday, Sept. 19.

  • Philadelphia Orchestra musicians’ pay will reach $200,000 if new pact is approved

    Philadelphia Orchestra musicians’ pay will reach $200,000 if new pact is approved

    Musicians and management of the Philadelphia Orchestra have struck a tentative agreement on a new three-year labor deal. The pact, whose terms were finalized in the past few days after more than six months of talks, would, if ratified, put the base minimum salary of orchestra members at $200,008 annually by the end of the contract.

    Players were presented with the deal Monday and, after a mandatory 48-hour period to mull it, are slated to hold a ratification vote starting Wednesday.

    The old contract expired Monday at 12:01 a.m., but no interruption of performances is expected. Opening night of the 2026-27 season is Sept. 24 — a benefit concert for the musicians’ retirement fund featuring Joe Hisaishi’s Orbis and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

    The musicians’ negotiating committee recommended the contract — which keeps the Philadelphia Orchestra’s players among a group of the best paid in the U.S. — to the full membership.

    “It’s a step in the right direction,” Ellen Trainer, president of local 77-274 of the American Federation of Musicians, said of the tentative deal. “I think the association [management] understood our narrative and worked with us to achieve something we can all be proud of.”

    “This is a deal that commits to the artistry of the orchestra,” said Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts president and CEO Ryan Fleur. “We’re trying to assure short- and long-term economic stability. It does make an investment in our artists and it is a competitive deal that will keep them among their highest-paid peers.”

    The new contract follows one whose negotiations in 2023 were publicly acrimonious and left some orchestra board members feeling bruised. Players authorized a strike, though a strike never happened, and they filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.

    Talks this time did not bubble over in public, though musicians did make labor-solidarity statements over the summer such as wearing union T-shirts to rehearsals.

    The new contract calls for an increase in base salary from the current $176,280 to $200,008 over the contract’s three-year span. Many players earn more, and some, like principals, make much more.

    The contract does not call for changes in healthcare coverage. It provides work-rule changes, such as opening up more rehearsals to students, and spells out protocols for hearing loss protections during performances using amplified sound. The third year of the contract grants supplemental payments to substitute and extra musicians for their retirement accounts.

    Ravi Coltrane and the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Edwin Outwater, during a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth at the Highmark Mann Center this past July.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    The new contract increases the size of the “complement” — that is, the number of full-time members — from the current 103 to 104 by the third year.

    The deal also enshrines for the first time a limit on the number of live-to-screen movie presentations that can be programmed to two per subscription season, with no more than three performances per movie. The contract does not restrict the number of film concerts in summer.

    Fleur said it’s not the film music itself that concerns the orchestra’s musicians. But film scores are typically recorded in multiple sessions, and when an orchestra performs the entire score all at once, “it’s a very intense process and requires skills that are not consistent with the skills when responding to [music and artistic director] Yannick [Nézet-Séguin] in a Mahler symphony.”

    The new contract also provides for a process at the end of the season to review “the quality of all programs featuring a nonsymphonic work, including, but not limited to, programs featuring pops music,” to discuss the income generated as well as the “impact of the programming on the artistic health of the Philadelphia Orchestra.”

    Musician dissatisfaction has been around certain concerts at which “the orchestra is playing with stand-lights and they’re not really a partner on the stage but more in the background,” said Trainer. “They want to be mutually featured.”

    A number of other major U.S. orchestras have been in negotiations recently. This month, the National Symphony Orchestra settled a new contract, as did the Boston Symphony Orchestra last month. Players of the Cleveland Orchestra recently voted to authorize a strike. The San Francisco Opera canceled opening night of its 104th season on Sept. 12 after musicians of the orchestra went on strike.

    Philadelphia Orchestra has also had its share of strikes, though the most serious work stoppage in past years was three decades ago — a 64-day strike in 1996.

    Fleur said that recent talks featured a “collaborative process,” and while there were times when each side got frustrated, “that’s what happens when there’s an open dialogue, and we worked through it.”

    Orchestra negotiating committee chairperson and violinist Dara Morales said that this time in talks she felt that “the musicians’ voices and our collective knowledge of the orchestra and our industry were taken seriously.”

    The new contract runs though Sept. 9, 2029.

  • Nobel Peace Prize winner and Eagles fan Malala Yousafzai attends her first game

    Nobel Peace Prize winner and Eagles fan Malala Yousafzai attends her first game

    On Sunday, Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai was spotted at Lincoln Financial Field with her husband, Asser Malik, for the Eagles’ season opener against the Washington Commanders.

    According to a team spokesperson, the Eagles leadership invited the education activist and her husband to attend the game.

    Malala Yousafzai visiting an Ethiopian classroom as part of the Higher Education Readiness (HER) programMalin Fezehai

    Fans took to social media to post images of Yousafzai in the stands, donning a custom Eagles jersey with her last name stitched on the back.

    She quote-tweeted an X post of her pictured on the jumbotron with the caption, “GO BIRDS 🦅.” .

    On Monday, she made an Instagram post of her wearing her a custom Birds jersey and matching hat, and enjoying the home opener with Malik from their seats near the 50-yard line.

    Last October, Yousafzai visited Philadelphia on the book tour for her memoir, Finding My Way, where she was in conversation with Kylie Kelce.

    “I’m really excited to be in Philadelphia,” the cricket fan had said to The Inquirer, “and open to going to an Eagles game. I don’t think I’ve been to any of the games.”

    At the book event, encouraged by Kelce, Yousafzai joined the live audience for an Eagles chant. She later posted a picture of herself hugging Kelce on Instagram, with her husband and former Eagle Jason Kelce smiling in the corner of the photo.

    Last December, Yousafzai posted a picture of herself wearing an Eagles jersey during her travels with Malik, who is a former executive with the Multan Sultans, a Pakistani professional cricket team. The team’s primary color, coincidentally enough, is also green.

    Judging by the online reaction, Yousafzai, the youngest person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize,was welcomed into the Eagles fold.

    “You deserve a 2nd Nobel Prize for bringing a peaceful approach to Eagles fandom!,” one X user commented.

    Yousafzai’s first visit to Philly was in 2014, when she received the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center.

    In April, she rolled back into Philly to receive WHYY’s Lifelong Learning Award, where she also gave a Birds shout-out.

    “I just want to say one thing to Philly. Go Birds,” she said to the crowd.

    Now that she witnessed the Eagles’ victory over Washington on Saturday, she might just be saying that a lot more.

    Reporter Rob Tornoe contributed to this article.

    An earlier of the article misstated details of Malala Yousafzai’s Eagles jersey. She wore one with her last name on it.

  • An anecdote-filled book tells the rock and roll history of WMMR and fact-checks Springsteen

    An anecdote-filled book tells the rock and roll history of WMMR and fact-checks Springsteen

    No Philadelphia rock radio station has a richer, more colorful history than WMMR-FM (93.3). And none has showcased more on-air personalities who went on to become Philly institutions.

    The station’s beginnings as a progressive rock station date back to 1968 with Dave Herman’s free-form show The Marconi Experiment. In the 1970s, DJs like Ed Sciaky, Michael Tearson, and David Dye helped turned Philly into a stronghold for artists like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Yes.

    And in the 1980s, ‘MMR rose to market dominance in the Philly market as John DeBella pioneered the Morning Zoo format and Pierre Robert began a 40-plus-year run as a beloved figure on the airwaves that ended with his death last year.

    That whole story is told by Erin Riley in The Mighty WMMR: An Oral History of Philadelphia’s Rock Radio Revolution, a new book published by Temple University Press.

    The cover image to Erin Riley’s oral history book “The Mighty WMMR: An Oral History of Philadelphia’s Rock Radio Revolution,” published by Temple University Press. Riley will be in conversation with former WMMR deejay John DeBella at the Parkway Central Library on Tuesday, Sept. 15.Bruce Gore / Scott Ross / Temple University

    Riley served as ‘MMR’s music director from 1983 to 1991 and is the author of the memoir A Dark Force: 20 Years with a Covert Narcissist. She gives voice to 60 interview subjects talking about the station that branded itself “the home of rock and roll.”

    On Tuesday evening at the Parkway Central Library, Riley will be joined by DeBella, discussing the book and the history of the station.

    The book includes DJs and programmers with names known well by longtime Philly radio listeners, such as Cyndy Drue, Lynn Kratz, “Bubba” John Stevens, as well as Mark Goodman, who became one of MTVs original VJs after leaving the station.

    Also reminiscing about the station’s glory days are DJs such as former Daily News and Inquirer music writer and WMMR DJ Jonathan Takiff, WMMR and later WYSP-FM (94.1) morning host Anita Gevinson, who, Riley says, came up with the winning idea to tell the station’s story as an anecdote-filled oral history.

    Joe Bonadonna, Pierre Robert, and John DeBella in the Rittenhouse Square studio of WMMR-FM (93.3) in the 1980s. Erin Riley, the former WMMR music director who is the author of “The Mighty WMMR: An Oral History of Philadelphia’s Rock Radio Revolution,” will be in conversation with DeBella at the Parkway Central Library on Tuesday, Sept. 15.Courtesy of WMMR

    In the book, Riley writes of her first day of work at the station’s then Rittenhouse Square offices in 1983, when she met Tearson for the first time and he proceeded to immediately roll a joint during their introductory conversation.

    “I figured if he’s doing it, no one’s having a problem with this,” she writes.

    The Mighty WMMR is a nostalgia fest. Interviewees include artists like Kenn Kweder, Richard Bush of the A’s, and John Eddie telling tales of long gone hot spots like Emerald City, Grendel’s Lair, and Stars, the venue run by Stephen Starr, now a restaurateur but then a club owner and concert promoter.

    Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman of the Hooters tell of how Tearson gave the band its first big break by playing its cover of a Skatalites song on his show Gorilla Theatre.

    Erin Riley, author of the oral history book “The Mighty WMMR: An Oral History of Philadelphia’s Rock Radio Revolution,” published by Temple University Press. Riley will be in conversation with former WMMR deejay John DeBella at the Parkway Central Library on Tuesday, Sept. 15.Annmarie Young

    Judy Sciaky, the widow of Ed Sciaky, who died in 2004, tells of her late husband’s close relationship with Springsteen, who frequently slept on the sofa at the couple’s Lombard Street house during his early 1970s salad days.

    WMMR deejay Steve Martorano is one of several who warmly remembers Sciaky, who, he says, “never missed a buffet in his life.”

    Springsteen once referred to her husband as “Hungry Ed” in an onstage monologue, Judy Sciaky remembers. The Boss also had a jacket made for the DJ with that nickname stitched on. She adds that Manfred Mann’s hit version of “Blinded By the Light” resulted from Sciaky introducing the band to Springsteen’s song.

    Sciaky’s support for artists like Springsteen, Joel, and Warren Zevon is legendary.

    “Ed was there first. He believed first, committed to them, and did what he did,” program director Charlie Kendall recalls in the book. But did Sciaky play Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., Springsteen’s debut album, first?

    No, Riley clarifies. That was Tearson, followed by Takiff the same night.

    Dye, who later was the founding host of World Cafe on WXPN-FM (88.5), where his Dave’s World airs on Sunday mornings, concurs with the timeline, though Springsteen himself misremembers it in his Born to Run memoir and name-checks Dye in a chapter titled “A DJ saved my life.”

    Bruce Springsteen guest DJing in WMMR’s Rittenhouse Square studios in the 1970s. Erin Riley, the former WMMR music director who is the author of “The Mighty WMMR: An Oral History of Philadelphia’s Rock Radio Revolution,” will be in conversation with John DeBella at the Parkway Central Library on Tuesday, Sept. 15.Courtesy of WMMR
    Who broke Bruce Springsteen big in Philly?

    Gene Shay, the late Folk Show host who made his home at ‘MMR in the early 1970s, is paid tribute to as well. As is Robert, who came to ‘MMR in 1982 and briefly worked as an assistant music director.

    Joe Bonadonna, who hired him, recalls that as an assistant MD, Robert “was terrible.”

    “He was so disorganized. … when he started to do part time-work on the air, it just became a natural progression for him. He was not an analytical brain, he was more of an artsy character.”

    Robert, who died in October 2025, will be celebrated by David Uosikkinen’s In the Pocket during the Philly all-star band’s In the Pocket at Ardmore Music Hall on Sept. 26.

    Erin Riley in conversation with John DeBella plus special guests at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 at Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St. Free. Books will be available for purchase. freelibrary.org.

  • Main Line art dealer is accused of helping sell fake Andy Warhol paintings

    Main Line art dealer is accused of helping sell fake Andy Warhol paintings

    A Main Line art dealer, whose gallery was raided by federal authorities this summer, is named in a new lawsuit, for allegedly participating in an international “pipeline” to sell fraudulent artwork.

    Nathan “Nicky” Isen is among half a dozen people being sued by a Florida family who says they were scammed into buying fake Andy Warhol paintings and prints by a network of “suppliers, fake authenticators and distributors.” According to the lawsuit, filed last week in Miami, the enterprise stretched from Isen’s gallery, Dane Fine Art in Haverford Township, to Florida and Peru.

    Isen’s lawyer, Patrick Egan, said in a statement Sunday that “the claims in this lawsuit are just that, claims.”

    “My client categorically denies any wrongdoing and any connection with any alleged conspiracy,” the statement said. “We look forward to the opportunity to challenge these claims in court.”

    The lawsuit, filed by Richard and Judy Perlman, alleges that Isen had developed a “toxic” reputation among collectors and appraisers after he pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2015. He rebranded his then-gallery, I. Brewster & Co., to Dane Fine Art. (A website for I. Brewster & Co. now redirects users to Dane Fine Art.)

    But, despite the rebrand, the lawsuit contends Isen’s “modus operandi remained unchanged.” He was “selling pages torn from art books as authentic prints.”

    The FBI searched a Haverford Township art gallery

    According to the 42-page lawsuit, Isen then “formed a conspiracy” with Leslie Roberts, an art dealer in an affluent Miami neighborhood.

    “This conspiracy provided what each needed: Isen got a gallery front in Florida with no connection to his toxic name, while Roberts got forged inventory,” the lawsuit filed by the Perlman family alleges.

    The Perlmans also sued Roberts in 2024. That case settled in January for an undisclosed amount, according to the Wall Street Journal. Roberts also pleaded guilty to art-related wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month, the news outlet reported.

    Between 2023 and 2024, Isen’s gallery repeatedly invoiced Roberts’ gallery for, what the lawsuit called, “forged” Warhol works, which the Perlmans then purchased. Roberts told the Wall Street Journal he believed the Warhols were genuine at the time.

    In July, the FBI conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at Dane Fine Art, in the 2300 block of Haverford Road.

    It’s unclear why the FBI searched the business. Isen’s lawyer did not respond to questions about the FBI raid and declined to comment on the matter to the Wall Street Journal.

  • Eagles-Commanders: Two familiar voices and a departure at NBC Sports Philadelphia

    Eagles-Commanders: Two familiar voices and a departure at NBC Sports Philadelphia

    After a long offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles are finally back in action Sunday, taking on the Washington Commanders to kick off a season filled with “Super Bowl or bust”-level expectations.

    “There’s no way this team should lose more than three games, four at the most,” writes Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes. “They’ve got a Pro Bowl quarterback, a superstar running back, a franchise receiver, and a genius running a defense with more talent than any defense in team history that didn’t include Reggie White.”

    Calling the Birds’ season opener on Fox is a familiar figure — former Super Bowl villain turned top broadcaster Tom Brady, who is entering his third season as the network’s top NFL analyst.

    To Brady’s credit, he made steady improvement in the booth last year, developing into one of the best analysts currently calling games. The future Hall of Famer worked six Birds games last season and is in line to call at least four this year, including the Eagles’ Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.

    “There are parts of the game where he just takes over — getting inside the mind of Tom Brady at the line of scrimmage before a play,” Fox NFL producer Richie Zyontz told Front Office Sports at the end of last season. “Anticipating, not just reacting.”

    Despite his other commitments outside the booth, which include being a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady expects to fulfill the 10-year, $375 million deal he signed with Fox in 2024.

    “I have a lot to prove to myself, to my teammates. I have a lot to prove to the executives,” Brady told the Sports Business Journal. “I want to go earn it and I don’t want anything given to me. I hope they’ll have me through the end of this contract.”

    Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the Eagles’ season opener against the Commanders.

    How to watch and stream Eagles vs. Commanders

    Tom Brady (left) and Kevin Burkhardt will call Eagles-Commanders on Fox Sunday.Fox Sports

    Sunday’s Week 1 game between the Eagles and Commanders is scheduled to start at 4:25 p.m. Philadelphia time on Fox.

    Alongside Brady will be veteran play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, a North Jersey native who grew up rooting for the Eagles in Giants country.

    Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will report from the sidelines at Lincoln Financial Field.

    The game will stream on Fox One, the network’s subscription streaming service. It’s also available on any so-called skinny bundle that carries Fox, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

    If you live in Philadelphia or any other TV market where the game is airing, you can also stream the game on NFL+, the league’s subscription streaming service, which runs $6.99 a month.

    If you’re looking to stream the game for free and you live in or around Philadelphia, your best option is to use a digital antenna, since the game will air on broadcast television on Fox 29.

    Merrill Reese and Mike Quick back together on radio

    How Merrill Reese, the voice of the Eagles, prepares to go on air
    Video: How Merrill Reese, the voice of the Eagles, prepares to go on air

    Another familiar voice returning this year is Merrill Reese, who is back for his 50th season calling Eagles games on 94.1 WIP.

    Reese began his long career as the team’s pre- and postgame radio host before being promoted to color analyst in 1975. He became the voice of the Eagles suddenly in December 1977 after his partner Charlie Swift died by suicide, and has remained in the booth ever since.

    While Reese, 84, is by far the longest-tenured announcer in the league, he has no intention of this being his last season in the booth.

    “I always kiddingly say they’re going to have to remove me with a crane,” Reese told The Inquirer’s Matt Breen in a lengthy interview. “My greatest pleasure is to sit there and broadcast an Eagles game. There’s nothing I love more. I even enjoy doing the preseason games. … I have no intention of stopping.”

    Merrill Reese (left) and Mike Quick promoting their own beer in 2022. ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

    Back alongside Reese is former Eagles wide receiver Mike Quick, who joined the booth in 1998. Reese has had a number of broadcast partners over the years — Jim Barniak, Bill Bergey, Stan Walters — but none had the staying power of Quick.

    “I believe we’ve become like members of the family,” Reese said. “We’re like their old friends who’ve been with them for many, many years. … They can identify with us. They feel comfortable with us.”

    One big change on WIP’s Eagles broadcasts is the absence of a sideline reporter. Devan Kaney, who served as sideline reporter last season and during the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX run, was laid off by WIP in March as part of company-wide cutbacks by Audacy.

    Former WIP host Howard Eskin became the station’s first Eagles sideline reporter in 2011, but abruptly left the station in December 2024 following an incident with a female staffer during a remote broadcast at a Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philadelphia and was replaced by Kaney.

    Merrill Reese wants to broadcast Eagles games ‘forever.’ His wife helps him stay sharp after 50 years.

    Ron Jaworski not returning to NBC Sports Philadelphia

    Ron Jaworski, seen here speaking with Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie before an Eagles game. NBC Sports Philadelphia

    Ron Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback known to most fans simply as “Jaws,” won’t be part of NBC Sports Philadelphia’s pre- and postgame coverage this season.

    The former Eagles quarterback and longtime NFL analyst made the decision to pull back on his broadcasting duties last week after four years with the network.

    “It’s been a great run!” Jaworski wrote on social media last week. “Thank you all, and Go Birds!”

    Michael Barkann, who has hosted Eagles pre- and postgame since the Comcast SportsNet days, is back for his 30th NFL season. He’ll be joined by Reuben Frank and two former Birds players — offensive lineman Barrett Brooks and wide receiver Jason Avant.

    Elsewhere, former Eagles star Brandon Graham will join PHLY’s postgame coverage for certain games this season, rotating with former Birds defender and Super Bowl champ Vinny Curry.

    Seth Joyner is also back to offer postgame analysis on YouTube alongside longtime Birds reporter Derrick Gunn and sports talker Marc Farzetta.

    WIP, 97.5 The Fanatic, and JAKIB Sports also have their own postgame shows, as do the Eagles themselves.

    Live Eagles coverage from The Inquirer

    Predictions for the Eagles' season opener versus the Commanders
    Video: Predictions for the Eagles’ season opener versus the Commanders

    Staff writers Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, Jeff Neiburg, and Ryan Novozinsky will be covering the action live on Inquirer.com.

    Notes and observations about the game can be found at Inquirer.com/Eagles. Don’t forget to subscribe to our free Sports Daily newsletter.

    Other NFL games on TV in Philly Week 1

    Dak Prescott and the Cowboys will take the field Sunday night. Julio Cortez
    Sunday
    • Bills at Texans: 1 p.m., CBS3 (Ian Eagle, Ross Tucker, Evan Washburn)
    • Falcons at Steelers: 1 p.m., Fox29 (Joe Davis, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver)
    • Packers at Vikings: 4:25p.m., CBS3 (Jim Nantz, JJ Watt, Tracy Wolfson)
    • Cowboys at Giants: 8:20 p.m., NBC10 (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark)
    Monday
    • Broncos at Chiefs: 8:15 p.m., 6ABC and ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge)

    Five things to read about the Eagles

    Girard Elementary students in front of the school’s Eagles mural in South Philadelphia.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer

    Eagles 2026 TV schedule

    • Week 1: Commanders at Eagles — Sunday, Sept. 13, 4:25 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 2: Eagles at Titans — Sunday, Sept. 20, 1 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 3: Eagles at Bears — Monday, Sept. 28, 8:15 p.m. (ABC, ESPN)
    • Week 4: Rams at Eagles — Sunday, Oct. 4, 1 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 5: Eagles at Jaguars (London) — Sunday, Oct. 11, 9:30 a.m. (NFL Network)
    • Week 6: Panthers at Eagles — Sunday, Oct. 18, 1 p.m. (CBS)
    • Week 7: Cowboys at Eagles — Monday, Oct. 26, 8:15 p.m. (ABC, ESPN)
    • Week 8: Eagles at Commanders — Sunday, Nov. 1, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
    • Week 9: Giants at Eagles — Sunday, Nov. 8, 1 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 10: Bye week
    • Week 11: Steelers at Eagles — Sunday, Nov. 22, 4:25 p.m. (CBS)
    • Week 12: Eagles at Cowboys — Thursday, Nov. 26, 4:30 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 13: Eagles at Cardinals — Sunday, Dec. 6, 4:05 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 14: Colts at Eagles — Sunday, Dec. 13, 1 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 15: Seahawks at Eagles — Saturday, Dec. 19, 5 p.m. (Fox)
    • Week 16: Texans at Eagles — Thursday, Dec. 24, 8:15 p.m. (Prime Video)
    • Week 17: Eagles at 49ers — Sunday, Jan. 3, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
    • Week 18: Eagles at Giants — TBD (TBD)
  • Charli XCX’s ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour opener in South Philly was an electrifying, existential dance party

    Charli XCX’s ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour opener in South Philly was an electrifying, existential dance party

    Charli XCX spent over a decade in the electro pop trenches before suddenly blowing up big time in the Brat summer of 2024.

    So it’s not a surprise that the British singer, who said “all of my albums work in opposites” and “repel against each other,” would react to long-time-in-coming viral success with a stylistic about-face and pause for self-reflection.

    The result is her new album Music, Fashion, Film, which gives its name to the tour that launched at Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia on Friday with a hyperkinetic performance in front of a deliriously excitable opening-night crowd.

    On its surface, the Music, Fashion, Film album appears to be a turn away from the Dionysian “Club Classics” culture of its predecessor into something more serious-minded and self-consciously mature.

    The image on the album cover — and on the $50 T-shirts selling on the concourse — is not of the trendsetting pop star, but a group shot of three titans in their fields — Velvet Underground cofounder John Cale, fashion designer Marc Jacobs, and movie director Martin Scorsese.

    Instead of the neon green that lit up Brat summer, the cover shot — and all Music, Fashion, Film imagery — is in black and white.

    The album’s lead track, “Rock Music,” which she opened with Friday, Charli, 34, appears to be putting club culture in her rear view.

    “Me and my friends,” she sings. “Yeah, we’re on to the next. I think the dance floor is dead / So now we’re making … Rock Music.”

    And truth be told, she is — some of the time.

    For most of the first and last thirds of the 100-minute show — which included 29 songs, with the briefest of breaks for exhortations like “Philly, this is the Music, Fashion, Film tour, are you [expletive] with me!” — she was accompanied by a three-piece band that included Morrisville, Pa., native Chris Greatti on guitar.

    Charli XCX at the Leeds Festival in England in August. The British pop star opened her “Music, Fashion, Film” tour at Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia on Friday night.Courtesy of the Artist

    Music, Fashion, Film songs like “Wink, Wink,” “Persona,” and “2007” kicked into gear with overdriven guitars and hyper-pop-processed production that upped the adrenaline level.

    And Charli — whose given name is Aitchison and whose stage name comes from a teenage online screen moniker meaning “Kiss Charli Kiss “ — fully embraced the rock aesthetic, striking poses that made her look like an Italian neorealist film star in the black-and-white image on the video screens.

    But for all of their brash rock and roll presentation on a three-tiered stage topped by a facsimile of a smoke-emitting giant speaker — and no shortage of pyro going off throughout the show — the Music, Fashion, Film songs are actually introspective and soul-searching.

    Not in a navel-gazing, overly earnest way though. Charli XCX couldn’t bore you with self-pitying clichés about the perils of pop stardom if she tried.

    Instead, she’s droll and sharply observant and self-aware about a lack of fulfillment from fame. Along with Cale, whose recorded voice was heard on Friday from their collaboration on “House,” from the Wuthering Heights soundtrack released this year, Charli is a also a super fan of his Velvets bandmate Lou Reed.

    And several Music Fashion, Film songs display a deadpan dark wit that show she has more in common with Reed than an appreciation for black leather.

    Most amusing was “Card Declined,” a song about the failure of retail therapy to come through and transform your essential self when you need it most. “Let’s go shopping,” she sang on Friday. “I’ll buy a handbag. I’ll buy some shoes … a personality, a whole backstory … Card declined.”

    Equally astute and self aware were “Persona,” “Wink, Wink” — in which she vowed ”I’m not a bad girl anymore, I promise” — and “Camera,” about being addicted to growing up in public, to a dangerous degree.

    Charli played 13 songs from Music Fashion, Film, and included a few older cuts, such as “Party 4 U,” from 2020’s How I’m Feeling Now and the title song from her 2014 EP Vroom, Vroom.

    And the surprise of the evening was “Stay Away,” pulled from True Romance, the debut album that brought her to Philadelphia for her first-ever U.S. performance at a Making Time party at Voyeur in the Gayborhood in 2012.

    In the lead up to Friday’s show, Charli gave fans fashion tips on social media, saying the dress code is “whatever you want but if you want to commit I’d just get an old T-shirt and rip it to shreds and wear that.”

    Charli XCX at the Lollapalooza in Chicago in July. The British pop star opened her ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia on Friday night.Courtesy of the Artist

    Many women, men, girls and boys took heed, usually pairing the distressed garment with something black leathery, and most leaving Brat gear at home.

    And before the show, Charli also teased the tour’s vibe, which she said is “50% party, 50% existential crisis tbh.”

    The songs from the new album carried the existential theme. Though to be honest, they were delivered with so much energy that the buzz in the room never let up.

    But the unadulterated partying — and the shrieks of delight and singing along to every single lyric — really cut loose on the Brat songs that made up the meat in the middle of the show. With the band mostly out of sight, bass-heavy beats thumped as the general admission dance floor pulsated.

    Like a boss, Charli prowled the catwalk and writhed on the ground. She was followed around by a coterie of what I counted as 14 associates, who were more like fashion-model voguers than dancers.

    It was difficult to tell how many people were onstage at any one time because flashing strobes seemed to go off every millisecond. The group of planning-ahead fans next to me were better prepared than I, having arrived with Charli-esque sunglasses to wear when necessary.

    The show got back to existential business at the end. First, with “SS26,” a lovely pop song with a sobering point of view that cast doubt on art’s ability to make a difference.

    “Spring, Summer, ’26, when the world is gonna end, no hope for any of it,” she sang. “We’re walking on a runway that goes straight to hell, nothing’s gonna save us, not music, fashion, or film.”

    That was followed by the closing, “No One Lasts Forever,” which also closes the album. It’s a song about seizing the day and embracing the here and now, ‘’cause nothing gonna last forever.”

    On Friday, Charli put that point across musically as an inviting pop rock song. But then, as on the album, she handed off the mic to the voice of Canadian director David Cronenberg, recorded in conversation with her.

    As a trancelike beat throbbed behind him, and Charli and dancers posed motionless on the elevated stage, Cronenberg spoke about how art can live forever, but artists can’t.

    When everybody’s time is up — including the pop star being celebrated in that very arena on Friday — Cronenberg’s looped voice repeated 27 times, “They are dead, they are gone, no one lasts forever.”

    And what that translates to — he and Charli were arguing — is the artistic license to be inspired and create in the moments that we’re here. That thought was boiled down to three words “Oblivion is Freedom,” which were spelled out on the video screens, and also on a T-shirt sold at the merch table.

  • ‘Tires’ cocreator Steve Gerben on how he became the ‘King of West Chester Golf’

    ‘Tires’ cocreator Steve Gerben on how he became the ‘King of West Chester Golf’

    While Steve Gerben is known for having cocreated one of the year’s most popular Netflix comedy series, his friends and the internet are attempting to crown him with a more ribbing title: The “King of West Chester Golf.”

    The Berwyn-born actor, comedian, and costar of Netflix’s Tires says the nickname is just a joke created by his costar and fellow Pennsylvanian Shane Gillis after Gerben “broke 80″ for the first time, scoring 79 on 18 holes of golf last year. It’s something that fewer than 10% of golfers worldwide reportedly do in their lifetime.

    “I thought I would just get my friend to start videotaping in case it happened on the 18th hole. And then I did it,” Gerben, 43, remembers with fondness. “So Shane saw that video and was making fun of it on his podcast, calling me the ‘King of West Chester Golf.’”

    Gerben’s character on Tires, Will, an anxious go-getter who sees the best in those around him, is not unlike Gerben in real life. Even when receiving praise for his golf prowess or growing television career, Gerben is more comfortable sharing credit with others and not taking the spotlight. And while he downplays his claim to the West Chester golf throne, Gerben does play golf every week in the Philadelphia region — from West Chester courses to the occasional charity event at Ardmore’s Merion Golf Club.

    As his profile has grown with the success of Tires, Gerben continues to live in West Chester, cultivating a life around golfing near home and creating a local television production alongside his best friends.

    “I can’t see myself leaving the area. I really love it here and it’s home,” he said. “Also, just given how I feel about golf, suburbs make way more sense — it’s just scratching the right itch for me.”

    It also helps that the hit show Gerben cocreated with Mechanicsburg-born Gillis and Philadelphia’s John McKeever is filmed in West Chester off East Gay Street, inside an addition to the real-life tire shop of Gerben’s father.

    Tires, which had its season three premiere Aug. 13, follows two cousins, Will (Gerben) and Shane (Gillis) as they run the fictional Valley Forge Automotive Center, named after the previous real-life automotive business of Gerben’s father, which was sold in 2011.

    “I remember after season one, my dad was on the boardwalk and he saw a Valley Forge Auto shirt in one of the stores, and he was just like, ‘This is insane,’ because it’s this company that he had for 20 years, and then gone, and now we brought it back in a way,” Gerben said.

    With Gerben and Gillis on screen, and McKeever as the magic behind the camera, the Tires crew navigates the world of a Pennsylvania small business, rivalries with a national tire chain, and coming to terms with life and romance in your late 30s and 40s.

    Tires was recently renewed for a fourth season. That renewal, along with the suburban life he’s created with his girlfriend and cat, has Gerben doubling down on the Philly region. One factor that now rules his life is golf, and how to keep enjoying the sport that eases his mind and boosts his confidence.

    “Playing golf is a flow state for me. I get out of a perfect golf swing what I’m sure people that meditate get out of meditation or when people feel a piece of art really speaks to them,” Gerben said.

    What started as something to do as a senior at Conestoga High School, joining the Valley Forge Golf Club for $8 after school, has grown into a passion that has seen him playing alongside Eagles players like Jason Kelce and appearing in vlog-style golfing videos with comedian Andrew Santino.

    Golf feels like meeting up with an old flame for Gerben, who essentially gave up on the pastime as he attempted to make it in the East Coast stand-up comedy circuit in the 2010s. That’s where he met Gillis and McKeever, doing open mics at the now-closed Raven Lounge and Helium Comedy Club.

    While Gillis would continue to rise in stand-up comedy, Gerben said he struggled to find footing. Yet, constants in his life were Gillis and McKeever, who reportedly were known to not take on certain projects unless Gerben could be involved.

    But one thing that always sat in Gerben’s back pocket was a script for a show based on his experience working at his father’s Valley Forge tire shop that he initially wrote nearly 15 years before Tires would premiere on Netflix in 2024. Two years later, Tires’ third season debuted in the No. 9 spot on Netflix with 2.4 million views in its opening weekend.

    The success doesn’t get to Gerben’s head, as he’s focused on enjoying life in the burbs and golfing as much as possible, he said. With golf swinging back into his life, the sport brings a chance of pace in a busy work schedule and/ allows Gerben, who has had arthritis since he was 2, to stay active.

    “I feel so unbelievably healthy because I think it’s about like a five- or six-mile walk each golf session, and you’re not even paying attention to that, given you’re doing this thing that you just absolutely love doing, and is a little bit easier on the joints,” Gerben said.

    Gerben also sees golf as a way to meet friends.

    “Golf is just a weird addiction that some people have that cuts across generational barriers because you spend so much time with people on the course who have the same passion as you,” he said.

    In the meantime, Gerben will continue flirting with the idea of starting his own golfing YouTube career, like “Bryan Bros Golf.” But until Tires is wrapped, Gerben said there would be no official online golf career on the horizon.

    Besides, if Gillis finds Gerben’s golf videos, Gerben will never hear the end of it from his best friend, he said.