Pepper Dennis [TV Series] (2006)

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A vehicle for the dazzlingly beautiful Rebecca Romijn, the WB comedy drama Pepper Dennis cast the model-turned-actress as the title character, an up-and-coming news reporter for fictional Chicago TV station WEIE. Aspiring to anchor the station's top-rated news broadcast, Pepper Dennis was understandably put out when the job went to handsome Charlie Babcock (Josh Hopkins) -- with whom Pepper had had a one-night stand just before he was hired for the job! Now relegated to the position of Babcock's assistant and occasional on-air replacement, Pepper did her darnedest to hide her jealousy (not to mention her still-strong attraction to Charlie) when anchoring WEIE-TV's characteristic "if it bleeds it leads" news features. Typical of Pepper's assignments was the episode in which, to expose a poker-club prostitution ring, she had to disguise herself as a hooker. Also, in keeping with the tenor of the times (the mid-2000s), Pepper and her colleagues zinged out a great many wisecracks and put-downs aimed toward certain right-wing cable news hosts, notably that guy with the Irish name who was "looking out for you." The rest of the cast included Brooke Burns as Kathy Dinkle, Pepper's whiny, self-centered sister, who moved in with our heroine after the breakup of her marriage (which she unfairly blamed on Pepper); Ms. Dennis' best friend, WEIE's acerbic makeup artist Kimmy Kim; and Rider Strong as Chick, a station cameraman who worshipped Pepper from afar. Created by Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, whose previous efforts included the highly regarded but little-watched Wonderfalls, Pepper Dennis debuted April 4, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi