Greatest American Dog, Beth Joy and Bella, and the New York Tails Magazine connection

Okay, play "Six Degrees of Separation" with me.

1.) Beth Joy Knutsen and her "Bella Starlet Dog" will be making their prime-time debut on CBS tomorrow (July 10th) at 8pm EST (that's Channel 2 for you guys in the New York-metro region).

2.) Beth Joy Knutsen and Bella "write" a column for New York Tails magazine called "Tails About Town" and have done so for several years now.

Oh, wait, that's only two degrees of separation. Maybe even one. Hah hah!

I got to be honest with you. When I first met Beth, Bella and her husband Steve, I thought maybe Beth was just a little too much into her dog. (Yes, I know, I can hear the 'howls' from you dog people already--"ain't no such thing as being too into your dog!") Actually the first time I met them Bella wasn't with them; they were with their very, very cool cat, Beastie. (There are six animals in total in the Knutsen household, not counting two humans.) They were all wearing Giants jerseys. (It was for a photo contest we were running at the time.)

We kept in touch, and then Beth and "Bella" started writing a column for New York Tails called "Tails About Town." Pictures, parties -- real social butterfly-type stuff. Fine with me; I'd rather be writing. Still thought she was a bit nuts, though.

Well, shows what I know.

Now they're both on prime time TV with their lives just about poised to change forever. And in case you haven't noticed, CBS is pushing this show hard. And Beth in particular. She's been in the
New York Times, New York Magazine, People...more every day.

There I am, waiting in line at the pharmacy with my bag of potato chips and Twix bar, leafing through People magazine while the lady in front of me decides she grabbed the wrong conditioner and "will be right back!" in mid-checkout and there's Beth on page 48.

We're all really, really proud of both of them.

Good luck, Beth Joy and Bella! (and, no, I have absolutely, positively NO idea how it turned out, who won, or anything.)

Here's their biography from the CBS "Greatest American Dog" website:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/greatest_american_dog/bio/beth_joy_and_bella_starlet/bio.php