R-J columnist wins top honor

The sedentary lifestyle is paying off for Review-Journal TV critic Christopher Lawrence: His weekly Life on the Couch column has been named the nation's best arts and entertainment commentary by the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.

"It is gratifying for one of our own to be recognized by our peers in the industry," said Review-Journal Editor Thomas Mitchell. "I hope it tells our readers that we care enough to provide the very best."

A panel of newspaper editors, syndicate representatives and faculty at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill School of Journalism singled out Lawrence for three of his columns.

For one, he watched the first two seasons of "Grey's Anatomy" -- all 27 hours and 49 minutes -- in one sitting. In another, he declared ABC was getting too "girly" for most men and suggested a new logo: "some frilly lace panties and maybe a cosmopolitan." And for Valentine's Day, he played matchmaker with characters from different series, such as "Entourage's" Ari Gold and "Deadwood's" Calamity Jane. "Whether there'd be a physical attraction is hard to say," he wrote in part. "There's no telling what she's got going on underneath all that dirt and burlap, but it's likely nothing a full-body wax, some turpentine and a Costco-sized drum of Oil of Olay couldn't fix."

For the association contest, the Review-Journal competed against publications with circulations between 175,000 and 300,000, including much larger newspapers such as The (Baltimore) Sun, The Miami Herald, Rocky Mountain News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Kansas City Star and The Sacramento Bee.

In addition to TV critics, the commentary category is open to columnists and critics who cover movies, music, dance, art, architecture, books, theater and opera.

Lawrence, 34, was born and raised in Owensboro, Ky., where his father also is an award-winning columnist. (His mother is field supervisor for a national opinion research company.)

His previous journalism awards were at the state level, both at Murray State University in Kentucky and at the Paducah (Ky.) Sun, where he started writing about television in 2000. He became a member of the Television Critics Association the same year. Lawrence joined the Review-Journal as a copy editor in March 2004 and began writing his Life on the Couch column in August 2005. The column appears on Mondays in the Living section.

He will receive his award, along with a cash prize, Sept. 27 in Savannah, Ga., during the association's annual conference.