What Does The Future Hold For Alycia Lane, Now That It Doesn't Include KYW

Not to Worry. People -- Particularly Desperate News Directors -- Are Willing To Give Second Chances, Especially When You Look Like This

Now that KYW-TV, the CBS station in Philadelphia has given the boot to popular anchor Alycia Lane -- who's facing felony assault charges involving a police officer in New York -- come the questions about whether she has a future in the news business.

All indications are the answer should eventually be a resounding yes, and not because she's threatening the station with a wrongful termination suit for ending her contract, which had four years left at more than $700K per.

We'll work from the assumption that despite allegedly hitting a female officer in the face and calling her a "fucking dyke," she'll avoid jail time if not the enmity of GLAAD.

Conceivably, that could be smoothed over by lots of apologies, maybe even a visit to the homophobe rehab facility Isiah Washington felt compelled to visit.

If a dinosaur like Imus could be resurrected by the damage wrought by his big mouth, then so can Lane, who at 35, has the looks and the journalistic chops to go with them. In other words, an unbeatable combination for a news director looking to goose the ratings.

Forget the snarky comment The Philadelphia Inquirer got from nonpareil quote whore Robert Thompson, who chirped "I don't think Fox is still doing celebrity boxing."

Lane, after a self-imposed exile following the end of her trips to court, will live to see another day behind an anchor desk. But she'll probably have to relocate and maybe take a paycut in the process.

The spotlight may have gotten too bright in Philly, where her love life and failed marriages are topics of conversation. And since she mixed it up in the Big Apple, that's also a no-go. Maybe Miami? That's where Lane made a splash was working before KYW. Or perhaps TMZ.com, which has labeled her a "news vixen." She could be made to feel right at home there.