Dan Gross | Smerconish will be an Imus fill-in

THE MORNING radio show of

Daily News

columnist

Michael Smerconish

on The Big Talker, WPHT (1210-AM), will be simulcast Monday through Wednesday on MSNBC, the network confirmed yesterday.

The show will air on MSNBC from 6 to 9 a.m. Until last week that slot belonged to radio host Don Imus. MSNBC fired Imus April 11 over the controversy following his on-air comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. On April 12, CBS Radio, which also owns the Big Talker, followed suit and dumped Imus' syndicated radio program.

Smerconish announced yesterday that his guests Monday will include comedian Jackie Mason, Nicetown native and MSNBC host Chris Matthews, terrorism expert Richard Clarke and Jon Anderson from the band Yes, singing live in studio.

"We have a variety of people filling in over the next several weeks on the 6 to 9 a.m. slot," says Jeremy Gaines, vice president of communications for MSNBC.

"Monday through Wednesday we will simulcast Smerconish's show, which he's going to broadcast from our studio in Secaucus, New Jersey," Gaines said.

Smerconish says he was asked, "How would you like your radio show televised for a few days on MSNBC?" and that there was "zero conversation about what any of it meant." He doesn't plan to change the Philadelphia focus to his show, and says, "You're going to see a bald guy talking. Their challenge is to make it look interesting on television."

Smerconish is an attorney and author of several books, including "Muzzled: From T-Ball to Terrorism, True Stories That Should Be Fiction," about modern political correctness. He began writing a Daily News column in 2001, and, in February, began writing a column for the Sunday Inquirer. *

If you have something you'd like to share with Dan, call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com.