Inqlings: The wait here is up for 'Tenure'

Luke Wilson

,

David Koechner

,

Gretchen Mol

and

Sasha Alexander

get to work tomorrow as cameras roll on the romantic comedy

Tenure

.

Producer

Paul Schiff

(

Mona Lisa Smile

,

My Cousin Vinny

) prefers to call

Tenure

a "thinking man's college comedy - smart and silly at the same time."

Wilson and Mol play rival college profs trying to get tenure at "Gray College." He's the laconic son of a legendary educator, while she's an upstart from Yale. Koechner (

The Office

) plays a prof friend of Wilson's, while Alexander (

NCIS

) is Wilson's sister.

First up, for three days' filming, will be Rosemont College, where four areas will be used, including a basement classroom that will be turned into a cheesy banquet hall.

Also on the five-week shoot list are Bryn Mawr College, Lower Merion High, and Foulkeways, a retirement community in Lower Gwynedd.

"The movie demands a beautiful college campus," Schiff says. "We considered Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and we just really fell for the environment that Rosemont and Bryn Mawr have." That and the Pennsylvania film-tax credits, which will defray part of the film's budget.

Schiff and his producing partners let

Mike Million

, a commercial director from Washington, D.C., direct his own script "because this is a very personal kind of comedy, in voice and tone."

Unlike many independent films, this one has distribution in place. Blowtorch Entertainment, a new player, plans to target college-age audiences.

The other film crew in the area - due in Old City soon - is

The Dream of the Romans

with

Lauren Graham

and

Jeff Daniels

.

Three writers yesterday picked up prizes in the annual Set in Philadelphia screenwriters competition, sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office and the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers.

Grand prize ($10,000) went to

Adam F. Goldberg

for

Everything's Changed

, a tale of a girl who discovers what it's like to be an artist in Philadelphia. Chemist

Jenny Krurine

won the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Regional Award ($2,500) for

Think About Love

, about a chemist who discovers an eczema drug that has a strange side-effect. The Irene I. Parisi Award ($1,000), honoring a writer 25 or younger, went to

Eamon R. McIvor

for

Judy Is a Punk

, a coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old girl.

Can't win 'em all. AskMen.com released its list of top 10 sports mascots, and the Phillie Phanatic was third, after the San Diego Chicken and the Calgary Flames' Harvey the Hound. In a January report on Forbes.com, the Marketing Arm, which assesses mascots' dollar power, ranked the Phanatic tops.

Supreme Court Justice

Samuel Alito

, a Phillies fan, predicts 93 Phillies wins this season. He also told

Dom Giordano

and

Dick Jerardi

on WPHT (1210) the other day that he most closely identifies with (surprise) the umpires.

Catcher

Chris Coste

signed his book,

The 33-Year-Old Rookie

, at the Center City Borders on Tuesday. Asked about the Phils' chances, he said he'd leave prognostications to

Ryan Howard

.

Jim Burke

of the South Philly restaurant James was one of 10 pot bangers to pick up Food & Wine's award for best new chef last week. Burke, 34, who opened James with his wife,

Kristina

, last year, will appear on July's cover. "I'm excited and very, very proud of the restaurant," he says. "This is a validation of what we're doing and shows we're on the right track." Past Philly recipients:

Susanna Foo

(1989),

Bruce Lim

and

Francesco Martorella

(1990),

Jack McDavid

(1991),

Tony Clark

(1997),

Guillermo Pernot

(1998),

Marc Vetri

(1999),

Dominique Filoni

(2004) and

Christopher Lee

(2006).

Georgia-born singer

Trisha Yearwood

will have help from Alsace-born chef

Philippe Reininger

at her appearance 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Williams-Sonoma store at King of Prussia. Yearwood, signing the cookbook

Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

, says she was approached to write an autobiography. "I was like, 'No! I'm too young for that.' " She, her sister and her mother collaborated on the book, based on her life in Oklahoma, where she cooks for her kids and her husband,

Garth Brooks

. In an ultimate challenge, the recipes were tested by a New Yorker hired by the publisher. "We know they work," Yearwood says. Reininger, who will prepare something from the book, is executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton.

Matt Cord

of WMMR (93.3) is in a neck brace after fracturing a vertebra in a car accident outside the Wachovia Spectrum on Monday as he headed to the Phillies opener. He says he spilled coffee on his lap as he pulled into a parking space. Distracted, he took his eyes off the windshield, and his Pontiac plowed into a pole. Fifteen stitches in his forehead, too. Cord, who also announces 76ers games, is taking his recovery day to day.

John Bolaris

, columnist? I hear that the Fox29 weatherguy has been tagged to write a guy-about-town column for Philadelphia Style, which will spring its May-June issue on May 1 under new owner Niche Media. The mag's "Best of Style" feature also has been revamped; it's now an editor's choice except for one category, which readers can vote on at

» READ MORE: www.PhillyStyleMag.com

: best new restaurant.

Ted Kennedy

and wife

Victoria

detoured through the Germantown Avenue construction to drop in for breakfast Friday at the Trolley Car Diner & Deli in Mount Airy. The senior senator from Massachusetts, stumping for fellow Democrat

Barack Obama

, had coffee and scrapple at the counter and worked the room.

Settlement Music School's 100th anniversary gala May 3 will have a twist.

Chubby Checker

will be honored, as board chair

Joseph Waz

of Comcast told benefactors at a get-together Wednesday at the home of

David L. and Rhonda Cohen

.

Six students from the Blankenburg School in West Philly are competing this weekend in the National Junior High (K-9) Chess Championship.

Marcel and Marcus Doe

also participate in the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation - they must be great at checking - so the foundation helped with travel expenses.