Documentary cuts into cosmetic surgery

As one who has been up close and personal with Hollywood types who have exhausted the catalog of cosmetic procedures, let me say that the pursuit of beauty can get ugly.

And trying to cheat the clock and slow the aging process is not just for celebrities and the wealthy.

Americans of all incomes, ages and occupations are spending an estimated $60 billion a year on anti-aging treatments including, injections, lotions, and surgical nips and tucks.

Unfortunately, some of these people don't look better - just weirder. Think Michael Jackson, Cher, Burt Reynolds, Melanie Griffith and Joan Rivers.

The dark side of cosmetic surgery has long been the focus of the FX series "Nip/Tuck," which returns on Oct. 14 for its final season.

"Tell me what you don't like about yourself," is the line the Nip/Tuck doctors use when sizing up patients.

This discomfort with our looks apparently runs deep - as revealed in "Youth Knows No Pain," an amusing and troubling documentary debuting at 9 tonight on HBO.

Filmmaker Mitch McCabe, the daughter of a cosmetic surgeon, traveled the country interviewing doctors, people in the anti-aging business and those who have altered their looks in the pursuit of eternal youth.

Instead of focusing on celebrities or those extreme cases of plastic surgery gone awry, McCabe finds "non-celebrity, non-super-rich Americans were who are buying into the cosmeceuticals, Botox, hair transplants, creams, laser treatments and surgeries."

Among her subjects is a Dallas homemaker in her 50s who spent $35,000 in one year on plastic surgery to make herself feel happy; a 45-year old man who endures a bloody eight-hour operation to regain hair so he can keep up with his successful wife; and a California art teacher in his 50s who spent $50,000 to look like Jack Nicholson.

A lot of people want to look like celebrities. For men, the most requested cosmetic makeover is to look more like Brad Pitt. For many women, Angelina Jolie's eyes and lips are most often requested.

McCabe has said that the public shouldn't be surprised by this desire to look young because our culture places high value on youthful good looks. Several studies have found that looking good helps get more dates, better jobs, faster promotions and even better service.

ANCHOR SWITCH: Two anchors at WTVT, Channel 13, are switching duties.

Beginning today, Laura Moody, who has been the weekend anchor, is moving to the "Good Day, Tampa Bay" morning shift from 4:30 to 7 a.m.

Nerissa Prest, who has been co-anchor of "Good Day" since 2007, will become the weekend morning anchor. She also will be doing more reporting for the weekday newscasts, according to a Channel 13 spokesperson. The spokesperson wouldn't give the reasons for the switch.

Prest, a Filipino-American and a California native, formerly was a reporter and anchor at WFLA, Channel 8.

Moody joined WTVT from Nashville, Tenn., where she was weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for an ABC affiliate. She previously worked in Sarasota for a 24-hour cable news channel.