# What DID happen to Spy Magazine?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-happen-to-spy-magazine/356724>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 14, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-happen-to-spy-magazine/356724 "2006-05-14T08:49:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-happen-to-spy-magazine/356724/21 "2006-05-15T22:45:41Z")

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I was an early subscriber (beginning with the issue with the “Rats!” headline, on rats in NYC, not to mention the cover’s supermodel), too, but I don’t think I stuck with it long enough to notice a decline in quality.

A lot of its satire was aimed at the P.R. and publicity industry, and the ways that the successful and strivers shamelessly pat each other on the back: “Blurb-O-Matic!” and “Log-rolling in our time,” etc. Brilliant skewering of the rich, famous, and desperately insecure…

And when Abe Rosenthal died last week, the first thing I thought of was, “Abe ‘I’m writing as fast as I can’ Rosenthal”!

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-happen-to-spy-magazine/356724/22 "2006-05-15T23:15:55Z")

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I’ve always thought the original _Spy_ was a victim of how influential it was: it appeared to lose its edge after the mainstream media discovered irony and detachment. I subscribed from 1987 until it folded the first time, and I’m still proud of having two letters published in it.

Whereas the original had a pleasant skepticism once described as _Mad_ for grownups, the resurrected version was basically a cynically ‘hip’ fan magazine gushing over celebrities.

How sad to turn into one of the things that you once made fun of.

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**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-happen-to-spy-magazine/356724/23 "2006-05-16T00:11:53Z")

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> [@Purd Werfect](#):
>
> I was a longtime subscriber, and I don’t think that their reporting or subject matter had anything to do with the demise of Spy. The last couple of years, the quality went way downhill, and they became a parody of their former glory.

I’ve worked with a lot of magazine people, and I can tell you that sometimes the quality goes downhill as a _response_ to poor numbers. Adpages or subs begin to lag, marketing begins to wag the editorial dog, and before long, you have a mag that is a cheesy, pandering LCD version of what it was. This is supposed to work miracles, never does, and is always repeated.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-happen-to-spy-magazine/356724/24 "2006-05-16T15:39:24Z")

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After the Tracy Lord wedding story fell through, they just couldn’t keep the magazine going. Just ask **C K Dexter Haven**.

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