Amy Buckman says goodbye to 6ABC

AMY BUCKMAN is leaving 6ABC after 25 years at the station. The Lower Merion High School graduate, who grew up in Wynnewood, started at Channel 6 as a producer in 1989.

Buckman told me that the station offered her another contract but she had been thinking for a while about changing gears. "My husband, Terry, is very supportive of my decision and I'm already enjoying spending weekends at home and being able to watch my youngest son's sporting events," Buckman said.

Buckman added that she is looking forward to taking some time off, but will be ready to go back to work when the right opportunity presents itself.

"In the meantime, I'm looking forward to sleeping in on Thanksgiving (though I will watch the parade on TV!) and sipping hot chocolate on my couch during our first winter snowstorm," Buckman said.

Former CBS3 traffic reporter Bob Kelly, who left the station back in September after 13 years on the job, has found a new home on Fox 29's "Good Day Philadelphia," replacing the recently engaged Kacie McDonnell.

"I couldn't wait to get back in front of the camera," Kelly told me after his return to a morning newscast on Thursday. "When you're not having fun, it's work, and I don't like working for a living."

The former DJ said that as a born-and-bred Philadelphian, he did not want to leave the market after his break from CBS3 (which he said ended positively). "I already know where all the good jelly doughnuts are, where all the Catholic schools are - you got to take care of the nuns - and where all the good diners are," Kelly said. (For the record, Kelly says the best jelly doughnuts are at Holmesburg Bakery.)

Kelly did admit that it was a bit surreal heading into a new studio after 13 years at the same station. But that quickly changed. "I was the new kid at the new school, but I got to tell, the minute I walked in that door, it felt like family," Kelly said.

If Kelly's the new kid at school, is he possibly expecting some shenanigans or pranks from his fellow co-workers?

"Well, I wasn't until you just mentioned it!" he said, laughing.

North Philly born-and-bred comedian Kevin Hart will be in Season 5 of Jerry Seinfeld's Web series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."

Season 5, which also features Jimmy Fallon, Bill Burr and Amy Schumer, starts Thursday at comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com.

South Jersey's Tommy Avallone is bringing his newest cinematic venture, "I Am Santa Claus," to the Ritz 5, starting Wednesday. The documentary, produced and featuring former pro wrestler Mick Foley and Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me"), centers around full-time Santas, who take the business of holiday merriment quite seriously. The doc garnered quite the support, with even director Kevin Smith ("Clerks," "Dogma") attending an LA screening.

For more info, go to iamsantaclausmovie.com.

Three newscasters from competing stations came together yesterday, and it wasn't for a big story: 6ABC's Nydia Han, CBS3's Kate Bilo and NBC10's Denise Nakano, who all lost their mothers to lung cancer, participated in the "Free to Breathe" 5K Run/Walk.

Each woman led her own team to benefit lung-cancer research.

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