Are Ann Coulter's famed days over?

NEW YORK - Ann Coulter has been a reliable name for years among people who plan television news shows - an attractive, articulate blonde conservative who's made a living lobbing verbal bombs.

Following her use of a gay slur about Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards this month during remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference, some on TV are wondering whether her shelf life is expiring.

Many were angered by her use of the "f-word''. Coulter later said she considered it a "schoolyard taunt.'' She said it was a joke about "Grey's Anatomy'' actor Isaiah Washington saying he would seek counseling after using the word to refer to a fellow actor.

At least four daily newspapers have dropped Coulter as a columnist, citing her comment about Edwards.

Head-turning remarks are hardly anything new for the author of "Godless: The Church of Liberalism'' and "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must).'' In "Godless'' last year, she wrote of World Trade Center widows: "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much.''

"It's a world of â€òare you talking about me? are you talking about me?' '' said Steve Friedman, executive producer of "The Early Show'' on CBS. "And eventually you have to get more and more outrageous to be talked about. One day you cross the line and become persona non grata. I think she's getting close.''

Friedman has no plans to book Coulter on his show, but said he had no plans even before her Edwards comment.

Some people on NBC's "Today'' show didn't want to see Coulter before she was booked to talk about "Godless'' last summer, said Jim Bell, the show's executive producer.

He overruled them. Having only certain points of view would make for a bland program, he said. Since Coulter is a best-selling author, clearly there's an audience that responds to her. Coulter also appeared on a "Today'' segment this Feb. 8, debating a University of Pennsylvania professor.

Bell said last week that Coulter's legitimate points of view are beginning to get lost in the noise of being outlandish.

"She sometimes goes out of her way to push some buttons and tends to generate more heat than light,'' he said. "We love a lively debate, but we would tend to get people who would generate more light.''