last night's top stories?

1. unsuspecting grandmother and grandkids suffer smashed windshield as four foot chunk of timber falls from el tracks at adams and wabash. no serious injuries.

2. service on brown line suspended as speeding taxi broadsides train near rockwell station. one car derails. no serious injuries, though the car was pretty fucked up.

3. wisconsin man arraigned for storing CYANIDE in CTA tunnels. no serious injuries, as of YET.

certainly not a banner day for our CTA. try Cataclysmic Transit Atrocity. what a mess. falling debris, train derailment and poison gas. sounds like an episode of 24.

speaking of 24, what's next for fox's suspense series? looking ahead to the fairly-certain second season of this day-in-the-life drama, my interest lies in whether the cast or the concept reigns supreme. the concept (one season, twenty-four episodes, each chronicling one hour of the same day in real-time) is stellar. though the cast, including golden globe winner kiefer sutherland, is equally impressive, can the writers fashion another scenario for THESE characters, creating equal dramatic tension without it feeling stale (that dreaded "not again!" feeling)?

why not repurpose the concept in the cutthroat entertainment industry, focusing on a recording exec on the day of the premiere of a diva's new record and debut movie. to complicate matters, the diva is headed for a breakdown, his boyfriend is headed for an overdose and his secretary is headed for the tabloids with tales of his "secret life". talk about the longest day of your life. i mean, if CSI can have CSI: Miami (this spinoff is indeed coming from CBS), why not 24:Glitter?

on the subject of cbs, i've noticed some rather disturbing media conglomerate synergies as of late. of course, there was the 2001 super bowl on cbs featuring the mtv half-time show. but this was small potatoes compared to what viacom has in store for us now. in the last few weeks, i have encountered the following:

1. Television Ad for Survivor on MTV

2. Television Ad for The Osbournes on UPN

3. Banner Ad for The Osbournes on upn.com

4. Television Ad for Enterprise on TNN

5. Balloon in NickJr logo replaced by CBS eye

6. Amazing Race 2 reruns on UPN

this is not endemic to viacom though. in fact, i read this morning that cartoon network's powerpuff girls will be joining the kidswb lineup on its aoltimewarner corporate sibling. it has just become rather commonplace on viacom properties recently. most americans probably aren't aware that paramount, cbs, nickelodeon, mtv, vh1, tnn, etc are owned by one media empire. viacom better watch out. remember those beatrice ads during the 1984 olympics, alerting us to the fact that almost everything we ate in this country was produced by one company. just as folks bristled at the idea of one source for food in our cupboards, we crave diversity in our media diet. cross-promotion may seem shrewd in the now, but could engender a backlash down the line as folks begin to connect the dots. Big Brother, thy name is Sumner Redstone (or is that Michael Eisner...or Gerald Levin?)

over on mtv2, tomorrow's cutting edge artist?

Robin Thicke, son of Growing Pains patriarch Alan Thicke and Facts of Life theme scribe Gloria Loring. He appears to be America's answer to Jamiroquai (this needed a response?), the white stevie wonder. but instead of a hat, he's got nickelback hair. i know, this used to be eddie vedder hair, but as pearl jam fades into pop cultural obscurity, i gotta stay current and besides, YOU KNOW what i'm talking about. thicke jr got me thinking about the sitcom equivalents of macgyver. shows like wings, perfect strangers, full house, family matters, mr. belvedere. streaks on the china, never mattered before, who cares! nobody watched these shows, did they? but then why is it that whenever you encounter one of these comedic masterpieces in syndication, it is ALWAYS the ONE episode you HAVE seen, like that one issue of highlights that is in every dentist office in every corner of the usa.

thicke's law applied this morning as i stumbled across a rerun of veronica's closet (yes, chris, that's kirstie in that kimono) on usa. i never understood this show or its monday night chickfest neighbors: caroline in the city, suddenly susan and the naked truth. do you remember this? it was touted as Lifetime on network tv. please. the only thing i remember was how surprised i was at how hot dan cortese was after he shed HIS nickelback hair. ouch!

well, that should be enough stream of consciousness blather for one thursday morning. off to the City tomorrow. carne asada quesadillas, here i come!