Happy Endings is the Bizarro World version of Friends if the show was set in Chicago; Chandler was black; Joey was gay, fat and sloppy; and Ross owned a food truck. more ›

It was 30 years ago, almost to the moment of this post, that John Hinckley opened fire on President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. There will be plenty of retrospectives and recaps and mentions of Jodie Foster in the press today (which we're sure she's thrilled about) but only FuzzyMemories can bring that coverage back home to Chicago. more ›

WBEZ's Lee Bey shared two clips of a 1957 television drama filmed in Chicago called Chicago 2-1-2 on his blog last week. The show, as Bey noted, was part of a DuPont Anthology series on ABC and starred Frank Lovejoy as Chicago Fire Department Inspector Ed McCook, tracking down an arsonist. Chicago 2-1-2 — the "2-1-2" being the call signature for the main fire alarm office at the time — was essentially Dragnet for firefighters. more ›

We were poking through this Chicago Magazine profile of Chicago author Audrey Niffenegger (who we also interviewed here) when this line caught our eye: more ›

The best part about DVR-ing ABC’s 60th Primetime Emmys last night was that you could fast forward through Josh Groban’s embarrassing theme show montage and could rewind and re-watch the Gervais/Carell game of comedy chicken. Cheers, technology. more ›

We hadn’t originally planned on doing a post about The Bachelor premiere, but when one of the twenty-five new bachelorettes said she was from Chicago, we sat up a little straighter on our couch. And when previews showed her making a fool of herself at the inaugural meet-the-bachelor cocktail party, we practically weren’t even slouching anymore. more ›

A bike-rental program may be in the works....[S-T] more ›

The clock is ticking for Diann Burns, one of Chicago's top-paid news anchors. WBBM announced yesterday that starting April 21, six months before her $2 million contract is up, they're replacing Burns for the 5pm weekday news with California anchor Anne State. Burns will continue to coanchor the 6pm and 10pm newscasts with Rob Johnson, and State will report for the 10pm broadcast as well. more ›

The FBI finally caught the Kangol Bandit. [Trib] more ›

deplorable. more ›

Did the president of Medill use made-up quotes in a newsletter? We...barely care. What really bugs us is journalists citing the existence of Facebook group as some kind of indicator of anything--"students and alumni joined the new 'Save Journalism at Medill' group on Facebook. On Tuesday afternoon, there were nearly 90 members ...." There are 650 fulltime students at Medill. Fewer than 90 of them . Agh, not news. [Trib] more ›

It was pretty much inevitable that discussions about the NIU shooting would turn to gun control. And turn they have. more ›

Ludwika Szynalik was run over by a CTA bus on New Year's Eve, and now her family is suing the transit authority, saying the bus driver behind the wheel of the 152 was negligent. Szynalik was getting her bike off the bus's front-mounted rack when the driver ran her over. She was dragged for 80 feet before the driver noticed, and she died later that day. The whole thing was caught on CTA surveillance video, and it's really fucking disturbing. more ›

Last week we were channel surfing and came across "The Harlem Globetrotters: A New Generation" on Channel 50. We watched it for a little bit and were caught up in both the athleticism of the new Globetrotters and the timeless entertainment of their gags. It reminded us of the days when ABC's "Wide World of Sports" would showcase the team seemingly every other month. more ›

An unrelated mystery has been solved as police investigate the Tinley Park murders. A con woman, evading police for years, was apprehended this weekend because police tracked down the owners of the cars parked near the Lane Bryant, where the fugitive Esther Reed had left her car, which was registered under an assumed identity. more ›

Ugh, Chicago's post office is the worst. No, literally, it's still the worst in America when it comes to in-town deliveries and one-day service. At least we're improving? more ›

Today's must-read: The Reader's Whet Moser discovers the Chicago Tribune was not such a big Martin Luther King fan back in the day. more ›

Chicago-born chess champion Bobby Fischer died yesterday. He was 64. [AP] more ›

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Oprah is getting her a cable network, OWN ("Oprah Winfrey Network"), which will--gasp--replace the Discovery Health Network. Noooo! We all know what Oprah wants, Oprah gets, but we freaking love the Discovery Health Network. [Trib] more ›

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From ABC 7 today, local blood banks have only a one day supply of Rh-negative blood in stock. A safe level would be considered a 5-7 day supply. Although all blood types are encouraged to donate blood, it goes without saying that type Rh negative blood (it can be used in transfusions for both Rh positive and negative patients) is of critical value to the banks right now. more ›

Update: The transit bill has landed on Blago's desk! The Senate approved the sales-tax plan, and now all we need is Blagojevich's signature to save 81 bus routes, 2,400 jobs and all of our sanity. [ABC 7, S-T] more ›

We know it's everywhere, but we can't not include it--it's the awesomest link of the day! Your Star Wars Guide to the Presidential Candidates. We also love "Obi-Ron Paul-obi." But maybe you prefer candidates as video game systems. [via] more ›

Illinois state legislators are at it again today, after yesterday's close-but-no-cigar attempts to resolve the transit funding crisis. The House passed a sales-tax increase plan yesterday, but it fell one vote sort in the Senate; those so-and-sos are going to give it another go today because three of them abstained (courteously?) yesterday. more ›

Goose Gossage is the lone Hall of Fame inductee this year. He should also be inducted into the mustache HoF, dudes. [MLB.com] more ›

The clock is winding down for drinkers who enjoy a cigarette with their booze. The Smoke-Free Illinois Act is set to go into effect at midnight on Jan. 1, 2008. Illinois will officially join the list of states that have banned smoking in almost all indoor spaces. Besides bars, Illinoisans will not be allowed to smoke in such cigarette bastions as factory floors, stadiums, casinos, and prisons. more ›

Behold, Outside the Loop Radio's year in review special, featuring yours truly, Steve Rhodes of The Beachwood Reporter and Dave Schalliol of Gapers Block. more ›

Today's big story--and no doubt one of the biggest stories in a long, long time--is that Benazir Bhutto, opposition leader and former prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated this morning in a bombing that killed at least 20 other people. International leaders, including President Bush, are condemning the attack. more ›

Get it while you can, all you professors of herbology: Illinois is about to ban salvia divinorum, a mild hallucinogenic. Starting Jan 1, possessing the leafy plant will be a class 1 felony. [Trib] more ›