That's the end of that...

Every single time I look at the price of a box of food and then throw the item in the shopping cart at the supermarket, I shake my head the way Mary Richards did in the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore show. I can't help it.

And lately, every time I hear Aretha Franklin's R-E-S-P-E-C-T, I shake my head the way Kelly does in her googleidol video.

These are touchstone moments. The way you can say "cheezbugah cheezbugah" to any 45 year old and know that they'll get the joke.

Over. Gone. Finished.

Blogs and the web are killing magazines on a daily basis. The shakeout is happening before our eyes.

It will be a small-time event compared to what's about to happen to both TV and our culture.

Everyone will have a network. Not just a show, but, if you want it, an entire network of shows. Lots of channels, with not so many viewers per channel. A network for each religious group, and variants for each sect. Every church, community group, local theatre and art gallery gets a network. Every classroom and every division of every company.

YES, human beings have a need to do what others are doing. We have a desire for mass and for fashion. And for those lucky enough to be anointed, there will be power and leverage and profits. But the idea that Mary Richard's little shake of the head would be known and automatically mimicked by millions in the future is crazy.

It was fun while it lasted.

What's going to be on your network?