'Frontline' rolls out the dangers about SUVs

There's going to be a reality show airing next month in which the winner will drive off in a brand-new, fully equipped sports utility vehicle. And if you think that's, like, the coolest thing ever, you'd best sit yourself in front of the TV tonight. That's because the PBS newsmagazine "Frontline" is airing the definitive program on SUVs and rollovers at 8 tonight on KCPT (and 1 a.m. on Topeka's KTWU). A sobering counterpoint to the American public's current SUV-buying frenzy, it does what "Frontline" does best - it rewinds the tape and puts today's news stories in the eye-opening context of history. One reason people buy SUVs is for the sense of safety. But "Frontline" traces the modern-day SUV back to its ancestor, the popular "off-road" vehicle of the 1980s; you may recall that vehicle had a little problem with flipping over. The problem didn't go away when the "off-road" vehicle mutated into the SUV. Yet the automobile industry kept safety problems - and the thousands of deaths per year linked to SUV rollovers - out of the media's glare, "Frontline" alleges, lest public scrutiny begin to eat into profits on their cash cow. In late 2000, when a rash of Ford Explorer rollovers became front-page news, the industry scored perhaps its most impressive media coup. Using its arsenal of lawyers, lobbyists and union members, Ford effectively shifted the blame over to the maker of the Explorer's tires, Firestone/Bridgestone. "Frontline" lays it all out in typically damning fashion. The program ends with a bang - or rather, a crash - that poetically underscores its powerful brief. Also tonight, something completely different: The Fox network is back from Temptation Island, where it apparently worked up quite an appetite. Thus "Glutton Bowl 1: The World's Greatest Eating Competition," airing at 7 tonight on Fox 4. This carnival of conspicuous consumption pits 40 "competitive eaters" in a pigout for prizes. The food, according to Fox, will range from "huge bowls of mayonnaise to beef tongue to sticks of butter ... (plus) a surprise 'delicacy,' and won't end until only one competitor is left standing." "Glutton Bowl 1" (note the ominous " 1" in the title) is a two-hour special, so please, don't make me hate myself for even mentioning it - remember to switch over to "Frontline" at 8. Thank you. (Burp.) To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:The "Frontline" crew captured this rollover in Austin, Texas. @ART CREDIT:PBS @ART CAPTION:Mark "Big Rig" Vogeding (left) and Greg "Gaseous Maximus" Frye compete in the "Glutton Bowl" at 7 tonight on Channel 4. @ART CREDIT:Fox @ART:Photos (2, color and b/w)