Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2005 > March > 09 > Entry
Hey, CBS News: Stop kicking Dan!
It’s one thing for critics to criticize Dan Rather as he heads into tonight’s “CBS Evening News” farewell (5:30 p.m. on KEYE Channel 42).
But it’s really bad form for his colleagues to beat up on him at this pivotal time of his career.
I was shocked and saddened by the normally tasteful Walter Cronkite’s nasty negatives Monday afternoon on CNN. Among other things, he said Bob Schieffer, who will temporarily replace Rather after tonight, would have been a better anchor choice in 1981. Ouch.
I think I understand where Uncle Walter is coming from: He was forced into a premature retirement in 1981 when Rather used negotiations with competitors to ease himself into the anchor chair.
And fearing an unfavorable comparison, CBS News kept Cronkite out of sight during Rather’s tenure. Technically Cronkite remains a consultant, but his participation in news coverage has been minimal at best. He’s not even seen during election night coverage.
But that doesn’t mean it’s OK to kick Rather, a 43-year CBS News veteran, when he’s about to step down. It’s not nice.
For about a week, CBS news stars have been piling on, and that seems, well, unseemly.
Mike Wallace and Don Hewitt, both former colleagues of Rather’s at “60 Minutes,” lit into him in the New Yorker. Wallace said he preferred to watch NBC’s Tom Brokaw (before he retired in December), and Hewitt announced his preference for ABC’s Peter Jennings.
Couldn’t these guys wait until after Rather had made his exit? Has CBS News done away with any semblance of team loyalty? Or good manners? Edward R. Murrow must be rolling over in his grave.
And speaking of bad manners …
NBC’s relocation of the superb “American Dreams” from Sunday to Wednesday nights is evil. And it’s going to kill the show. Mark my words.
Doesn’t the network know that truly extraordinary dramas are hard to come by? And they’ve got one?
An ambitious period piece set in the ’60s, the show tackles everything — family issues, religion, the Vietnam War, protests, civil rights, teen romance, teen pregnancy and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll. (Meg, played to sweetheart perfection by Brittany Snow, dances on “American Bandstand.”) And it does those stories incredibly well.
Tonight “Dreams,” in the middle of its third season, eases into its new 7 p.m. Wednesday time slot, where ABC’s red-hot newcomer “Lost” is bound to suffocate it. There is a sliver of good news in NBC’s treacherous move: “Lost” is in reruns for a month.
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