Image by billypalooza via FlickrTo anyone who's been watching CBS on Sundays, you've gotten used to hearing the phrase "Those stories--and Andy Rooney--tonight on '60 Minutes'" at the beginning of the broadcast. That phrase became shortened after Rooney delivered his last curmudgeonly commentary a few weeks ago. He died Friday at age 92 of complications from minor surgery.In his 62 years at CBS, Rooney worked on many news and entertainment programs, writing for the likes of Arthur Godfrey, Garry Moore and Harry Reasoner. Before that, he was in the Army covering World War II for the service newspaper "Stars and Stripes".
Rooney didn't start doing his end-of-the-show essays for "60 Minutes" until 1979. Since then, he delivered more than a thousand commentaries focusing mostly on the minutiae of life (with the occasional serious piece thrown in) from his cluttered little office.
Sometimes, what Rooney wrote got him into trouble. In a 1990 syndicated newspaper column, he made some offensive comments about gays that got him suspended by CBS for three months. Public pressure forced the network to reduce Rooney's sentence, and he was back on the air in one month.
What we liked about Rooney was not just his appeal as the voice of the everyday man and woman. It was also because he considered himself a writer first and a TV personality second, and he said as much in his final broadcast.
"60 Minutes" has been on the air since 1968, and probably will continue to be as long as there is television. Eventually, CBS will find someone to do end-of-the-show essays just like Andy Rooney did, and maybe that person will be just as plainspoken and witty as he was. Good luck with that.
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