COMMENTARY | CBS released a statement Sept. 27 that Sunday, Oct. 2, will carry special significance for the television world. Andy Rooney, 60-year veteran of that network, will broadcast his last essay as a regular part of “60 Minutes.” It will be essay number 1,097 of his serial commentary closing the show. Rooney has been the icon of wry wit and incisive social and news commentary since 1979. His departure begs the question, “Who from the current generation will fill that role?”
There are many television personalities who emulate Rooney in one way or another. Pundits and newscasters of every stripe have cropped up, offering their take on current events while trying to apply character and style to match Rooney’s.
Rooney has a strange charm that stands alone. He combines brilliant analysis, concise speech, and elegance of expression with grumpy humor that makes him memorable, even when the butt of the joke is Rooney himself. He’s what Archie Bunker could have been with a college education and a few decades to refine his gripes.
The present crop of satirists and commentators include modern-day re-interpretations of the Rooney style. Perhaps the best of them are Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report.” Both combine an educated understanding of social and political issues with an ability to skewer any appropriate target with a rapier of inappropriate humor.
That is where we see the difference. Stewart, Colbert and others like them may be brilliant. They may possess amazing comic timing. They even bring belly laughter from grim situations. None of them, however, has the presence of that elder statesman of broadcasting, Andy Rooney.
Perhaps in time another will rise to fill the enormous shoes of the man from New York whose commentary has been the literal final word for the past few decades. Even then Rooney will remain a classic, original work – just like his essays.
Spend a few minutes with Andy Rooney by watching his most memorable work here.
Sources
CBS Staff Writers, Andy Rooney to Step Down From His 60 Minutes Role, cbsnews.com
CBS Overtime Staff, The best of Andy Rooney, cbsnews.com