Put Out To Pasture

Recently, I find myself watching 60 Minutes on Sunday nights which has led me to complain about the ultimate complainer, one Mr. Andy Rooney. I can't claim that I actually understand the programming on CBS. Personally I think most of their shows are terrible, but I'd like to believe that the network that brought us Edward R. Murrow and probably one of the few repritable news programs during my lifetime, could find something better to air in the last five minutes of their broadcast, than a pompous old wind bag.

I'd say the thing that most concerns me about Mr. Rooney's broadcasts is the fact that he complains about nothing of merit. The past couple of segments that I've seen, he's wasted what little precious oxygen he has left during his lifetime babbling on about the old clothes in his closet and the annoyance of air travel in the US these days. I will say the latter actually makes sense, but tell us something we don't know! Everyone knows that traveling in this country in a post 9/11 world is a hassle, so unless you're opening my eyes to something I don't know about air travel, please do us a favor and shut up! Besides, what exotic location is Andy Rooney flying off to anyway? He doesn't strike me as a world traveler extraordinaire, so as far as I'm concerned, his opinion on that topic is obsolete. I'm not even going to comment on the spring cleaning segment.

My other major complaint, is the fact that Andy Rooney is on every week. I don't know about you, but I don't care enough about what he has to say, to listen to him every week. At best he should make a cameo appearance. I know he's an icon at 60 Minutes, but his opinions are outdated and he's getting on in years, so cut them back to a couple of shows a month. Kind of like a guest star on a sitcom. Let him pop in every once in a while to share his thoughts on a subject and then call it a day. In short, put Andy Rooney out to pasture. Besides, he could probably use all that down time to trim his eye brows.