Andy Rooney Ending Regular '60 Minutes' Appearances

Andy Rooney is stepping down from his regular role as a weekly commentator on "60 Minutes" this Sunday.

Rooney has been providing singularly crotchety commentary for the program since 1978. TVNewser was the first to report his decision to end his regular feature. The network sent out a statement shortly after. Rooney will not end his career completely, but will only be featured sporadically from now on. In 2009, he said that he intends to stay at "60 Minutes" until he dies.

The statement said that Rooney would discuss the decision on Sunday's broadcast. CBS said that it would be his 1,097th essay for the show, and would be preceded by a feature on Rooney.

Rooney is 92, and could therefore be said to deserve a break. CBS News chairman Jeff Fager called him an "American original."

He has been at CBS for a whopping 60 years. He joined the network in 1949 as a writer for "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" — an auspicious beginning if ever there was one. He then moved up the ranks at the network, producing specials and hard news features for CBS News, before joining "60 Minutes" when it launched in 1968.

After a brief hiatus from 60 Minutes (due to CBS' refusal to air a special he produced about war which they believed to be too controversial), he returned to the program in 1972. In 1978, he created his now-legendary essay, which has been on the air ever since.

CBS did not announce whether it has found a replacement for Rooney, or if the segment will even continue.

Watch a series of quintessentially Rooneyesque essays below.

Comments

[Steve Procko]

08:43 PM on 10/08/2011

Now that Andy Rooney has retired from 60 Minutes - my vote is for Jon Stewart to take his place - he can still do the Daily Show, but wouldn't it be great to hear his point of view to close 60 minutes each week?

[rdvnyc]

01:00 PM on 10/03/2011

Check out my latest blog post about Andy! http://thebigapplemove.blogspot.com/2011/10/andy-rooney-meh.html

[chrisd3]

02:12 PM on 09/30/2011

Ya know what's funny about the clip? Andy corrects Ali's "Does you think the media has changed" to "Do you think the media has changed" and then adds, "Yes, I think the media has changed"--which, of course, is still wrong. :)

OK, sometimes it seemed like Andy was being a curmudgeon just for the sake of being a curmudgeon, but I figure that anyone who reported from Europe during World War II and is still active in journalism has long since earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants to do.

I for one am going to miss the old guy and his eyebrows.

[Bill Pieper]

05:56 AM on 09/30/2011

Andy Rooney is still alive?

[builderman55]

10:56 PM on 09/29/2011

It seems almost wrong to say so, but I used to really enjoy Andy Rooney, but have found him unwatchable the past few years. He just seemed to et more and more annoying and irrelevant. After the three investigative reports I turned the show off. Sorry, but he stayed on the stage for too long.

[USARMY20]

12:46 PM on 09/29/2011

"60 Minutes" will never be the same without Andy Rooney.

[mbrahms26]

12:35 PM on 09/29/2011

It's high time this preachy old atheist went off the air! I hope he is replaced with a more Godly person, but since this is CBS that is probably asking too much!

[mtknibbesr]

02:12 PM on 09/29/2011

WHY DO YOU CALL HIM AN ATHEIST? I KNOW ONE, IN FACT HAVE BEEN MARRIED TO ONE FOR 54 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF MR ROONEY AS BEING ONE. I AM A CATHOLIC AND I BELIEVE I WOULD RECOGNIIZE ONE AND I DO NOT BELIEVE MR. ROONEY IS ONE. FIESTY, YES, SEVERAL OTHER THINGS, YES BUT NOT AN ATHEIST. OH, I FORGOT, GROUCH, DEFINITELY THAT. I KNOW, MARRIED TO THAT, ESPECIALLY TODAY, LOL.

[Adonijah]

12:26 PM on 09/29/2011

All good things must come to an end. Although I don't watch 60 min anymore. I alwayz enjoyed Mr Rooney's contribution.

[leobeverly]

10:25 AM on 09/29/2011

Gonna miss old Andy"Did you ever notice?" Rooney. Sometimes I agreed with him,sometimes I didn't but he always made it funny and interesting to watch. Enjoy retirement Andy!

[muenft]

11:49 AM on 09/29/2011

I thought they kept him on to see how long somone with liberal dementia can speakin complete sentences.

[okiedemocrat]

09:22 AM on 09/29/2011

Thank God! The curmudgeon bit is about 30 years too old.

[dahpunkster]

12:27 AM on 09/29/2011

Boo andy we need you and and your eyebrows and snarky behaviour.

[wizeanne]

08:41 PM on 09/28/2011

Sorry to see Mr. Rooney leave. Will "60 Minutes" bring back "Point/Counter Point?"

[scipio2009]

07:47 PM on 09/28/2011

.... wow

[amwa]

07:00 PM on 09/28/2011

I'm gonna miss that crotchety old guy. Andy you will be missed, just want you to know that.

[Havana Thinks]

06:27 PM on 09/28/2011

Happy Trails to you, Andy Rooney, until we meet again........