Wow - that may have been a genius move. Tonight, on her first-ever broadcast anchoring the CBS Evening News, Katie Couric upstaged herself with perhaps the only news that could: Photographic evidence of a very real, very hairy Baby Suri Cruise! I'm serious, did you see that mop? It's uncanny how much she looks like Tom. Pretty big scoop for CBS, whether or not it's got the "gravitas" chops the critics are slavering for. Other highlights of the packed broadcast (was that really only 22 minutes?) included an inside look at the Taliban by a burkha-clad Lara Logan in Afghanistan, a 9-11/War on Terror story, ye olde "pain at the pump?" story hooked on today's big oil find, a segment with Thomas Friedman wherein he preached hope and good ol' American naivete, a heartwarming story of a Wisconsin man who coordinates portrait-painting of orphans, and the first "Free Speech" wherein Super-Size Me director Morgan Spurlock urged viewers not to "buy into the smackdown hype" of fire-breathing pundits on both sides of the aisle (as Hulk Hogan body-slams on the screen), instead calling for civility of discourse over the juicing of ratings. Nifty purple ensemble, and an impeccable moustache to join that of Friedman. And, did we mention SURI? Baby Suri, lotsa hair, Vanity Fair cover, great PR all around. And, in a final stroke of genius, dodging the signoff bullet by instead showing the great sign-offs over the year, from Edward Murrow's now-re-famous "Good Night And Good Luck" to a vintage, eighties-hep Dan Rather mouthing "Courage" (for which he's been oft-mocked; what do you think CBS meant there? Rather signed off his final broadcast that way, after all), to spoof anchors Ted Knight and finally Ron Burgundy, urging viewers to "Stay Classy, San Diego." Surely the producers must have known that that would echo as "Go Fuck Yourself, San Diego" in millions of brains. I guess they're having fun with it. Finally, Katie held back a barely-contained grin through signoff, and the camera pulled back to reveal her reclining against the desk, those famous legs unabashedly crossed. Overall a smooth and genuine performance by Couric in what was a very slickly-produced production with all sorts of moving parts. What else were we expecting, really? It's the news, and it takes 22 minutes. Worth the hoopla? Of course not. But it does make the news more fun. Hey, apparently there were other newscasts, too!
