Tom Shales

Katie Couric made an early but awkward bow as the new anchor of “The CBS Evening News” Thursday night, wafting in to salute departing anchor Bob Schieffer, who has held the job for a year and a half.

Schieffer promo’d the tribute to himself at the opening of the newscast. Then just before the last commercial break, he told viewers—with a peculiar undertone of hesitancy—“trust me, you won’t want to miss—I hope you won’t want to miss—our special guest” in the final segment.

“Trust me, I hope you won’t want to miss”? What kind of a ringing endorsement is that? But Couric flashed her telegenic smile when she materialized after the commercial to host the tribute to Schieffer, who was ushered out as if he’d been the anchor for the past century (and looks as though he could have been). Referring to the “60 Minutes” scandal that led to the premature departure of Dan Rather as “a dark chapter” in the history of CBS News, Couric implicitly endorsed management’s official version: The whole thing was Rather’s fault.

He’s the one they’ve decided to put on the spit and roast unto eternity.

It was said Rather “stepped down” following the scandal as if he were somehow accepting blame. But Schieffer, in Couric’s sparkling eyes, remains a virtual Saint Bob: “I can’t imagine following in the footsteps of a kinder, more gracious person.” Yechy goo! Schieffer choked up at the very end as Couric tippy-toed off into the wings and a crowd of employees, executives and Schieffer’s family surrounded and applauded him.

In one especially clumsy moment, CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus started to give Schieffer a hug, but Schieffer sort of shooed him away; McManus took a step backward and the hug was aborted. Schieffer promised viewers they’ll see a “new state-of-the-art newsroom” when they tune in for Couric’s anchor debut next Tuesday; maybe he meant to say, “Trust me, I hope it’s state-of-the-art.”