RIP, Uncle Walter

[dgriffin]

Oh, spare us, pl-e-e-a-s-e! "RIP, Uncle Walter," headlines a story story now running on MSNBC.com. The heaping of encomiums on a brother newscaster has begun. Let's hope it doesn't get too sickening.

Walter Cronkite was a veteran newscaster who became a familiar face to millions of TV viewers throughout the late 1950's, 60's and 70's. He was around since dirt, and I can remember him narrating a series called The Twentieth Century in the early Fifties. No one ever thought much about his brilliance, and his better judgment had to have been clouded when he decided on Dan Rather as heir to the throne on The Nightly News. Mr. Cronkite's main accomplishment, as far as I know, was that he was THERE, and remained there seemingly forever. Yes, his presence on camera became grandfatherly and believable. But that's a performer's trait. His chief asset was that he had access to newsmakers, since he was able if he wanted to color the presentation of the news watched by half the nation.

So, excuse me if I turn aside as the parade passes on its way from working for a living to the Hall of Media Saints. I've seen it all before.

[dgriffin]

I was just thinking that the reason why us neighborhood ten year old kids would gather around someone's TV set to watch The Twentieth Century, was because in 1954 the entire history of the first half of the 20th Century was nothing but wars. So the footage from the show was almost completely of guns and tanks and airplanes and bombs falling out of the sky, the tragedies dear to a ten year old boy's heart.
Today, kids have Spike TV's Most Extreme Elimination.
And, unfortunately, worse.