ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160088
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GAIL SHISTER KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
Though his boss denies he's being phased out, ``60 Minutes'' curmudgeon Andy Rooney is fuming that three new commentators are joining the CBS newsmagazine.
``I am not delighted with this,'' Rooney said shortly after CBS announced that irreverent columnist Molly Ivins would do a segment every Sunday, beginning in the next several weeks. Stanley Crouch and P.J. O'Rourke will join her on a rotating basis.
``I thought I would be told about this in advance,'' says Rooney, 76, a ``60 Minutes'' commentator for 18 years. ``Instead, I heard at a staff meeting today. I don't know what they have in mind. ... If I thought they were phasing me out or if this situation is not satisfactory to me, I'd walk out of here in the blink of an eye.''
Don Hewitt, ``60 Minutes'' creator and czar, says Rooney is not on the endangered species list. Andy and the new print troika are from different gene pools, he insists.
Rooney ``is not a commentator,'' says Hewitt, 77. ``He's a Dave Barry, an Art Buchwald. He's a humorist. He makes you grin. Sometimes he makes you uncomfortable.''
As opposed to Ivins et al., who ``give you commentary and thought. They provoke you. Get you thinking.''
Rooney takes offense at Hewitt's characterization. ``I hope I am not the show comedian. I've done some light pieces, but I hope I am an essayist who has also done thought-provoking pieces. I think of myself as a writer.''
With ``60 Minutes'' about to finish in the Nielsen Top 10 for the 19th consecutive year, Rooney says the show doesn't need fixing.
Still, he adds, ``I would not be the one to tell Don Hewitt this isn't a good idea because he's done too well with this show over the years. He has a strange kind of genius you can't deny. If this is a way to improve the show - which I doubt - then I'm pleased.''
Ivins is based at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Political satirist O'Rourke is a Rolling Stone columnist. Author-critic Crouch was nominated for a National Book Award last month.
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB