The Old Fart toots for the last time…
When Dr. J. and Mrs. Dr. J. finish up our morning chores, we often have time for a cup of coffee and get caught up on something we’ve DVR’d. One of our favorite shows is The Amazing Race, mostly because of the locales, but the scavenger hunt and interpersonal drama make it catchy.
Nevertheless, we have learned that we have to set the DVR to record 60 to 90 minutes of post-show buffer as either NFL football, or NCAA championship basketball have a bad habit in delaying the broadcast.
This was the case this morning, and the 22 minute broadcast delay landed us in the middle of 60 Minutes.
Normally we fast forward over 60 Minutes, but in this case, Morley Safer was interviewing Andy Rooney, as last night apparently was his final regularly scheduled broadcast.
“He’s still alive!?!” Mrs. Dr. J. asked. Dr. J. was unsure if she meant Mr. Rooney or Mr. Safer.
It was a nice piece, given that Andy really is the grumpy old man he portrays in his show ending segments. He also had a gracious farewell at the end of the show. Gratefully it wasn’t Paddy Chayefskyesque.
Dr. J. and his wife were subjected to the CBS newsmagazine as children, as our fathers (and all fathers across America in the 1970s and 80s) would tune in after the game. As homes, back in those days, tended to have only one TV set, you were stuck watching what mom or dad wanted much of the time. Our reward for watching Morley Safer grilling some guy nervously smoking a cigarette was to enjoy Andy Rooney grumbling and griping about something.
Dr. J.’s favorite Andy Rooney moment was when he went off, and Dr. J. means OFF about ice cream cones. Mr. Rooney is an ice cream aficionado and it drives him absolutely batty when someone cannot neatly eat an ice cream cone. It was his opinion that, like driving, eating an ice cream cone should require a license. A neat-nik himself, Dr. J. was in wholehearted and full throated agreement with the curmudgeon.
Dr. J. couldn’t find the ice cream segment on teh interwebz, as it was broadcast before most families even had VCRs. So, instead, Dr. J. will post this segment where Andy talks about pop music. It was easier to find.
