Anchorman

On September 1, 1986, Dan Rather, inexplicably, began signing off his nightly CBS news broadcast by saying simply "courage". America was mystified. Walter Cronkite used to sign off the news by saying "and that's the way it is".

That made sense.

Linda Ellerbee stole from Kurt Vonnegut and used to sign off her broadcasts with "And so it goes". That still made some sense.

But "courage"?

Ted Baxter would sign off "Good night and good news". Jane Curtin would sign off "Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow". Tomorrow was Sunday. That's your day off. It would be pleasant.

But "courage"?

Dennis Miller used to say "That's the news and I am out of here." That was the last thing Dennis Miller said that America generally understood. Charles Rocket said "Good night and watch out" when he hosted SNL news. The last thing he ever said on live TV was "fuck". He got fired. Maybe that took courage. Or stupidity. What's Charles Rocket done lately?

No one fired Dan Rather for saying "courage" and failing to offer America an explanation. America is owed an explanation. "Elvis has left the building" explained why Elvis wasn't coming back on stage. That was an explanation if there ever was one. People understood that. People didn't seem to understand why the house lights were on and roadies in white tshirts and jeans were pulling down speaker towers.

Jimmy Durante used to sign off his TV show with "Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are". No one really cared who Mrs. Calabash was. Would you? Carol Burnett crooned "I'm so glad we had this time together." If I grew up watching her I would have cried when she sang it for the last time.


It takes courage for me to admit that.

Only one thing ever made sense on TV. "Book 'em, Danno. Murder One." Jack Lord had style.