Geezer Patrol

Geezer poster boy Don Hewitt, who is holding his desk hostage at CBS News, was on Larry King Live Monday. It's been a while since Ellisblog issued a "geezer alert" regarding old fogies who refuse to make way for new talent.

Hewitt's performance on Larry King Live will long be remembered for its Nixonian bathos. It was, by turns, whiney, grandiose, narcissistic, self-pitying, full of false bravado, a masterpiece of faux insult and outrage. Here's a taste of what he told Mr. King (another Geezer Poster Boy who should have been shelved years ago):

"Well, I still intend to die at my desk. I never said where that desk was. I would like it to be at CBS. I think it will be at CBS. If it's somewhere else, it will make me very unhappy, and I would like to believe it will make them very unhappy.

I think the problem, Larry, is not that they are unaware that "60 Minutes" was the only newscast in history to ever become the most watched broadcast in America four times, was in the top 10 10 more years than "I Love Lucy" was, made this company a couple of billion dollars, and I know that they're not unaware that we are not the ordinary, run-of-the-mill, everyday television show. I think the problem is that they don't know that I'm not the ordinary, run-of-the-mill, everyday 80-year-old."

Hewitt manages to accomplish the impossible feat of making one feel sorry for CBS management.