Okay, stop it. I know you’re laughing. Mock me if you must, but I know I’m not the only one out here watching CBS News Sunday Morning. You see, this show isn’t just a television show. In its own way, it’s a way of life. I have a whole routine set up around the show. What I need are converts. If you give it a shot, you too may become a follower. True, it’s off the beaten path in the TV Universe. However, it it could very well become a part of your Sunday morning routine much as it’s in mine. Read on.
First I should tell you a bit of my routine. Since I don’t have to be at the day job, I try to treat Sunday mornings as a mellow relaxing time — perhaps my most relaxed few hours of the week. I sleep in, but get up in time to put on some coffee and fix a decent breakfast (unlike my on-the-go weekday rush breakfasts). I time things so I’m settling in at the first notes of Wynton Marsalis playing the theme song, “Abblasen.” It’s … it’s … so Sunday to me — a mellow jazz piccolo trumpet solo. Back in the days of Charles Kuralt on the show, the solo was performed by Doc Severinsen from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
So, yes. The trumpet solo has me from the get-go. I find Charles Osgood, the current host, a more acquired taste. The usual bow-tie, the sometimes piano-playing and not so stupendous occasional songs take a bit to get used to. But once you get by the aesthetics and the Osgood uniqueness, he’s the perfect host for the show. I miss him when he takes time off.
Why do I like the content of the show? Well, they have a lot of columnists I enjoy — Mo Rocca, Nancy Giles, Bill Geist and even good ol’ Ben Stein. (Have you noticed his ears are getting really big these days?) I guess Bill Geist is more of a segment star than the others. I get a kick out of the odd happenings around the world he finds to report to us. It’s kind of like if Andy Rooney ever left his desk and found nifty things to report but with more of a sense of humor. Mo Rocca’s wit and insight usually strike a chord with me. Nancy Giles hits a lot of my urban womanly observational leanings. Ben Stein is always Ben Stein. I don’t often agree with him. Maybe that’s why I don’t have Ben Stein’s money.
The segments themselves are often intriguing. They’ll have a bit on Alfred Hitchcock one week or maybe an extended interview with Bruce Springsteen. Or maybe they’ll go ten minutes on the latest hot artist on the scene. It’s always diverse ranging the realm of pop culture and often delving back through the years, too. It goes so well with my coffee sipping and croissant munching on a peaceful Sunday morning.
The best thing about CBS News Sunday Morning? There’s nothing else on at that hour which holds my interest. If I could, I’d give you a little nature video shot in the vast wastelands of urban New Jersey to end this.
Clacked by Jackie Schnoop 
on Nov 07, 2008 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
Um LOVE that show. Before I had kids my husband and I would read the paper, sip coffee, and watch CBS Sunday morning. We were in our 20s! I’m certain we weren’t the target demographic. Love the indepth and often artsy stories they cover. I wish I could watch it now. Seems my kids would rather watch Curious George.
OMG Jackie – You zeroed right in on what I consider to be a weekly treat to myself – sort of the mental equivalent of a pedicure or gentle shoulder massage.
I don’t know if anyone will get this, but I came to describe this show as “the quietest show on tv” – and I mean that as a high compliment. The host and commentators speak at a soothingly normal pace. There are no jumbly graphics, no commentators trying to shout over each other. They take all the time they want to tell a story and no piece ever feels rushed.
I love Ben Stein, but not necessarily his politics, but I listen to him with respect because the tone of this show commands it. I adore Nancy Giles. Do you remember when she was a recurring character in the early days of China Beach (another awesome show by the way)? Bill Geist – well, he’s just cra-zazy. He always makes me laugh, sometimes with him, sometimes at him.
But my most favorite part of this show is the end, where they just have beauty and silence for an all too brief moment. I always make my kids stop whatever they are doing and just take in that moment. They have learned to put up with me without protest when it comes to this. The conspiracy theorist in me swears that this final moment used to be longer (can anyone attest to that?), but I’ll take my quiet moments on TV wherever I can get them, especially when I can just picture the advertising and marketing staff gnawing their own knuckles calculating how much ad revenue they are losing during those final seconds. Please “Sunday Morning”, this peaceful, beautiful end is so symbolic — you must never lose it. :-)
p.s. – I’m old enough to recall that there was yet another trumpeter before Doc Severinson. Anyone else remember that?
One more memory to share – when my daughters were toddlers, they would be all wrapped up in whatever activity they were doing, but the moment they heard that trumpet intro, they would freeze in their tracks and stare transfixed at the the tv. It was almost Pavlovnian. They loved the music and they loved the sun graphic — this from the pure, unjaded minds of two year olds – that’s gotta mean something important, don’t it? ;-)
Jackie-
I Love this show – stuck in the middle of all the Sunday political talk. I love Bill Geist bits and the nature at the end. A must on my lazy Sunday mornings.
Margo
I love the peacefulness of this program and I love Charles Osgood. But I still miss Charles Kuralt. I miss his soothing voice. This is one of the best shows on television.