Andy Rooney bows out

Professional old person Andy Rooney will celebrate his final segment for 60 Minutes this Sunday; it will be his one thousand and ninety-seventh episode for the television-magazine. Erin Overbey considers his legacy:

Rooney began his career as an Army journalist during the Second World War, writing for Stars and Stripes in London—the same publication that spawned the lengthy publishing careers of Harold Ross and Alexander Woollcott. Rooney joined CBS as a TV writer in 1949, and there he frequently collaborated with Harry Reasoner, who would go on to help found “60 Minutes,” in 1968. Rooney’s unique style of satire—often involving whimsical commentary on trivial and everyday happenings—earned him a reputation as a latter-day Will Rogers. In 1978, Don Hewitt asked him to join “60 Minutes,” and Rooney, whom Morley Safer recently described as “having the demeanor of an unmade bed,” was an instant hit.

(In the video, a random sample of Rooney's work: "Andy Rooney speaks about contemporary music and how he is losing touch with today's popular artists.")