You had to feel bad for Tony Dokoupil tonight.
His official debut as anchor of the CBS Evening News suddenly went sideways after a mostly sound 15 minutes.
He lost control of the show, and so did the director, confusing Dokoupil about what story was next. The whole disaster lasted just more than a minute, but it seemed like it went on forever.
Tony panicked and tried to recover the best he could. For the first half of the show, Dokoupil seemed a little scared, but he managed to plow through. He introduced ABC News’s Matt Guttman awkwardly but what followed was at least informational. Charlie D’Agata came next, and was very calming in a sea of novices.
Dokoupil’s other big problem is that he keeps thanking correspondents. Lavishly. Tony just say Thanks, and move on. This is a grown up show, not an Andy Hardy musical. We want to hear the story, not how polite you are.
The upside: CBS has restored the news set from the last year of silliness. Tony is sitting in front of a newsroom, and reading headlines. No more weird suburban finished basement and feature stories. The logo is traditional, too. It’s a throwback to the real days of the Tiffany network. We’ll take it.
If this were the good old days, Dokoupil would be over at the Biarritz on West 57th St. knocking back a few with Morley Safer and Harry Reasoner and flirting with the waitresses. But it’s 2025, so Tony’s probably home having cocoa and doing homework with his kids.
Tomorrow is another day. Note: how about a dress rehearsal at 5:30?
