Molly Ivins says she knew the clock was ticking on her "60 Minutes" commentaries, but nobody did anything to improve the segments until she and her fellow pundits got their walking papers this week.
Ivins, a liberal columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, was matched with conservative commentators Stanley Crouch and P.J. O'Rourke for less than two months before their part of the show was discontinued. The last segment aired Sunday."I didn't think it was going well," Ivins said in Friday's Austin American-Statesman. "All three of us had talked about ways to improve it, but somehow nothing ever got done."
Producer Don Hewitt said the segment was not catching on with viewers. Critics agreed, saying that since each commentator's segments were produced separately and spliced together, their "exchanges" rang hollow.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Birthdays: For Saturday, June 22
Movie director Billy Wilder 90
Fashion designer Bill Blass 74
Actress Meryl Streep 47
Singer Alan Osmond 47
Actress Tracy Pollan 36