Sunday’s 90-minute “60 Minutes Presents” tribute to Bob Simon got a late start in the Eastern and Central time zones due to a PGA overrun. This put it the end of the show, up against the beginning of the Academy Awards on ABC. The first story, voiced by Steve Kroft, recounted Simon’s career and included interviews with “60 Minutes” EP Jeff Fager, correspondents Lesley Stahl and Morley Safer, and several of his longtime producers. At the end of the 24-minute story — which came without commercial interruption — Kroft revealed that Simon had occasional bouts with depression. “Eventually he always snapped out of it,” Kroft said.
As for the lasting impact, Fager put it this way: “I think it really does have an impact on ’60 Minutes,’ because you can fill his job, but you can’t replace Bob Simon.”
In addition to the TV special, the “60 Minutes Overtime” team put together their own tribute showing viewers some witty, irreverent and playful outtakes from Bob Simon’s decades of reporting. WATCH: