Vargas/Woodruff: “They Were OK, But Damn, I Miss Peter Jennings”

Like Tom Shales and this e-mailer, BCBeat’s John Eggerton was unimpressed with the Vargas and Woodruff combination on Sunday:

“President George W. Bush’s speechlet on the War in Iraq Sunday night was my first chance to see the new ABC World News Tonight team of Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff handle the brief post-speech appearance before Desperate Housewives.

They weren’t asked to do much, but they didn’t do a lot with the not much they weren’t asked to do. Or something like that.

You’ve heard of damning with faint praise. This is more a case of praising with faint “damns.” As in: “They were OK, but, damn, I miss Peter Jennings.”

As with the departure of Ted Koppel from Nightline, it is the lack of gravitas that is apparent. Yes it is an overused word, but it fits and so I will use it.

The new breed atop ABC’s signature news shows may yet grow into the big shoes, but there is still a lot of wiggle room.”