“Why Can’t Anyone Anchor A Nightline-Like Show Before My Bedtime?”

“Even though I stopped watching Nightline many years ago, I am sorry Ted Koppel will no longer be anchoring it,” Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi writes.

“I also feel guilty about my role in his demise. If I could stay up late enough to watch the program, perhaps ABC would not be replacing Koppel with three anchors, including Martin Bashir, a former BBC reporter, who is best known for interviewing Princess Diana and Michael Jackson.”

Later in the column, she asks:

“Why can’t anyone anchor a Nightline-like show before my bedtime? Why, at 8 p.m., is it a choice between The O’Reilly Factor (egomaniacal bombast; see above), Paula Zahn Now (no Ted Koppel), Countdown with Keith Olbermann (no Paula Zahn), a rerun of Friends (escapist but irrelevant), or a rerun of the Daily Show (funny but dated)?”