Troy Patterson makes a scarily good case for closing the whole division. I can't tell you how television reviewing works, but to be fair, it seems to me that you need to do more than watch a couple episodes (or, in the case of one or two shows, apparently just one) before you slam them.
A few points I would add. First, it's irrelevant to Patterson's argument, but so much of what's wrong with the Evening News is the lousy production. Couric's got a heavy hand in the process -- and maybe she should take more control, though her precarious position at the company makes that pretty much inconceivable -- but she gets more flack than she deserves when you consider how much is attributable to stuff as simple as the awful copy she reads.
Second, if I were to get into the weeds on 60 Minutes, I think you have to note that the show's biggest stories these days involve major interviews with people who've just written some sort of book about Iraq or their experience in the Bush administration. Not only does this involve pretty much zero reporting, but it means that 60 Minutes frequently just functions as an adjunct to people's book tours.
Finally, yes, The Early Show is awful, so much so that it's consistent misfortunes have become a mild source of amusement for me, kind of like watching the Washington Generals get clobbered again and again. But it's all relative. The real question is, Can Patterson make a case that the Today Show and Good Morning America are significantly better -- deeper or more sophisticated -- than CBS's morning show? Highly doubtful.
