Hey CBS, quit pulling my heartstrings

I was able to catch about two-thirds of Katie Couric's debut on the CBS Evening News last night. I'm pretty sure I caught the seminal moment, though, which was her discussion about post-9/11 America with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. (Good to see CBS's liberal leanings continue even in the post-Rather era.)

Friedman was so emotive it was painful, almost like he was trying to dumb himself down so Katie (or America, maybe?) could understand him. And Couric was the opposite extreme, banishing even a hint of perkiness and instead pursing her mouth purposefully.

After the exchange, which was taped, we came back to Couric live. You could tell because the quality of the audio was so different, and because Couric immediately began to stumble. It'll probably take her a while to get used to doing quick news headlines. Probably about as long as it will take for me to get used to hearing her do them.

A few other quick hits...

• I put the over/under on the new Evening News segment "freeSpeech" at six months, especially if they're all as unimaginative as last night's was.
• Couric said she hadn't yet come up with a sign-off, and suggested people email their suggestions. My two cents: A simple, understated "Smell ya later."