Status’s Oliver Darcy uncorked more tiresome, whiny laments Thursday night about the state of CBS’s 60 Minutes ahead of season 59’s September 13 premiere – helmed by new boss Nick Bilton – with one anonymous staffer telling him the state of preparations as so far behind it’s become a “five-alarm fire.”
Darcy started with a party at current CBS chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook’s Manhattan haunt “for the correspondents and producers purged…in what has become known as ‘Black Thursday.’” But most notably from that dinner was what Darcy reported was said by one of the remaining 60 Minutes correspondents, Bill Whitaker:
[T]he famed correspondent gave an impassioned toast in which he described the current state of affairs at the show as a “seesaw.” At the event, whose existence was first reported by Breaker, though without these specific details, Whitaker told colleagues that some days he feels like a “traitor” for opting to remain at the program instead of quitting in solidarity with those Bari Weiss fired. On other days, Whitaker said, he feels like a member of the “resistance” at the program.
Whitaker…tried to conclude his remarks on a positive note, saying that he believed “60 Minutes” could endure the storm it currently finds itself in.
“Resistance” looking to undermine editor-in-chief Bari Weiss? “Traitor” for staying?
These people are such high-minded children.
Darcy explained that Whitaker is still at work, though, to the point that “he is flying to Ukraine this week for a shoot, and that other correspondents are also out in the field working on reporting.”
That said, he asserted “the show’s staff is still far behind where it should be.”
“At this point...more than a dozen or so stories should have already been screened, according to people familiar with the show’s internal processes,” he huffed, stating past years would have seen immediate screenings at the beginning of this month.
Instead, he said “there has either been one story screening or none at all,” meaning the morale amongst staff was “described…as a ‘five-alarm fire’” even as “Bilton continues to exude confidence.”
Only then did he admit “several stories are scheduled to be screened next week, while every producer has at least two packages they’re working on.”
Darcy made sure to pile-on against Weiss, whining “staffers believe” she views herself as “the de facto executive producer...because of how intimately involved she has been.”
The editor-in-chief of a network wanting to see stories for its most prominent news program before air? Once again…the horror!
He also tried to cause friction with new contributor Sebastian Junger because of a Substack item he penned after his hiring was announced, in which he said the developments surrounding the show were “troubling” and signs of “tremendous turmoil,” but his journalism would be “for the truth, not for CBS or anyone else.” Darcy claimed this has left Weiss irate.
Later, Darcy concluded by talking to an anonymous “veteran television news executive” he seems to be best buddies with who’s always there to give him a childish quote to kick dirt at Bilton and Weiss under the guise of those who’ve never worked in TV could never, ever learn how to “mak[e] good TV” and thus “everyone who knows TV is betting against them,” meaning they’re “cooked.”
Thus, they hoped, the show will fall below the numbers “executives are fixated on” in 10.03 million, which was “the number of viewers who tuned in for last season’s premiere.”
