TVSquad

Since the early seventies, the intro to 60 Minutes has essentially looked the same as what you see on the right: a black background with a mock magazine cover outlined in white. The cover would show the show's logo in red and the famous stopwatch ticking away. Between each story teaser, we'd see the stopwatch again. It was a familiar way to start a Sunday evening, and the starkness of the intro reminded you that the subjects 60 covered were pretty damn serious.

Now, it's gone. I noticed that tonight's edition has a more vibrant intro. The fake magazine cover is against a light silver background; the logo is smaller and is now white with a red sunburst behind it. We now only see part of the watch, with a red sunburst behind that, too. Between each story teaser, we only see a closeup of a portion of the watch as the second hand sweeps past. The teasers and reporter intros are the same, but with the colors added, it just looks strange to me.

It's kind of freaky, and I'm wondering if it's too colorful for the serious nature of the show. To me it's a sign of either one of two things: 1) Katie Couric has gotten to the CBS graphics department and is determined to make every CBS News program looks like a morning show, or 2) with the retirement of Mike Wallace and the part-time status of Morley Safer, this is the producers' signal that 60 is moving on to a new generation of reporters.

And yes, I know this is anal and nitpicky, but when you've been seeing the same thing for over thirty years, something completely new is quite jarring. Imagine how you'd react if William Shatner suddenly stopped wearing his hairpiece and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Anyone else see this? What do you think? Let me know in the comments.