The Living and Ticking Legacy of ’60 Minutes’

NEW YORK —  As if the “tick, tick, ticking” sound from its famous logo were loud and threatening, the pace of work around the offices of “60 Minutes II” is hectic and daunting. The show’s premiere on Jan. 13 is still weeks away, but there is a lot of scurrying and bustling, with mountains of videotapes here and piles of files there.

But the problem is not the bustle. That is to be expected at the launch of any network program. The intensity in the offices here, and with correspondents and producers already doing stories around the world, is triggered by the folks on the other side of the eighth floor of this otherwise nondescript Upper West Side Manhattan office building.

“Our goal is to match the quality. It’s going to be hard to live up to the expectations of ’60 Minutes,’ of what that name creates,” said Jeff Fager, executive producer of “60 Minutes II.” “It is the second edition. But I think it’s safe to say that we have already looked at stories that Don would put on the air on Sunday in seconds.”

“Don” is Don Hewitt, the executive producer and creator of “60 Minutes,” the father of the TV newsmagazine. It is no secret that Hewitt did not want an expansion of “60 Minutes” and, in fact, is not a fan of the proliferation of prime-time newsmagazines in general. Hewitt finally relented but would not oversee the new show. Fager, who was producing the “CBS Evening News,” took on the job, but with certain fears and demands.

“Don I consider not just a mentor, but I love the guy. And [“60 Minutes” correspondent] Morley [Safer] is one of my best friends. There is no way I wanted to come into this unless they were on board,” Fager said. “Was it really going to be ’60 Minutes’? How do you do that unless you find the right people? I want to make sure we match what is over there.”

Fager, who spent six years as a “60 Minutes” producer for Safer and Steve Kroft, believes he’s done just that. On the producing side, his team includes Rob Wallace, who has seven Emmys from his 20 years at “20/20”; David Schneider, who spent eight years at “48 Hours”; Harry Moses, who has produced 70 pieces for “60 Minutes”; and Barbara Dury, who has done more than 60 pieces for the mother show.

Of the four on-air correspondents for “60 Minutes II,” none is new to CBS. Dan Rather, who earlier in his career was a “60 Minutes” correspondent, is scheduled to contribute 10 to 15 pieces a year. Bob Simon, CBS’ longtime Middle East reporter, will be doing primarily, but not exclusively, foreign stories. Vicki Mabrey has come from her job as CBS’ London correspondent, and Charlie Rose, who in the 1980s hosted the late-night CBS news show “Nightwatch,” will work full time while also doing his eponymous PBS interview show.

The format of “60 Minutes II,” which will continue on Wednesday nights at 9 after its premiere, will be similar to the one that has been successful at “60 Minutes” for decades: three main stories of about 12 minutes apiece and a short end piece--whether it will follow in the Andy Rooney tradition is still being sorted out. But unlike NBC, which has five nights of “Dateline,” and ABC, which has placed all its newsmagazines under the umbrella of “20/20,” CBS has decided to keep the staffs of the two “60 Minutes” shows, as well as that for “48 Hours,” separate.

“I’m sure [the other networks] think it’s the way to do it, but we think keeping things separate keeps more quality control. We’ll just have to see,” Fager said.

Fager was named “60 Minutes II” executive producer in August, just a few months after Betsy West moved over from ABC to take a new job, vice president for prime-time news, at CBS--a sign that the network was serious about a long-term, multi-night future in the newsmagazine business.

“The way people get their information has changed,” said West, from her new corner office overlooking the Hudson River. “First the success of ’60 Minutes,’ and then ‘20/20’ and then ‘Dateline’; people have a hunger for information told in the way these magazine shows tell the story.”

Like the rest of the crew, Rose is already on the road for “60 Minutes II,” juggling the demands of the new venture with his PBS show.

“One of the significant attractions of going to ’60 Minutes’ . . . is that it gives me a chance to get involved with a team to make what I do better,” said Rose, adding that he isn’t worried about burnout working two shows; he figures his work will become more synergistic.

Rose, 56, is one of three “60 Minutes II” correspondents eligible for membership in the American Assn. of Retired Persons. Only Mabrey is younger than 50. With other newsmagazines, particularly “Dateline,” seeking younger viewers, this seems to be running against the grain.

“We have chosen experience, writing ability and interviewing ability,” Fager said. “One thing Sunday proves is that people will watch great stories told by experienced journalists. But in any case, we are not targeting a certain age group.”

West concurs, noting that newsmagazine audiences in general are older than those for sitcoms or even dramas.

“But I still get a kick out of seeing our correspondents doing someone hip like Chris Rock,” she said. “When the ‘60’ guys do profiles and do something unexpected, they bring something to it that’s great. They don’t go out and do the latest celebrity, which you could see on ‘Entertainment Tonight.’ ”

Rose gets really edgy about the age issue, alleging that bringing it up is an insult to the audience.

“The fallacy in the argument is that you have to be under 40 to attract a younger audience. It is the quality of the broadcast that matters, and to suggest otherwise is to suggest young people wouldn’t be savvy enough to know better,” Rose said. “Our PBSprogram has a young audience, mostly because we are not locked into the past.”

One twist in “60 Minutes II” will be that most broadcasts will have a “60 Minutes Classic” segment. These will take old “60 Minutes” stories and update them--a sort of story-after-the-story piece.

“It was an insurance policy,” Fager said. “With six months of start-up time, we thought we would need some extra edge. . . . But they are turning out to be fantastic stories.”

For the most part, though, Fager realizes his broadcast will be successful mostly because its essential format won’t surprise anyone. Like “60 Minutes” but unlike newsmagazines on the other two networks, “60 Minutes II” will have no set. The ticking clock will stay, as will the “magazine cover” opening to the show.

“It has a nice feel to it,” Fager said. “And we hope it makes us stay around a real long time.”