J.P. Filo, CBS via AP
	Katie Couric, anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric",makes her debut broadcast tonight on the CBS Television Network from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York.

By Rob Owen
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After months of media hype befitting the inauguration of a head of state, the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" debuted tonight and revealed itself to be ... a normal national newscast. That's not meant to disparage a quality half-hour report, it just goes to show how ridiculously overblown the drooling coverage has been.

	CBS via AP
	Katie Couric begins her debut broadcast as the new anchor for "CBS Evening News" from CBS studios in New York. MORE COVERAGE Online Poll: Now that Katie Couric is hosting the CBS Evening News, which station's national TV news do you plan to watch?

Now, perhaps, once everyone reports the first night's ratings, the intense glare of the spotlight will shift to something equally important. Like, say, Lindsay Lohan or Suri Cruise (the latter, by the way was featured in a "CBS Evening News" promo, er, report on the first public appearance by the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on the cover of Vanity Fair).

Couric's "CBS Evening News" (7 p.m., KDKA) looked a lot like other network newscasts, including the "CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer," whom Couric replaced. Despite updated graphics (modern, sleek) and new music (very much in the national TV news tradition), Couric's debut did not introduce a large array of unnecessary bells and whistles, nor was it a huge showcase for her. She did what a news anchor does: introduced the work of other reporters and transitioned between their contributions.

After a voiceover introduction by the legendary Walter Cronkite, Couric wisely dispensed with acknowledgement of her newcomer status with a quick, pleasant, "Hi everyone, I'm very happy to be with you tonight."

From there it was into the most interesting aspect of her inaugural broadcast: a lead story that was not the typical news of the day. Instead, Couric and company led with a lengthy, "60 Minutes"-ish report by correspondent Lara Logan on the largely forgotten war in Afghanistan. The choice and style of the report felt like a bit of NPR had arrived at CBS, a not unwelcome development.

From there, Couric, 49, segued into an on-set interview with New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman. It should have played to Couric's strengths from years on "Today," but because it was pre-taped, the interview felt clenched and overly edited, not the free-flowing exchange she's best at.

Wearing a snug-fitting white blazer over black, Couric delivered quick hits on other headlines later in the broadcast. The longer the newscast went on, the more it deviated from the norm. There were, perhaps, one too many branded segments.

"Snapshots," which introduced Suri Cruise, seemed like filler, but the "Free Speech" segment, touted as analogous to a newspaper op-ed piece, got off to an inoffensive start. Given some of Couric's most strident critics -- conservative bloggers -- the selection of generally liberal filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") to sound a note of nonpartisan unity couldn't help but appear intentional. (Spurlock spoke of the lack of civil discourse and his belief that America is not as politically divided as news reports suggest.) Couric noted that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh will contribute to the "Free Speech" segment on Thursday, a day after her interview with President Bush.

Couric introduced a life-affirming report by feature reporter Steve Hartman while leaning against the anchor desk (it worked for her in these segments, but it seemed like she was awkwardly anchored to the desk during the closing credits).

She stayed in the same position to end the broadcast, encouraging viewers to send her suggestions for a standardized sign-off. So far, Couric hasn't come up with any she's liked. She ended her debut with a simple but emphatic, "Thank you so much for watching, and I hope to see you tomorrow night."

It was a strong, almost entirely gaffe-free debut for both Couric and the new "CBS Evening News." It wasn't revolutionary, but it was a solid half-hour evening newscast, comfortably delivered in a contemporary, non-voice-of-God manner with a few small, new twists on an old format.

KDKA did its part as a CBS-owned station to promote the Couric debut in its newscasts tonight, but kudos to anchors Ken Rice and Patrice King Brown for having fun with the corporately mandated assignment.

Rather than sitting down for a sober Q&A, the anchor pair -- sent to New York to tape promotional spots with Couric -- asked her Pittsburgh-centric questions to which they had clearly fed her the answers in advance.

"Let's say you just shoveled out a parking place -- how do you secure your spot?" Rice quizzed.

"I use a folding chair, duh!" Couric snappily replied.

If you have to shill for the company overlords, at least make it entertaining and bearable for viewers. Well done.