LOS ANGELES — CBS News correspondent Robert C. Pierpoint — who covered six presidents, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination and the Iranian hostage crisis in a career that spanned more than four decades — died Saturday in California, his daughter said. He was 86.

Pierpoint, who retired in 1990, died of complications from surgery at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Marta Pierpoint told The Associated Press. He had broken his hip Oct. 12 at the Santa Barbara Retirement Community where he lived with his wife Patricia.

And they’re off! Which TV horses look strongest out of the gate and which might need to be put down.

The winners
Comedy
As the U.S. teeters on the precipice of a double-dip recession, laughter truly might be the best medicine. Ashton Kutcher’s Sept. 19 debut on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” generated a football-sized 29 million viewers, and the second week’s 20.5 million still topped last season’s average with Charlie Sheen. “How I Met Your Mother” debuted up double digits, and “2 Broke Girls,” which benefited from a monster “Men” lead-in, pulled in an astounding 7.1 rating in the 18-to-49 demo.

NEW YORK — With 1,096 essays for “60 Minutes” under his belt, Andy Rooney will deliver his 1,097th on Sunday’s broadcast. And it will be his last as a regular contributor.

The 92-year-old Rooney will announce his departure at the end of the program, where he has been featured since 1978, CBS News announced on Tuesday. It will be preceded by a segment in which Rooney looks back on his career with “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer.

“There’s nobody like Andy and there never will be,” said Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and “60 Minutes” executive producer.

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — CBS says stars of the hit TV show “Happy Days,” who are suing the company for unpaid merchandising revenue, don’t have a case.

The company, which owns the iconic show, said in a 15-page response to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, that the case is “a garden-variety breach of contract action, nothing more.”

“However, rather than simply seek what they are purportedly owed under their contracts, plaintiffs are attempting to generate a lucrative litigation windfall by riddling their complaint with unsupported and overreaching causes of action” for fraud and breach of good faith.

(EW.com) — Through an unlikely combination of elements — a popular Twitter site; CBS trying to be “hip” about social networking; the chance to work with “Will & Grace” producers David Kohan and Matt Mutchnick; William Shatner wanting to try something new — “$#*! My Dad Says” boasts the new season’s most annoying title and the sight of a wasted resource in Shatner.

He plays Ed, a grumpy coot who complains about anything and everything. His strapped-for-cash son Henry (Jonathan Sadowski) moves in with him.

NEW YORK – It’s the last go-round for “As the World Turns.”

TV’s oldest daytime drama aired its final episode Friday, concluding a run that began in April 1956.

Always full of emotional turmoil, “World” was set in the mythical town of Oakdale, Ill., where there was no shortage of couplings, heartbreak, double-dealing and hairpin plot twists.

CBS announced in December that it was pulling the plug on the New York-based show, which ranked at the bottom of the ratings among network soaps. It wrapped production in June.

WASHINGTON — Veteran reporter and commentator Daniel Schorr, whose hard-hitting reporting for CBS got him on President Richard Nixon’s notorious “enemies list” in the 1970s, has died. He was 93.

Schorr died Friday at a Washington hospital after a brief illness, said Anna Christopher, a spokeswoman for National Public Radio, where Schorr continued to work as a senior news analyst and commentator.

Schorr’s career of more than six decades spanned the spectrum of journalism — beginning in print, then moving to television where he spent 23 years with CBS News and ending with NPR. He also wrote several books, including his memoir, “Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism.”

It’s getting down to the wire for “Smallville,” “Community” and a slew of other network series stuck in Nielsen purgatory — with just weeks left to go before final verdicts on their fates are handed down.

For shows “on the bubble,” these are the times that try showrunners’ souls. Every week of ratings data between now and May, when fall schedules are revealed, brings glimmers of hope or new evidence suggesting damnation is near.

“Being on the bubble is incredibly stressful,” says “Chuck” co-creator Josh Schwartz, whose NBC series rallied back from the brink after fans rallied behind it.

NEW YORK – The new CBS reality series “Undercover Boss” will make its debut in one of the most coveted time slots on television — right after the Super Bowl.

The series follows corporate executives who slip anonymously into low-rung jobs in their companies. The first episode features the head of Waste Management as he cleans portable toilets and sifts through waste at a landfill.

The show will air on Sundays, replacing the drama “Three Rivers.”