The next logical step . . .

The trifecta is completed.

Is it possible for a news program to jump the shark? If so, with the appointment of Couric, CBS News has definitely done it. She has no hard news chops whatsoever. If Bryant Gumbel, the most "newsy" of the hosts of morning chatter shows (with the possible exception of Charlie Gibson), could make the jump to evening news, then Miss Couric doesn't stand a chance. And if they're trying to exorcise their political bias demons, Katie ain't the one to do it.

The winner in all this, surprisingly, may be the Today Show. Meredith Vieira is the perfect fit for what Today needs (and has been lacking since the departure of Jane Pauley) -- hard news experience without the grating condescension and obvious bias (cough, cough . . . Katie Couric . . . cough, cough).

That leaves two final pieces to the puzzle -- Vieira's old stomping grounds, The View, and the current anchor of the CBS Evening News, Bob Schieffer. Put those two pieces together, and the puzzle is completed.