Dan "the Man" Rather

His look is stonier and delivery stiffer than the man he succeeded, "Uncle Walter" Cronkite. Yet when grief envelops the nation — the astronauts dying in the Challenger —Dan Rather is the TV news anchor whose face flushes with emotion. Tonight, 24 years after he started, but one year shy of the silver anniversary he hoped to celebrate, Rather will anchor his last newscast on "CBS Evening News." About his exit, Rather pulls out a trademark "Danism": "Repotted plants grow faster and better." The Wharton native doesn't see himself retiring so much as switching jobs, though the transition comes at age 73. Above: Rather rehearses before a newscast Thursday in New York.

Thanks Dan. Now GTFO of my TV!