At one time we thought they’d last forever, so ingrained in America’s television viewing habits were the anchormen of the Big Three networks.

Familiar as a pair of old slippers, they were always there at eventide to bring us the day’s routine news, and with us around the clock, if necessary, when momentous events demanded our undivided attention.

Now, following the lead of NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who signed off for the final time in November, another one – “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather, a lightning rod for controversy throughout his 24-year run – has stepped aside.

Nagged by consistently poor ratings and a perception of liberal bias, Rather said goodbye to his audience Wednesday evening for the final time. Only ABC’s Peter Jennings remains of the troika that once dominated the evening newscasts. Before our very eyes, an era is passing into history.

Not that we haven’t been down this road before. When Walter Cronkite – America’s favorite uncle with the great voice and the commanding on-air presence – retired from the CBS anchor job in 1981 in favor of Rather, we came to understand what the phrase “tough act to follow” meant. And when Chet Huntley and David Brinkley parted company to change the picture at NBC before that, there was speculation that the NBC news division might not soon recover.

Things worked out just fine, of course, as they generally do when icons retire and the batons are handed to successors. In the CBS case, veteran newsman and fellow Texan Bob Schieffer will replace Rather on an interim basis until the network names a permanent replacement. If unbiased, unflappable and trusted Bob Schieffer can’t jack up the network’s anemic ratings there seems scant hope that anyone can.

Cronkite has said it beats him why the move wasn’t made long ago, given Schieffer’s solid reputation and the fact that CBS’s ratings have been in the pits for so long. It’s hard to argue with Uncle Walter on that one. On Thursday night’s news, Schieffer paid tribute to Cronkite and Rather while promising he will pursue no agendas in his reporting.

Rather, 73, will return to full-time reporting for CBS’s “60 Minutes” program. His farewell on Wednesday was brief and to the point, and had anyone predicted that he somehow would work the word “courage” into his swan song, they would not have been disappointed.

According to CBS lore, Rather first surprised everyone at CBS with the “courage” sign-off thing on Sept. 2, 1985, repeating it every night for a week. One night he concluded the broadcast with “coraje,” which is the Spanish version of the word.

“What the hell did he say?” a CBS bureau chief purportedly asked his New York producer. “I don’t know,” replied the producer. “Either he said the Spanish word for ‘courage,’ or an Asian form of the martial arts.” Other journalists made sport of Rather, NBC’s Bryant Gumbel signing off on several “Today” shows with “valor” and other mockeries. Rather soon dropped the gambit.

Anyone who has watched the ex-CBS anchor over the years probably has a favorite Ratherism to cherish. Rather allegedly getting assaulted on a New York street by a weirdo asking the cryptic question, “Kenneth, what’s the frequency?” Rather dressed in peasant garb to interview Afghanistan guerrillas, earning the sobriquet “Gunga Dan” for his efforts, as well as a good story. Rather creating a stir at the contentious 1968 Democratic National Convention when he got body-slammed to the floor by a security guard. Rather hanging on to a utility pole in a hurricane, coming across much like a moronic windblown Alfred E. Newman of Mad Comics fame. (“What, me worry?”)

My personal favorite has always been the trademark Rather With His Trenchcoat Collar Turned Up – his “foreign correspondent” look – whenever he was working a story, usually overseas, that required his touch. I always hoped he would one night complement the outfit with a wide-brim fedora, press pass stuck in the band like some hack 1930s police beat reporter while shouting into the telephone, “Hello, sweetheart. Get me rewrite” to the switchboard operator back at the home office. Alas, no such luck.

“Dan gave the impression of playing a role, more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience,” Cronkite lectured in a recent interview on CNN. To conservatives who have long railed against Rather in the role of prosecuting attorney, Uncle Walter’s harsh assessment seems right on. To liberals it is a bum rap against a fearless newsman.

But to most Americans in the middle, the dustup may just seem like a Rather sad way to go out.

Columnist Kent Ward’s e-mail address is olddawg@bangordailynews.net