A big news day yesterday, what with Gene Pitney’s death in England and Katie Couric’s move to CBS. Taken together, these ostensibly unrelated events serve to remind us of how much better the Today show might have been if Pitney had hosted it rather than Couric. Even in small doses, Couric’s vaunted perkiness can be toxic, and a viewer with a hangover risks being blinded by her radioactive smile if exposed to it without polarized sunglasses.

Pitney, on the other hand, doesn’t look like the kind of guy who would try to smile his way to fame and fortune. But he sure could entertain. He was a great singer and songwriter, and even if he didn’t make as much money in his entire lifetime as Couric will be make next year, Pitney’s torchy brand of doo-wop will be around long after the infotainment diva’s fun-house smile has become an icon of self-parody.

In the meantime, the news media have succeeded in hyping NBC’s “search” for Couric’s replacement as the most world-shaking event since Dan Rather’s retirement. Their ultimate success at this game is of course assured as long as the network pays big enough bucks for its next anchor. Start her at, say, $8 million a year, and who’s going to notice whether there’s any real talent or substance behind the smile? Or perhaps the Q Score wizards will give us an unknown, the better to allow them to soft-peddle the new co-anchor’s “mystique” until we feel violated at the very mention of her name.