(pinches bridge of nose)
I\'m going to break this down to you the best I can....hopefully I don\'t come across as too condescending. If I do, sorrynotsorry.
No...they don\'t have to do it. At all. And life would go on.
The man is turning 90...a milestone age that doesn\'t happen everyday. For a man who spent more than 1/3 of his life hosting this show, it\'s a nice gesture from the show. And after the mini-controversy that brewed from the 40th anniversary shows, perhaps they realize that 1) the potentially negative media spin is something they don\'t want*, and 2) the potentially positive media coverage they could get would be cool, esp. if someone wants to turn it into a \"water under the bridge\" thing stemming from last year. I think that\'s a longshot because no one but the geeks here care. Finally, it\'s one friggin episode...as much as I hate this argument, if it bothers you that much, skip over the episode that day...there\'s literally hundreds of other things you could watch at 11:00 am.
Just out of curiosity, did LMaD do a 90th celebration for Monty? I know he made a cameo appearance recently.
*Any press is good press blah blah blah