"This Week with Christiane Amanpour" debuted this morning on ABC with the veteran foreign correspondent telling viewers, "After 20 years covering the world, the story in this country is turning into one of the most fascinating." 
 
 The headline from Amanpour's two headliner guests, Secy. Robert Gates and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both pre-taped on Friday to accommodate their schedules, was their disagreement on the pace of U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan. 
 
 While the host was new, the round-table consisted of three familiar names: George Will, Donna Brazile and Paul Krugman and a new face who fit with Amanpour's goal of giving the show a more outside-the-beltway feel: from Madrid, Amanpour welcomed Ahmed Rashid, who was billed as "the world authority on the Taliban." The opening voice-over also featured a new tagline featuring the global focus: "From all across our world to the heart of our nation's capitol." 
 
 There was new music from trumpeter Chris Botti and a new show open and set backdrop, changing out the blue "This Week" logo with a map of the world in red. The Sunday funnies remained. 
 
 Following this morning's show Amanpour told TVNewser, "It's great to finally be underway, and I'm so pleased to have had two great first guests and a wonderful round table. I'm excited about having this platform to explore the issues that affect Americans. I want to open the window on the world to help with the understanding of all of the global challenges out there." Amanpour's opening welcome after the jump... 
 
 Did you watch? If so, what did you think? 
 
 I am thrilled to be here at the Newseum. After 20 years covering the world, the story in this country is turning into one of the most fascinating. The struggle over politics and policy and how they merge to meet people's needs. And having witnessed firsthand the global challenges and opportunities that America faces every day, I'm also eager to open a window on the world and cut through those complicated issues we all confront. 

 Christiane Amanpour made her much-anticipated debut as host of This Week this morning. Other than her presence it was difficult to find anything else about the show that was different. 
 
 While it goes without saying that Amanpour is one of the most recognizable and well-respected names in television reporting, much of the anticipation in regards to her takeover of ABC’s long-running Sunday show was a direct result of the impressive mark Jake Tapper managed to leave during his temporary takeover of hosting duties. In a relatively short period of time he managed to make the show entirely his own, and develop a loyal following to boot. By the end of his tenure there was more than a little speculation that ABC had made a mistake by going outside their own newsroom to land a new host, and that Amanpour, a giant in the journalism world, suddenly had some very big shoes to fill. 
 
 It should be noted perhaps that Tapper’s major influence on This Week — most notably the live-tweeting, Politifact checking, livelier more diverse roundtables — were all introduced after Amanpour’s hire was announced and as such not part of the consideration process. Up until that point the anchor chair had featured a revolving array of familiar ABC faces, though Tapper was by far the strongest. 
 
 When ABC hired Amanpour they made quite a lot of noise about the different perspective she would bring to the show. They particularly focused on the international aspect of her reporting career and highlighted again and again that this was something the show would focus on, and also something that would differentiate it from other Sunday shows (another thing that will differentiate it is the fact she is a woman, something too long lacking in the Sunday chair carousel). Earlier this week, via Twitter, news that Ahmed Rashid would be a roundtable guest seemingly backing up this new international plan. 
 
 However what was most striking about the show this morning was how little had changed. In fact it was hard not to get the sense that Amanpour was merely filling in for Tapper. Smartly Amanpour has chosen to keep the live-tweeting and Politifact-checking. She also retained the Sunday funnies (something that long predates Tapper). And with the exception of Rashid, who participated remotely, her roundtable could not have featured a stronger array of usual suspects: George Will, Paul Krugman, Donna Brazile. This is not a complaint, mind you, just an observation. If nothing else the roundtable seemed more subdued — I feel like Amanpour’s dignified presence may keep the liveliness to a minimum. 
 
 Obviously, this is only her first show. It’s also August 1, which suggests ABC is interested in giving her some time to get the hang of things. Moreover, Amanpour is a pro and it would be both silly and short-sighted to dismiss her this early on. However, as much as I enjoyed Tapper (which was a lot) and as happy as I am to see the stronger features he brought to the show remain intact, it’s hard not to get the sense that Amanpour missed an opportunity here to make a strong first impression and try out some brand new ideas unique to her. As it stands this still feels very much like Tapper’s show. And if that continues to be the case a lot of people may begin wondering why the switch was necessary in the first place.
– Christiane Amanpour made her much-debated move into the host's chair at ABC's This Week today, replacing George Stephanopoulos and a parade of interim fill-ins, and critics agree: The show feels essentially the same. Besides some cosmetic tweaking, the highest-profile change was "a new face who fit with Amanpour's goal of giving the show a more outside-the-beltway feel: from Madrid, Amanpour welcomed Ahmed Rashid, who was billed as 'the world authority on the Taliban,'" Chris Ariens blogs for TVNewser. "When ABC hired Amanpour they made quite a lot of noise about the different perspective she would bring to the show," Glynnis MacNicol writes for Mediaite, but "what was most striking about the show this morning was how little had changed." "Amanpour appeared comfortable and aggressively inquisitive in her new position," writes Frazier Moore of the AP. But with the exception of two taped interviews on a show that's usually live, "mostly the hour format stuck closely to the past." For another take on Amampour's hiring, which got some pundits sniping, click here.