Brian Williams fun

[susandennis]

I am not a big SNL fan. Once in a while, when someone interesting is on, I'll record it. Last night Brian Williams was the host so I recorded. I could not imagine how his doing this would be anything more than a disaster.

Shows how much I know. This guy can act! He was really really very very good. His delivery was good, his lines were good, he carried off everything they had him do with style and talent. So much talent, it kind of makes me wonder why he's wasting it all reading the news.

Comments

[vasilatos]

I saw part of that too, and he was surprising, and good!

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he was great, and did a lot more bits than most guests. It was a good episode. I wonder whether his main social circle is the youngish comedy crowd at NBC, rather than the journalism people one might expect. He shows up as Conan's guest all the time too.

[susandennis]

Interesting. I've only ever seen him on the news.

(Thanks for the edit.)

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

Yeah, one might expect that news people party with news people, and comedy people party with comedy people, but based on what he does away from the anchor desk, I think he parties with comedy people.

[letmesaythis.livejournal.com]

I *thought* he was a news guy. I didn't know for sure and I only caught a few minutes of the show, but I sure remember thinking, "Isn't that a news guy? What is a news guy doing on SNL?" Heh. Too bad I didn't catch all of it.

[howeird]

makes me wonder why he's wasting it all reading the news
You are very very naive. All the network anchors are actors. They are picked by network marketing departments for their ability to draw and keep an audience. They do not write the words they say, let alone actually do any news gathering. None of them are journalists.

I can give you several million reasons he is "wasting his time" reading the news. He makes more in a week than the SNL actors make in a year.

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

Actually, a lot of them write most of their own text, and they all at least choose the text written for them. All of them are journalists. Sure, they get to be anchors more on the basis of charisma (and whatever else goes into audience appeal) than their journalism, but they have to have both.

You're definitely right that they make heaps of money though.

[howeird]

It's rare these days for the pretty face to be a journalist. Wilson is neither an actor nor a journalist, he's a Personality. Here is a fellow who dropped out of three different colleges, landed a job lobbying for the broadcast industry, and bounced around between minor hack TV jobs till he landed at NBC. He's a pretty face with a sparkling personality, articulate and with a great sense of humor. He reads the news very well, and is fun to watch on his frequent Daily Show appearances. But he's no newsman.

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

More accurate, Brian Williams transferred, transferred, and dropped out; which isn't quite the same as dropped out three times. In any case, he's had several corespondent type jobs along the way. He's also a managing editor in his current position, which means he owns his reporting, and doesn't just read it.

Even if he didn't finish school, he picked up journalism skills along the way. Experience-wise, he's probably qualified to be a mid-level reporter at a big newspaper. It's fair to say he didn't pay his dues enough to deserve a job as one of the most-followed journalists, but he is a journalist.

And he can do comedy, not just news. That's fun.

Brian Williams the Frontman

[(Anonymous)]

Did I just read that Mr Brian Williams never finished college but yet...trumpets please, is pretty much the face for NBC News. How very interesting. As we grow in life we all tend to find our niche. Apparently, Brian (if I may be so bold) has found his. And what a niche it is. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be a MMFO (thats secret code Brian for Mindless Minion For Obama). I caught your act during the election, following behind Obama like a dog would follow its master. Pretty pathetic Brian. Do you really enjoy all this farcical comedy being heaped upon us by the Great Divider (sounds like a villain action hero). Oh, thats right, you work for NBC. You don't have independent thought because your bosses tell you what to think and when to do it. Pretty sad Brian...no moral compass. You could do great things and speak out against all this crap. But, it won't happen because you've found your niche and after all, you are MFB, thats Mindless Frontman Brian.