Brian Williams Get the Call for "Meet the Press"

[spanone]

Six days after Tim Russert's death, his replacement on "Meet the Press" has been named -- at least for this Sunday.

Brian Williams, the NBC anchor and Russert's longtime friend, will fill the moderator's chair for the discussion of presidential politics and whatever else pops up. His guests will be Sens. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

NBC executives, still numbed by Russert's fatal heart attack, haven't turned their attention to finding a successor for the top-rated Sunday show. Some TV critics have suggested Williams, noting that Bob Schieffer spent 18 months anchoring CBS's evening news while hosting "Face the Nation."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/19/williams_get_the_call_for_meet.html?hpid=topnews

[DemoTex]

1. .

:puke:

[liberal N proud]

8. ..

:puke: :puke:

[Ian David]

2. I can live with that. He's relatively inoffensive. n/t

[librechik]

11. he's kind of a dufus--he'd make a good stand up comic

attractive, but doesn't do the tough backup work of a true journalist--happy to just get a pat on the head from his corporate masters for bravely sticking up for their totally necessary role at NBC of WH propagandists.

Not surprising at all.

[islandmkl]

3. might as well use the cheerleader on xanax for a while...

[elfin]

4. I think rotating hosts ala Nightline makes more sense

Among Williams, Todd, Mitchell or the like for quite a while. I really want to see Todd given a chance to give it a whirl - I think he would be exceptional.

[SoCalDem]

They should give several people a two-week trial.and compare the ratings

Do that for about 6 months, and THEN decide...or they could do it a la American Idol, and have people call in their votes :evilgrin:

[LSparkle]

29. Agreed! Chuck Todd has the political smarts and the reserve to do it

No Tweety (UGH!) -- too bloviating.
No Williams (UGHA!) -- too right-leaning and just not wonky enough.

Todd most closely matches Russert's style (more analytical, less
polished) and I think as "NBC Political Director" he may have the
title Timmeh had until he became D.C. Bureau Chief/Moderator of
MTP.

[Bake]

33. But does he have the guts to ask tough questions face to face?

Does he have the smarts to think of the follow up questions? When I've seen him on the tube, he seems OK as long as he's talking about what he's PREPARED to talk about. I don't see a lot of extemporaneity.

Bake

[LSparkle]

34. Good point -- he's an analyst not a good interviewer

I'm sure NBC thought they had plenty of time to groom him (or any
other potential successor) and now they're stuck with several
people who have useful skills to bring to the position, but none
of them is "ready for prime time" (!).

[lisa58]

32. I agree - Chuck Todd doesn't see politics as "show business"

[KharmaTrain]

5. I'd Opt For The Empty Chair

It'd work just as good as the empty suit that is Williams.

Maybe they could entertain the strange concept of having several press people interview a politician...not just one...like how the show originally was. Ya know...meeting the REAL press.

[Supersedeas]

12. yet, nothing would elevate Tim's status more than the empty headed Williams

[Mabus]

20. Yeah, the old format

Where the show wasn't about the host but about the guests! Imagine a couple of guests getting grilled by a spectrum of reporters. What a concept. I wonder why no one has done it before. Oh, that's right. That used be the format until it became the Timmie Meet & Greet Hour with special guest appearances by that irreverently, lovable couple Jimmy Carville and Mary Matalin ( :puke: , probably before they headed out to watch sporting events together :eyes: that lead to Jimmy and Luke Russert's sports show).

[Jeanette in FL]

23. Only one problem there Mabus

Where in the world are we going to find the spectrum of reporters that are not already bought and sold?

The days of the old format with independent journalist of "Meet the Press" are long gone.

:hi:

[Mabus]

26. McClatchy, foreign press, Sy Hersh, Amy Goodman, here on DU

Wouldn't it be cool if they did a show where the questions came from citizens. A little like CSPAN's Washington Journal. But, I know what you mean. Real journalists are hard to come by these days.

Hey Jeanette! :hi: Did you hear that me and the mister moved to DC? If you're ever in the area let us know and we'd be more than happy to give you a place to stay. Protests, inaugurations, sight-seeing, whatever the occasion, you'll always have a home with us.

[endarkenment]

27. There actually are decent print media reporters out there

the old format took the paper media's washington bureau onto the tube to do the grilling. That could actually still work. Not that we will see it happen until The New Gilded Age comes to a crashing halt.

[LSparkle]

30. Yeah -- get Keith's "regulars" ... Jonathan Alterman, Richard Wolffe,

Howard Fineman ... Hey, what about HELEN THOMAS???

[KharmaTrain]

28. I Couldn't Watch The Show

I gave up on Timmeh in the 90's...once he turned the show into his private treehouse. Somehow the "Press" turned into one person...a gatekeeper for Jack Welch. Maybe I'm strange, but I'm not out to be "best buds" with people I see on TV. The coziness of the "press" and those they're supposed to be reporting on was crossed as the "press" fell in love with being on teevee...the lines between the two long ago blurred and the public has suffered ever since.

Cheers...

[Mabus]

31. My poor husband

He liked watching MTP. I think he'd watch it for the same reasons he'd watch Fox: to mock them. I would try to watch it with him but all too often I'd get upset at the so-called questioning and leave the room.

And you've pinpointed the reason I had trouble with MTP, the coziness. I could generally tell when Timmeh liked someone and when he didn't. With one guy calling the shots, people knew who they had to cozy up with to get the kind of interview and questions they wanted. And the more time passed, the worse it got.

[monmouth]

6. I like it too. He's a pretty genuine guy if he doesn't/didn't drink that kool aid...n/t

[Oceansaway]

7. i cant look at his stretch face...i'm not watching....n/t...

[ieoeja]

9. Damn. I was hoping they would return to the original format.

Let three journalists take turns grilling the guest for an hour. The title made sense then. The guest really was meeting a representative body of the press, not just one guy. Worse yet, the same one guy every week.

[endarkenment]

15. Which is why we called it Press the Meat

and why I haven't watched for years. Total Inane Bullshit.

[SoCalDem]

10. He told us at the funeral that we were LUCKY to have breathed IN the air that Timmeh breathed OUT

:eyes:

[napi21]

13. I think NBC is going to present several different "guest hosts" on

MTP for the next few weeks or months. I just read an interview with the Chairman of NBC who said he was offended by the insinuations that a replacement has been chosen. He said there will be several people needed to replace Tim because of the wide variety of duties and positions he had. NBC is also NOT going to ever (his words not mine) have anyone else occupy Tims office.

[SoCalDem]

16. Hallowed ground, no doubt

Are staffers expected to genuflect when they pass the doorway?

[Mabus]

21. and if they are really, really lucky

They get to stick their heads in the door and breathe in that hallowed (hot) air that Timmah left behind.

[rateyes]

14. Ooooh. I'll have to make sure to watch it Sunday....

Joe Biden is likely to rip Lindsay Graham a new asshole.

[Kerrytravelers]

17. Brian Williams is at his best as the Giant Head of Brian Williams on The Daily Show.

Other than that, he is completly worthless.

[Wetzelbill]

18. I'm hoping for Joe Scarborough

and that he ritualistically stabs somebody every show. And that they get to vote off the people they have on a roundtable panel at the end of a segment. And that halfway through the show either Matthews or Olbermann will run in and punch Scarborough and a free for all will ensue before they cut to the next commercial break.

Sadly, we'll probably get stuck with either David Gregory or Chuck Todd in the end. I'm thinking that.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

19. he looked really good in afghanistan in his starched oxford shirts

[iamahaingttta]

22. I can't stand Brian Williams.

But then, I couldn't stand Tim Russert either.

[Disturbed]

24. Isn't he a Rethug?

Didn't he say "We" when he was referring to Rethugs in 2000?

I bet MTP will continue the trend of hard balling Dems & soft balling Rethugs.

[Jim__]

25. Joe Biden and Lindsey Graham - doesn't sound like much will change - n/t

[Swamp Rat]

35. Brian Williams will be certain to entertain Rash Limpball's views on MTP too.

Maybe the PigMan will be his first guest?

[symbolman]

36. We call him "Cocked Head"

always makes me lean to one side like he's looking at some far off different horizon than others..

A lot of these inflated News Dicks do that.. :)

[PfcHammer]

37. The show will suck regardless. Know why ?

it's on NBC, the propaganda arm of General Electric.
MTP is just a venue where the idealogues and newsreaders
can mingle and masturbate one another with their clothes
on and not get arrested. Brian is a nerd goofball blowhard
who is full of himself and frequently goes over the top.
Did I mention I'd like to smack him upside the head into next week ?