Brian Williams trumps Playboy
Brian Williams boots the Bunnies and mixes humor with quality TV journalism onRock Center
Versatile journalist, Brian Williams is heading to primetime tonight on NBC at 10/9c with a brand new hour-long newsmagazine that replaces the recently axed The Playboy Club. Per NBC’s press release, Rock Center with Brian Williams will be built around the week’s most provocative events, compelling coverage and newsmaker interviews. And while Williams may not be a playboy bunny, his charisma and overall broad appeal will be sure to make up for any shortcomings and ultimately captivate audiences that the playboy bunnies could not.
Rock Center is the first newsmagazine program to be launched on a network in nearly two decades and who better than Brian Williams to bring newsmagazines back to primetime? Williams has proven time and time again that he has the ability to connect with audiences. He’s served as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News for over seven years, and the nightly series continues to be the most-watched newscast in all of television. In addition to the newscast, he’s had stints on Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, The Daily Show and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where he’s given the world a glimpse to a side that doesn’t get to come out too often.
Producers of Rock Center tell the LA Times that they’re hoping the newsmagazine will give Williams the opportunity to show off a different side of him during the broadcast and feel more like “Brian’s playlist,” a music series from Williams on the MSNBC website where he blogs about musicians and their songs. Commercials for the show already portray Williams in a lighter fashion as he is seen cracking jokes at Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. Take a look below.
Still, Williams will be careful not to discredit the newsmagazine in any way, as he tries to safely balance quality TV journalism with a splash of personality. According to an interview with the LA Times, Williams believes people are shying away from the round table yelling matches found on cable news and coming back to “known faces, brand names, and controlled environments.” He goes on further to explain “I'm not going to yell at you, and you're not going to learn my opinion—nor do you care... I think there absolutely is a market for more stories, well told.”
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Rock Center with Brian Williams will be live tonight on NBC at 10/9c and will also feature an all-star team of journalists that include Ted Koppel, Meredith Viera, Harry Smith and more.