Give NBC's Brian Williams credit--he really seems to think anchoring a nightly news broadcast seen by millions of people is preferable to hosting a syndicated daytime talk show. Not all of his competitors can say that. Another major difference between Williams and his rivals: he's actually eager to engage with the world during the 23.5 hours a day he doesn't spend reading the news on television. People seem to like the idea of an anchorman who isn't hermetically sealed in a studio.

Williams's sense of humor might help him connect with demographics that don't always tune in to the evening news. At his best, Williams is a dry, understated, and a cannily accurate judge of what people presently hate. This was on display today in his deadpan takedown of The Wall Street Journal's primer on office candy-bowl nonsense. "No one is victim to a bowl," Williams wrote on his NBC blog. "We are bigger than the bowl. I guess that will stand as my pearl of wisdom for today. We are bigger than the bowl."

Not laughing? Then check out Williams' triumphant follow-up to the The New York Times-just-discovered-Brooklyn runner he started in December. Now cab drivers are the ones who don't know what to make of the borough.

 

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Ray Gustini