Brian, Keith and Ted

From Brian Williams's Nov. 16 Daily Nightly blog: "Sharp-eyed viewers will notice we're in our Los Angeles bureau tonight–a remote broadcast necessitated by a visit we must pay to Arizona later this week." Sharp-eyed viewers? There was a huge sign reading "NBC News Los Angeles" above Brian's head throughout the entire broadcast. And concerning Brian's Arizona reference--give me a break! Obviously, that's Brian's not-very-subtle way of making sure viewers know that he will be traveling to Arizona State University to accept the Walter Cronkite Award. I don't want to get into a debate with the ASU Cronkite committee about their judging standards (or lack thereof), but I love the way Brian just dropped that right in the middle of his blog! Talk about crying out for attention! Brian is about as humble as his doppelganger Keith Olbermann. I hope he didn't injure his shoulder from patting himself on the back so much. Brian demonstrates over and over that he is the living embodiment of Ted Baxter. (Rumor has it that Brian will walk onto the ASU stage serenaded by a chorus of Afghan orphans.)

And it seems that Brian is not the only one at Nightly News who enjoys drawing attention to himself. For the second consecutive night, Andrea Mitchell treated viewers to the excerpt from Sarah Palin's book that talks about--Andrea Mitchell (and her fish-slimed waders). How many nights is Mitchell going to read that passage on the air? I hear that next week, Mitchell is going to be signing copies of Palin's book at the Fifth Ave. Barnes & Noble.