I’ll give you a few hints: He’s on TV Monday-Friday and sounds as though he is reading rather than speaking (probably because he is). He’s clean cut, intelligent and recently admitted the most nervous he has ever been was when he was standing on the 50-yard line at Lambeau Field during halftime at a recent Green Bay Packers’ game in front of 70,000 plus screaming fans.
Who is he?
If you guessed Brian Williams give yourself a pat on the back. The anchor of “NBC Nightly News” better get over his fear of performing live in front of large crowds if he is going to be successful at his new gig—hosting tomorrow night’s episode of “Saturday Night Live.”
In what is being billed as a historical moment on SNL, Williams is just a day away from becoming the first network anchor – active or retired – to host the late night comedy sketch show.
If you are a fan of SNL, you know the hosting spot is traditionally filled by show-biz celebrities and the occasional pro athlete or politician. Williams stab at making viewers laugh will be a new venture for everyone involved—-including the show’s writers.
“Actors do silly things all the time, and we ask them to do a lot of silly things in an hour-and-a-half, whereas someone like Brian is less known for his silliness,” SNL’s head writer recently told reporters. “But he’s pretty good with his accents. And he used to be a (volunteer) fireman: I’d bet money you’ll see him on the show as a fireman.”
A fireman and an anchorman. You don’t have to be Merlin to predict Williams will likely be found at the “Weekend Update” desk Saturday night. Actually, he’s been there before. Last year Williams made an unannounced appearance on SNL’s season premiere, pretending to vie for the “Weekend Update” anchor chair vacated by Tina Fey.
At the time Williams said doing the cameo was fun and his appearance was followed up by a phone call from executive producer Lorne Michaels inviting him to come back as host. Williams said it took him more than a year to agree.
“My family was anxious for me to do it. My bosses were anxious for me to do it,” he said. “But in the end, it’s ME doing it, and I worried that anyone might be confused between this and my day job. But I just don’t think there’s a chance of that.”
Yeah, fat chance of that happening. In fact, if it did happen I think it would say more about the viewers than of Williams’ performance.
Personally, I’m looking forward to watching Williams. I hope he doesn’t play it too cautious. We all know he wants to return to his day job with his reputation intact. But, it’s “Saturday Night Live” for goodness sake–shed the tie and go out and have a good time.
Will you be watching?
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