After blazing to victory in South Carolina on the strength of dynamite debate performances, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has seen his status as a master-debater falter in Florida, along with his poll numbers. Following Monday night’s NBC News debate, Gingrich complained about Brian Williams’ silencing of the audience, and this morning, his campaign is accusing Mitt Romney‘s campaign of packing Thursday night’s audience, like some kind of Republican establishment Snickers™ bar.

Recently, Newt Gingrich has had a massive upswing from his new debate strategy; forget the candidates, go after the moderator. Twice now, he’s taken huge swings at the closest representative of the media at the nearest sign of a question that seems untoward. And, twice, he’s been able to reap the benefits of those attacks by milking the audience’s applause.

Mitt Romney– or anyone else on the stage, for that matter– was not about to escape tonight’s debate without being asked to explain and defend just how conservative he is. And he took that opportunity with gusto, though his answer about his record took a bizarre detour when he, once again, used the fact that Ted Kennedy had to take out a mortgage on his house to beat him in a Senate race.

After a few rounds of questioning where the candidates discussed the 2008 housing crisis, the Iranian political situation, a couple of new moderators and a 3 AM phone call that Fidel Castro is dead, the candidates finally got to chatting about illegal immigration, and the first question– a general one asking for a solution– went to Mitt Romney. He began with a simple answer to the 12 million and counting displaced foreign nationals: “self-deportation.”

“Lord knows everyone knows each other by now,” Brian Williams noted as the start of this first debate in Florida. And the debate did start off at a pace that felt absolutely glacial compared to the fireworks within the first minute of last Thursday’s. But after a few warmup rounds, Mitt Romney started landing blows on Newt Gingrich‘s career at Freddie Mac as an “historian,” and had him cornered until Gingrich piped up and asked, “What was the gross revenue of Bain while you were working there?”

Who could have thought a week ago that the Republican presidential landscape would have changed so dramatically from then to now? As we inch nearer and nearer to Florida, each previous state has chosen a difference candidate, and the latest winner, Newt Gingrich, is going into tonight’s debate a volatile frontrunner. Many suggest he owes much of his newfound support to the debates, and with that in mind, today’s event presents that much more of a chance for every other candidate to jump in and rack up some points. The remaining four (Buddy Roemer, as usual, uninvited), will meet tonight at 9PM Eastern Time for a debate co-hosted by NBC, the National Journal, and the Tampa Bay Times.

Earlier today, Gawker broke the news that Brian Williams thought Lana Del Rey had “one of the worst outings in SNL history” (not a huge news story but what do you expect on a national holiday?). How did they get this quote? Well, it turns out it was from a private email Williams sent to Gawker head honcho Nick Denton. Gawker posted Williams’ Del Rey critique along with some choice quotes about how often he checks the site’s “shit” on his iPad. Unsurprisingly, NBC PR wasn’t thrilled to see the message hit the front page.

With Christmas just a few days away, Jimmy Fallon decided to sit in front of the fireplace, and crack open A Visit From Saint Nicholas — better known as The Night Before Christmas. But, in true Late Night fashion, there was a twist. Instead of just a straight reading, Fallon decided to throw in some Mad Libs fun, having celebrities from Jesse Eisenberg to Martin Short fill in various words along the way.

From our Cute News file (a vintage Lisa Frank folder featuring a cartoon Anderson Cooper riding a unicorn over Megyn Kelly cuddling a basket of golden retriever puppies): Rock Center host Brian Williams sat down with Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, because why wouldn’t Rock Center host Brian Williams sit down with Marcel The Shell With Shoes On?

When Chelsea Clinton was announced as a contributor to NBC’s news magazine show Rock Center with Brian Williams, there was a mixture of guffawing and curiosity among many media circles. Ms. Clinton is perhaps the least controversial of the Clinton trio, and her closely-guarded private life has always been something that people respected, compared to other famous political progeny eager to cash in on their family name. That has likely contributed to a sense of bewilderment that someone with next to no journalistic chops would get such a plum gig, simply because of her last name.

Host Brian Williams was joined by a typically fidgety (not to mention “shiny” and “pocket-sized”) Jimmy Fallon on Rock Center Tuesday. After listing Fallon’s many, many talents (singing, dancing, cat wrangling, etc.), Williams asked the late night host about the backlash he and his band received for playing Fishbone’s “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” to introduce Michele [...]

When Brian Williams reacted, handsomely and Brian Williamsly, to last night’s fire alarm during his broadcast, the first thing you should have thought was, “I wonder what The Daily Show is going to say about this, and how they’ll manage to incorporate an alpaca into this story.”

Tonight’s broadcast of NBC Nightly News began on a high note– literally, the high-pitched sound of a fire alarm. The studio from which Brian Williams was broadcasting appeared to have scheduled a test of the fire alarm system to start just as the news report began, interrupting Williams as he tried to report on the news of American Airlines’ dire economic situation.

In addition to accused child rapist Jerry Sandusky, Bob Costas also interviewed Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola on Monday night’s Rock Center, and minutes later, Amendola’s defense strategy to muddy the waters began to work. A Reuters report on the interview falsely claimed “Boy in 2002 incident denies abuse: Sandusky lawyer,” and that Amendola told Costas “the boy at the center of a 2002 incident detailed in the grand jury’s report had been identified and said it never happened.”

On Monday night’s Rock Center, Brian Williams‘ new weekly news magazine, Bob Costas conducted a tough telephone interview with accused child rapist Jerry Sandusky, the focal point of a cover-up that has resulted in the firing of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. While Sandusky maintained his innocence, the interview served up a number of clues to help the audience judge Sandusky’s credibility, and Sandusky’a attorney provided some insight into his defense.

Legendary newsman Brian Williams recently launched his new primetime news program Rock Center with Brian Williams on NBC. The debut of the broadcast that launched 10/31 had something for everyone: from serious discussions about the intersection of media and politics to a light-hearted conversation about “trick-or-treating” with Jon Stewart. In the premiere, Williams showcased how comfortable he is discussing both serious issues and pop culture.

NBC News anchor Brian Williams premiered his new show Rock Center last night, and judging by the very early word-of-mouth, NBC executives should be very pleased. Williams is a whip-smart and affable television host, who is equally adept at covering both low-brow and high-minded topics. Take, for example, his interview with his debut guest, Daily Show host Jon Stewart. The two discussed New York City trick-or-treating and the dawning era of protests in an equally entertaining and enlightening way.

The show will feature Harry Smith, Kate Snow, Meredith Vieria, Richard Engel,Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, none of whom make it into this first promo, perhaps because host Brian Williams is supposed to be the real draw. From his seat on the NBC Nightly News set, he shows off his new digs and jokes that, “my life will basically take place in this room.”

NBC News prime time news show Rock Center with Brian Williams — the first new prime time broadcast by NBC News in nearly two decades — now has a launch date: Monday, October 31st at 10 pm ET. In addition to host Brian Williams, the program will also feature Harry Smith, Kate Snow, Meredith Vieira, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Richard Engel, Matt Lauer and Ann Curry.

Williams promises that the show will provide viewers with real news both on television and online.

Last night, Brian Williams appeared on Late Show and, considering he moderated a GOP debate, it’s unsurprising that politics found their way into a lot of the discussion. However, considering Williams is a network news anchor and all, he had to fight to stay as unbiased as possible which was tough as David Letterman did his best to egg him on. In fact, the whole conversation could be summed up as such; Letterman calls GOP candidate a “psych job” while Williams quickly assures him “That’s just the way all candidates are.”