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.”

NBC News anchor Brian Williams appeared on Morning Joe today to discuss the conversation du jour: the the events of 9/11, 2001, and specifically how we reflected on that tragedy that occurred a decade ago. Williams’ appearance came after a rather heated discussion over the foreign policy decisions made by the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9/11, and so the NBC News anchor was focused primarily on the bipartisan approach by Presidents Bush and Obama yesterday.

Reacting to last night’s Republican debate on MSNBC, Rush Limbaugh went after moderator Brian Williams for his question to Rick Perry about executions in Texas and then launched into an attack on NBC’s partisan bias.

Judging by the reaction on Twitter last night, one of the more interesting moments of last night’s GOP debate came when moderator Brian Williams asked Governor Rick Perry about the death penalty in his state of Texas. Williams note Perry that his state “has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times,” which drew sudden applause from the audience attending the GOP debate held at the Reagan library last night.

In a reprise of his dressing-down of Fox News’ Chris Wallace at last month’s Republican Debate, polling blip Newt Gingrich scolded Politico’s John Harris Wednesday night over his choice of questions at the NBC/Politico debate. Asked to weigh in on the “genuine philosphical difference” between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney over the individual health care mandate, Gingrich responded by (I’m not kidding) scolding Harris for “trying to get Republicans to fight with each other.”

It is rare that a story so complex, tedious, and time-consuming as the current potential debt default Congress is fighting up takes up all the breathing room in the news cycle, and it has definitely taken a toll on the American people’s faith in government, if not on their attention span. Luckily, Jimmy Fallon and Brian Williams have put together a recap in what is possibly the only medium through which the story is palatable: the classic Slow Jam.

Back in the day, Michael Rosenblum toiled as a producer at CBS News, before leaving the network and making a name for himself as a pioneer in transforming news operations. He helped launch Current TV and New York’s local NY1, and has trained journalists to shoot their own video at The New York Times, the BBC, and networks in Germany, Holland and elsewhere. But he wonders why the recently-revamped CBS Evening News still looks so, you know, unchanged. Comparing the newscast now anchored by Scott Pelley, which included a freshened up set and the return of a world map made famous as part of the set used by CBS legend Walter Cronkite, Rosenblum argues on his blog today that Pelley’s newscast looks nearly identical to the newscast put on by NBC’s John Cameron Swayze–in 1949. “Does it look pretty much the same after 62 years? Isn’t this astonishing? Isn’t this astonishing for a medium that supposedly is on the cutting edge of technology?”

Harry Smith, who was replaced in January as co-host of CBS’ Early Show in the struggling morning show’s most recent makeover, will leave the network and join NBC News, where he will be a part of the upcoming primetime news hour hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, set to debut this fall.

You know how it is, you get all caught up covering the president, you can’t take time to check in with Mom. And, well, she worries. But good thing for NBC News deputy Washington bureau chief Ken Strickland, he’s got a buddy named Brian Williams who’s got his back. And Mom’s, of course. After President Obama’s live news conference Wednesday morning, Williams was anchoring coverage on MSNBC (NBC was airing Wimbledon) and in a chat with Strickland, his cell phone rang. Williams, ever the smooth operator, was kind enough to ask Strickland if he needed to take the call and they could get back to talking about the debt ceiling later. But Strickland said no, he was going to let it go to voicemail, adding “it may be my mother.”

Just when we thought the amorphous candidate pool for the 2012 election was finally starting to take shape, a dark horse has entered the race. No, it’s still not Chris Christie. It’s none other than NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams. Of course, this is probably all news to Williams himself, but a group of self-proclaimed “passionate” BriWi fans have started a campaign to have him seriously consider running for Commander in Chief.

You laugh but a bunch of you were seriously considering voting for a reality show star.

NBC News doesn’t have a start date or a name for its new prime-time news show to be led by Nightly News Brian Williams, but it does have an executive producer, as of today. Rome Hartman, who helped create the BBC’s American flagship newscast, BBC World News America, has signed on with NBC in an announcement from the network today. ”

On Wednesday night’s The Last Word, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell delivered a spot-on critique of the way President Obama‘s remarks about Israel have been handled by the news media, and others. The false charge that the President has “called for Israel to return to the 1967 borders” has come tripping off of many a tongue, including O’Donnell’s NBC News colleague Brian Williams, barely a day earlier.

Odds are, you saw the picture: shot from an aircraft window, a passenger, Stefanie Gordon, caught a perfect, brilliantly unique perspective of the liftoff of the space shuttle Endeavour on its final mission. In the picture, the shuttle’s contrail rising from a deck of clouds as the shuttle climbed toward space. Posted to the web, the photo went viral, and ended up on TV, including NBC Nightly News, whose anchor Brian Williams wrote about the picture–and its photographer–in his pre-show blog, The Daily Nightly.

NBC News confirmed Sunday a prime time newsmagazine is in active development for Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, with plans to add the show to the network’s fall lineup “as soon as it’s ready.” The Hollywood Reporter quotes NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt saying the show will be designed to showcase the wide range of BriWi talents. “It’s about being relevant and engaging and also entertaining, which is what Brian uniquely does,” Greenblatt told reporters during a conference on Sunday. “It’s his sensibility, personality and skill that can inform this.”

NBC News is reportedly developing a new, prime time news magazine for Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, according to The Wall Street Journal. WSJ‘s Jessica Vascellaro says the show is aimed at turning around the network’s slumping ratings in prime, and providing a high-profile vehicle for Williams and other NBC talent, including, potentially, soon-to-depart TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira.

The format of the show has not been finalized, but could debut as soon as the fall, Vascellaro reports, citing “two people familiar with the matter.”

CIA director Leon Panetta told NBC’s Brian Williams Tuesday that a photo proving the death of Osama bin Laden “would be presented to the public,” but the White House quickly pulled back, saying no decision has yet been made. In the interview, Panetta said “the bottom line is that, you know, we got bin Laden and I think we have to reveal to the rest of the world the fact that we were able to get him and kill him,” Panetta said on NBC Nightly News.

Panetta also said from the start, the U.S. team’s orders were to kill bin Laden:

Monday night’s Late Show featured plenty of bin Laden-related material, including a monologue that began with David Letterman asking his audience how they enjoyed “the Osama bin Laden season finale,” and included a Top Ten list of bin Laden’s last words.

The show had NBC’s Brian Williams as a guest, and Letterman wisely decided the two should pose for a photo holding a copy of Monday’s New York Post, saying “it’ll be in the Post tomorrow.”

In this week’s New York magazine, John Swansbourg takes an entertaining look at the deft comic stylings of NBC News Anchor Brian Williams and how he has developed a legitimate side career in comedy. As one who was an early chronicler of same (see: SNL maiden voyage, Colbert WristStrong stunt, Jon Stewart spar-fests, earnestly following up on a 2005 quip about Bea Arthur). I appreciated seeing how Swansbourg traced his gestation from anchor-who-hosts-lots-of-dinners to legit OMG-is-this-a-residuals-check? funnyman. And it’s nice to see BriWi no longer apologizing for cracking a few jokes outside the 6:30 – 7pm timeslot. Good times all around.