Brian Williams: Flat Rock

Update: Rock Center loses 400K viewers from Halloween premiere. TV by the Numbers

Another awkward, ass-kissing Rock Center two-segment interview from the annoyingly nasal, obsequious, Vanity Fair International Best-Dressed 2011 Hall of Famer Brian Williams.

Tina:  "It's certainly not anyone here.  Not anyone at the beautiful NBC."

Brian Williams to "the preeminent woman in American comedy" Tina Fey: "For the record, your forearms are nothing like they are -- you have very feminine, normal forearms." 

Tina Fey snaps: "As far as you know." 

Tina on how 30 Rock got it's name:  "I wanted to call the show The Peacock because I thought that would be kind of funny . .  but we were told it was a very serious, and, uh, you know, important symbol of a big, strong important network and we could not use it. . . . We're filming season six right now and we come back on the air, uh, in January -- if you know, everything is still here."

Brian: "Yeah, it will be.  I promise."

But maybe not your vehicle Rock Center . . .

Williams wraps the interview by advising Tina:  "You did very well, I think."  

Again, Rock Center digs up stories meant to leave viewers with the Mike Wallace 60 Minutes "Holy shit!" reax. But Rock Center recycles old shockeroos well beyond the holy shit statute of limitations.  Last Monday's Brian Williams Rock Center debut "kicker" live interview with Jon Stewart was as painful to watch as a colonoscopy without anesthesia.  The Williams Fey interview was more like a tooth extraction sans numbing agents.

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Related: Mediaite's "sponsored" Rock Center infomercial disguised as an actual blog post.

EW media critic Ken Tucker is suffering "whiplash" after two Rock Center shows packed with "wildly diverse stories." 

NBC's prime-time woes may be spreading David Bauder AP