When NBC announced The Playboy Club’s cancellation a few weeks ago, the network also announced the show would be replaced with Brian Williams’ news program Rock Center. Probably a good call, since the only thing that’s really salacious about Williams is his grin. That’s nothing for the Parents Television Council to complain about, though, which is probably a relief for NBC.
With The Playboy Club nearly forgotten and Rock Center set to premiere at the end of the month, NBC is ready to release some information on the news show’s format. Rock Center will be the first newsmagazine program created in recent history, with plans to cover news and human-interest topics. Hopefully, with the latter there will be more of a balance than the average Katie Couric broadcast. Along with Williams, Kate Snow and Harry Smith will get top billing.
Who cares about the format and the people involved? Let’s talk about the decorating. THR is describing the set as a “posh man cave.” Like late late night talk shows, there will be a skyline view as a backdrop – in this case, of Manhattan. There will be multiple “stations” to report news from. There will even be a couch, hopefully leather, as part of one station; I’m guessing for the really heartwarming guests.
In case anyone was hoping for some of the persona Williams has thrown out as a guest star on 30 Rock, NBC has been pretty quick to shut that hope down. According to executive producer Rome Hartman:
"Brian has a very good wit and a sense of humor. But this is not a comedy show."
You can tell it will be serious news because he isn’t smiling in any of the promo shots. I still hope he’ll get a sly comment in every now and again. I guess we’ll have to wait and see when Rock Center premieres on October 31 at 10 p.m. ET.
