NBC Nightly News: First Broadcast Review

Good evening, everyone.

Two years ago, I reviewed the first edition of ABC's World News Tonight, and it was quite a change of pace from my usual TV show reviews. It wasn't a scripted weekly comedy or cartoon, but a daily national news program spotlighting the hot stories from the country and the world every evening anchored by three men from three different locations. Such a show to discuss briefly and such a thrill doing so. So I'm doing it again, this time with another one that debut in the 70s (this one at the start of it) on the other BC network:

Nightly News on NBC, as today marks fifty years to the day the program debuted.

But first, some TL;DRing.

For years, NBC was either the king or second banana in terms of entertainment or news history -- whether by program creation or ratings. And in the case of a weeknight national news program, it was both. On February 14, 1949, the network debuted the Camel News Caravan. Anchored by John Cameron Swayze, the 15-minute program was its first news program to use news-division reports rather than newsreels, and later the first news program to air in color, with Swayze appearing on-camera rather than in voice-over form. The program was a success with viewers (including then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower) over Douglas Edwards with the News on CBS and stayed that was until its final edition on October 26, 1956. Many viewers were not pleased (and it wasn't liked by Ike).

That all changed on October 29, 1956, when Swayze left the program, and NBC brought in two guys in two cities - Chet Huntley in NYC and David Brinkley in DC - for a brand new news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report. 

While the pairing and format wasn't a smash with viewers at first, the duo's chemistry (Chet's charisma and beautiful bravado voice and David's dry yet refreshing wit) would strengthen as the years pass and viewers noticed and loved it; not only did they came back, but new ones joined and the show would even (almost) reach CBS numbers -- making for a come-from-behind success story in national TV news. This iconic partnership would last for nearly 14 years -- more ad revenue than any other show and the first news program airing in color (both in 1965). However, slips in ratings, viewers defecting to Walter Cronkite on/and CBS, and an AFTRA union strike -- all in 1967 -- were major causes for what turned out as the end of The Two Leys; the latter caused what viewers thought was a split in the famed duo. Brinkley stayed on the picket line, while Huntley crossed -- saying he was a newsman, not a performer. (Actually, the two rarely even hung out together during their tenure, let alone shared a studio. Apparently, many viewers kept forgetting the words "New York" and Washington" in the teasers. And that they're not the same place. Such stupidity.)

The Huntley-Brinkley Report aired its final edition on July 31, 1970. Chet retired from the program and NBC News soon after. Meanwhile, David stayed on for a new venture on the Peacock network (I swear this is the last time here) that will - in its own ways - make nation TV news history (even to this very day).

full broadcast presented in B&W with commercials.

special thanks to btm0815ma

NBC Nightly News debuted on August 3, 1970, with David Brinkley in Washington and John Chancellor and Frank McGee from division HQ in New York, with two usually anchoring every night, one occasionally and three rarely.

Just as straightforward in presentation and format as its predecessor - and even more so in name, Nightly News was exactly that: the biggest news stories of the day presented to you in a half hour. This version is fascinating in its format with three anchors instead of one or even two. Even if the guys rotate, it still feels overwhelming and overflowing with personalities on-screen.

Stories featured on night one:

- Cambodian refugee situation in Vietnam

-- David Bruce peace talks in Paris

- Crisis in Middle East (Israel, Egypt, etc.)

- Nixon criticizes news media for glamorizing criminals i.e. Charles Manson

(by Herb Kaplow in Denver and Don Oliver in Los Angeles)

- OH investigation after Kent State murders (by Fred Debrine)

-- WS Senator Reveals New Engine Combustion Bill

- Tokyo Bans Traffic from Four Downtown Areas (by John Rich)

-- PA Rep Reveals Soft-Drink & Beer Can Ban Bill

(this was followed by a hilarious Freudian slip from David referring to John as "Chet" - retiree on a horse in the West Coast. An irritated Chancellor replied "No, It's Not!" If he had the talent of ad-libbing, he would've done better there. And as David throws to John again later, you know the "thank you" meant "now you got my name right; let's keep it that way for the next 10+ years".)

- FDA: Bug Strip Unsafe for Humans

- Kennedys visit JFK Aircraft Carrier (by Liz Trotta)

- Maud, KY residents come together for bridge repair

(This featured no soundbites and an awkward end to the program)

These stories represent a depressing and borderline bleak start to the 1970s in the U.S. and the world, with murder, violence, international conflict, questionable action by world powers, etc. etc. (and yet some people in YouTube comment sections still wish they were back in that time - cause it's much easier to be a kid then - with the playing outside and the cartoons and the bell bottoms and shit (/s)). That's not to say things are better these days (some better some even worse), but come on. While I do have fantasies lately about living in the 1970s just to watch TV and film and go places as they were made new then, but thanks to some obscure channels on YouTube, I don't have to fantasize anymore. And this video struck me with it. The 70s aren't as heavenly or amazing as people make it out to be. And if they say "no, it is", their heads are so far up their own asses that they can briefly taste the faint residue of the drugs they possibly ingested or injected during that decade. These people aren't as annoying as those people who whine about news and journalism being better then than now (they have a point, but still), but they're up there.

Oh yeah and the final story was light and sweet (even with the deafening silence).

Now to my thoughts on the commercials:

- Post - Westerns and down-home family shows were still the rage at the turn of the decade, and this corny ad for Grape Nuts (starring Anne Stevens) is just that. Despite the light sappiness, it helps sell the product as one that keeps you healthy and can-do with every bowl -- one toilet cleanse at a time.

- Pall Mall - So jarring that cigarettes had commercials ever - let alone in the 20th century, despite the fact that (even today) people don't need reminders to buy them like their lives depended on them (...despite the obvious otherwise). The damn thing looks cheaply produced with the chroma-keyed-on "graphics" looking laughable (even for the time) and the "pre-sex scene in a softcore porn" music adds extra cringe (but sounds nice and breezy).

- White Rain Hair Spray - What's this? A woman working a typewriter and using a product you'd now find at Dollar Tree? How... timely. Anyway, it's odd to see an ad for female haircare products during a male-hosted news program. Although to be fair, it's even odder to see ads for boner and arthritis pills today during these shows fronted by hosts who look like they need some at their age... I assume (except maybe David Muir and Tom Llamas, who probably don't... or so I again assume...). Anywho, this ad is effective, has light breezy music and uses the sounds of the typewriter to perfectly timed effect. A very-well made ad from a company who's demo is most likely to be chased around and screwed around by their father-aged bosses when they're not typing a readable and lightly-white-out'ed paper with skills straight out of high school.

Speaking of (and against) the other sex...

- Right Guard Antiperspirant - Oh look! A couple using the same deodorant? In this lifetime?? Either the guy loves the woman that much to compromise or she has his balls in her purse. Meh, nothing much to say here other than using too much of the spray stings the crap outta you, and that double side medicine cabinet reminds me of the same thing in an episode of Rocket Power and that one MyPillow ad (one is shitty, outdated and disgusting with horrible working conditions... and the other isn't MyPillow).

Speaking of shitty things that should not happen to the detriment of Earth...

- Glass Containers Manufacturers Institute, Inc.: "Make Love, Not Litter..."

Basically "Make Love, Not War" and the later Woodsy Owl's "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" if they... you know. It helps get it's point across in two ways: One) showing this asshole couple being way too lovey-dovey to throw away their trash in the right places (no matter how inconvenienced it is). and Two) the quote you just read and possibly laughed at. It would've drilled-- I mean, driven the point home more if the couple actually made love, but a better place for that is during the previews before "The Doctor's In... Me: 3... Way" than during a commercial break of Nightly News.

- Sta-Puf -- No, not Stay Puft. Nothing about marshmallows or demon-possessed mascots who terrorize New York City here. These ones are from a company that does laundry products. Not a lot from me other than "the whole sweet, popcorny feel makes my teeth rot".

- Alka Seltzer -- aka the Plop-Plop Fizz-Fizz stuff. Instead of that, we get this ad-within-an-ad deal where this actor says the most annoyingly stereotypical Italian line ever "Mamma mia! That's a spicy meatball!" the right way, but messes up a lot. Because he keeps eating spaghetti, he gets... something that can be cleared by it. It's a clever setup and payoff.

Now more TL;DR.

McGee left the program to go to Today in Chancellor solo'd NN from 8/09/1971 until Brinkley's return to anchoring on 6/7/76. David first anchored from NY then back to DC until 10/10/1979, when he went back to commentary. Brinkley left NBC News for ABC News as the first host of This Week. Chancellor stayed on Nightly News until 4/04/1982, when he moved to the role of editorial commentator until his 1993 retirement. Three days later on 4/05, former Today co-anchor Tom Brokaw succeeded as anchor, remaining in the position for 22 years - and through some of the most unforgettable and impactful events of the 20th and 21st centuries - until his own retirement on 12/01/2004. Taking his place was Brian Williams, who received praise for his reports during his 10+ year tenure, until he received controversy for lying about his placement on a certain Chinook helicopter during his reporting of the 2003 Iraq Invasion from being in one jet behind one being shot, to being in the shot jet. He apologized on 2/04/2015, then resigned from Nightly News and took a 6-month no-pay suspension from NBC News. After filling in during the interim, weekend anchor Lester Holt upgraded to main anchor on June 22, 2015, becoming the first African American solo anchor of a national news program (Max Robinson was the first black co-anchor on ABC's World News Tonight from '78 to his death in '83, while Gwen Ifill was the first black female co-anchor on the PBS NewsHour from 2013 until her death in 2016.), and is currently still main anchor and managing editor.

This program has had a fascinating history, and its beginnings were just as fascinating.

Thank you for joining me. I'm Andrew Pollard saying "Good luck... and good night, from Maroon Mondays."