OK, this isn't exactly "Who Shot JR," but it does have people guessing.
NBC Nightly News will have a new announcer starting tonight (longtime announcer Howard Reig retired in 2005), and they're trying to make it a surprise. The only clues from the network is that it's a name we all know, and this person had "an extensive, award-winning theatrical career for nearly forty years." Some of the guesses from fans include James Earl Jones, Patrick Stewart, James Lipton, Morgan Freeman, and ... Tom Brokaw? Yes, he was great in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Some of those guesses are quite good. I severely doubt it's going to be Katie Couric, but if it is, that will be the single greatest thing to ever happen on television. I can picture James Earl Jones doing it. After all he did it for CNN for many years. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's going to be Gilbert Gottfried.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-17-2007 @ 1:20PM
Jimmy said...
I would throw Martin Sheen's and Donald Sutherland's names into the pot.
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12-17-2007 @ 4:57PM
Bill said...
I heard that Martin Sheen rarely does voiceover work, and that whenever you hear his voice in commercials it's actually his brother Joe Estevez.
12-17-2007 @ 1:27PM
Oreo said...
The first name I thought of was James Earl Jones.
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12-17-2007 @ 2:25PM
Dan said...
This is what the strike has reduced us to? Sigh...
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12-17-2007 @ 2:31PM
SHANNON said...
We're voting for John Cleese. How awesom would that be?!
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12-17-2007 @ 3:21PM
bamabunny said...
"And now for something completely different...the news with Brian Williams?"
I can see it...
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12-17-2007 @ 3:24PM
Tele-Toby said...
I'm going to go with Christopher Plummer. He's got the award-winning theatrical background, he's got the vocal chops to deliver the gravitas of the phrase, and he once played Mike Wallace so it's a fun way to stick it to CBS.....
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12-17-2007 @ 4:08PM
jaerisk said...
I think it's the asian lady who takes face shots between news stories.
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12-17-2007 @ 6:47PM
Edward said...
I think it was Richard Engel. I thought when he said it was a familiar voice, it was going to be Brokaw, but it is one of the British reporters of NBC.
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12-17-2007 @ 6:52PM
Justin McGuirk said...
Sounded like Mathew Broderick to me.
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12-17-2007 @ 6:55PM
OneDamnGoal said...
It's Richard Dreyfuss. I remember Brian Williams gave a hint that it was an Oscar winner
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12-17-2007 @ 6:59PM
Edward said...
MICHAEL DOUGLAS
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12-17-2007 @ 7:00PM
Brent McKee said...
Personally I like the voice CBS uses better - Walter Cronkite.
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12-17-2007 @ 8:17PM
Bob Sassone said...
Yeah, it's Michael Douglas, confirmed by Huff Po:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/17/nbc-nightly-news-new-ann_n_77203.html
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12-17-2007 @ 10:34PM
Edward said...
Brian Williams also announced it at the end of the broadcast.
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12-18-2007 @ 12:22AM
someaudioguy said...
I thought it was an interesting choice, but I will miss Howard Reig...
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1-18-2008 @ 8:55PM
Connie Terwilliger said...
A lot of people wondered why a celebrity was selected - including a whole bunch of working voiceover talent.
For fun - members of the virtual voiceover community jumped at the chance to toss their "reads" into a completely unofficial audition process sponsored by Peter K. O'Connell. http://audioconnell.com/blog/?p=304
I was the only female voice in the top 3 vote getters. It was quite fun actually, to hear more than 60 different reads on the open (including the music bed). The hard part was selecting the three you liked the best!
Anyway, I'm stumping for a female to intro the National News - it's about time don't you think!?
Connie Terwilliger
http://www.voiceover-talent.com
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