TVSquad

It's over. It's finally over. The talking points, the smears, the empty promises... it's been a fun two-year ride, but it was definitely time for it all to end (at least until December, 2010... heh...). And, just like the other networks, NBC didn't have much of anywhere to go after they called the election for Obama at 11 PM ET.

NBC decided to stick with the tried and true this year -- an anchor, the old sage analyst, and a few other people to help along the way. No real outrageous commentary, no poop-eating grins from any of the anchors (Keith Olbermann stayed on MSNBC) or anything that would be construed as "interesting" or "entertaining."

The big take-away I got from NBC's coverage is that Brian Williams really needs to loosen up a bit in these situations. Anyone who's seen him on The Daily Show, SNL or any number of late-night talk shows knows how funny he can be; yes, he needs to bring the proper anchor gravitas to the coverage, the almost seven hours he was in the studio should have given him the room he needed to be funny and serious. I mean, if Tom Brokaw is tearing off more funny lines than Brian Williams, something's very, very wrong.

As much as I made fun of the virtual studio, it was pretty neat (or peachy keen, as the kids say). But all that technology (and thanks to reader rkolsen, I found out that Chuck Todd was using a Wacom touch screen, not his usual MS-Surface podium last night) was designed for a contest that goes late into the night. With Ohio going to Obama in the 9:00 hour and everything over by 11, it just seemed like all of that flash was underutilized. Oh, I'm sure Todd used the Wacom for some Senate races, but by then, most of the audience was asleep.

Oh, speaking of being asleep, I kind of half heard Tom Brokaw give a very emotional speech about his future at about 1:45 in the morning. If anyone wants to give me the gist of that speech, please do so in the comments. Thanks.