It's surprising to me that NBC, which has thus far handled the issue of succession on "Meet The Press" with pitch-perfect deftness — would stumble so badly on yesterday's broadcast.
Yesterday's program was the first "back to normal" MTP since Tim Russert died just over two weeks ago, and up to this point NBC had done everything right: The sad and moving memorial program, last week's interim version helmed by Brian Williams, still very much Russert's show but for the moderator, the announcement that the interim moderator would be Tom Brokaw, stepping in until the election.
Brokaw had emerged as a warm and wry leader during the Russert coverage — the man who broke the news to the nation, the friend who hosted the memorial service, the wise elder who, over the campaign season, had become synonymous with 'just the facts' journalism. At Russert's memorial service he had joked about all the people gunning for that now-empty chair; it made perfect sense to fill it with the one guy who didn't want it. Plus, NBC knew a thing or two about transitioning smoothly from Brokaw to the next guy. It made perfect sense.
But on yesterday's broadcast, nothing else did. Kicking off the first "back to normal" program in...Wyoming? Against the majestic backdrop of mountains and verdant, untrammeled spaces? In a lodge, before a roaring fire, with mugs on a coffeetable? Where were the hot cocoa, mittens and footie pajamas? That was not the professional, agenda-setting atmosphere of the number-one Sunday morning political affairs show. Colorado governor Bill Ritter didn't even deem it necessary to wear a tie.
The other glaring problem: It was totally taped. Like it or not, part of the excitement and urgency of a program like "Meet The Press" — essentially a matching of wits between moderator and political quarry — is that it is unfolding live. Even if it broadcasts with a delay across markets, it is still live TV, with all the excitement that entails. Howie Kurtz jabbed Brokaw with that on "Reliable Sources": "Hey, Tom, the secret to success of this thing is you've got to work Sundays." Howie can only dream of MTP's ratings, but still, he's got a point. Even Bill O'Reilly knows to do it live.
NBC should have anticipated this — they're the pros. A field trip to Wyoming is great if your show is humming along smoothly, not if you're desperate to reassure your number-one audience that your program is going to stay every bit as sharp. For a three-segment show, the chat with the Western governors could easily have been a thoughtful middle moment, sandwiched between two live on-set pieces, across a desk, with the in-the-moment reaction of live TV.
Instead, it gave critics the opportunity to make snap judgments about what the broadcast would become. Per Alessandra Stanley in the NYT:
"The majestic snow-capped Jackson Hole setting didn't provide for a very exciting political debate, but the changes did suggest just how difficult it will be for NBC to revamp a Sunday news program that was so shaped by the personality and passions of its longtime host."
That is exactly the message NBC does not want out there. Now Stanley's saying they're trying to "revamp" the show — the last thing they are seeking to do, and the last message they want to send to viewers, who always wondered what that young buck Stephanopoulos had to say, anyway. Or who always liked that second-place Bob Schieffer. That message is, "Meet The Press" was all Tim, and with him gone the rest is an empty shell. It's the wrong message for a show that has a winning template and a top-notch team that's been refining it for years, but thanks to poor planning, it's what they're left with. For two weeks until the next show.
Instead of capitalizing on the enormous goodwill following Russert's death — after two weeks of rock-solid ratings, and all eyes on what the show becomes, when pretty much any guest would have dropped everything to pitch in/be part of it — they go and broadcast a snoozer of an show because it happens to work with Brokaw's Montana-based schedule. Whether or not that is true, it's how it looks.
And boy, does that dilute the brand. Over and over during the past two weeks, journos and pols alike testified to Russert's bulldog style, his zest for the game, his love of the challenge, his delight in the meat of the moment. MTP always promised its audience that they'd get to the heart of the action; instead, they got a fireside chat with two agreeable fellows led by a very pleasant man. It was boring* — and sent a dangerous signal that they'll all be this bland. Even Chuck Todd, heroin for the politics junkie, seemed slightly ridiculous set against the great outdoors, like a businessman on a company retreat who came dressed wrong for a hike. The whole thing just felt off.
"Meet The Press" should have the excitement of live TV, and the stakes-raising formality of sitting across a desk, not on overstuffed chairs by a roaring fire like a winter Olympics interim chat with Bob Costas. NBC missed a big opportunity to carry MTP forward, to consolidate the audience and reaffirm the brand, to carry on the tradition. In two weeks, they'll have an uphill climb to re-establish all that. Let's hope that this time, they'll remember that if it's Sunday, it's supposed to matter.
*It's notable that the most interesting moment in the broadcast came from Russert himself, posthumously via Schwarzenegger's claim that Russert had promised to help him change the Constitution so he could become president. We're going to assume that Russert was kidding there.