NBC-TV’s anchorman Brian Williams, so did he see “Anchorman 2”?
“Not yet.”
So has he ever goofed on air?
“We all flub, trip, boot a word. Maybe one mistake per night. You can’t not stumble occasionally with an unfamiliar place or name. I try to write and edit everything myself before I go on air. I try to carefully pronounce every word.
“My life didn’t exactly begin as a network anchor. I’m from New Jersey. I was a busboy in Middletown. I sold Christmas trees from the back of a semi in Red Bank. My career move to station KOAM in Kansas lasted 13 months. But there I learned from the ground up. You had to learn to write your own material or you’re dead because there’s nobody else to write it.
“Came in handy reporting overseas. Under fire, you write everything. You have to know how, what to do. Next, DC. An off-the-air job typing the chyron [letters scrolling across the screen]. Then on air on Channel 5, Channel 10 in Philly, New York’s Channel 2 and to NBC 20 years ago as a national correspondent, filling in on the “Today” show, doing morning news. Never ever thought I’d be a 6 p.m. anchor.
“I’m bullish on news. Our audience is very healthy. Evening news is a self-generating common storm. There’s no shortage of opinions, but after undemanding news in smaller portions on a 50-inch screen, tiny cell or even with our robust digital operation, at a certain point people want their half-hour of knowing what’s solid.”
A little here and a little there
A loved singer’s turning a tad soft. Forgetting. Repeating. Unsure. Unsteady. Friends are covering. . . . Tuesday’s front page about the husband killed in a carjacking? A longtime New Jersey cop told me instantly: “That vehicle will be found in Newark. Newark is the USA’s carjacking capital.” He was correct. . . . In “Behind the Candelabra,” Michael Douglas plays an old Peggy King record for Matt Damon. Now 83, after 30 years, Peggy’s got a comeback shot Dec. 30 at 54 Below.
Around town
Brooke Shields sitting alone, sipping hot cider at Wilfie’s on West Fourth. Dylan was playing. She looked happy. . . . Seeing the new musical “Fun Home,” as the lights dimmed, Johnny Depp got whisked into his Public Theater seats. . . . Hot even off the Yanks, a street’s getting named for Mariano Rivera and a lady paid $8,000 for the ball he used to break the Major League saves record and on which he wrote “602 Salvados [“saves” in Spanish] 9/19/11.”
Razz you
Our Lou Lumenick gave Spike Jonze’s new “Her” starring Joaquin Phoenix a razzberry. Weeks back, both walked its red carpet talking only to one another, speaking to no one, ignoring the working press who’d waited in the cold for them for hours. Deliberately addressing no one, they made smarty remarks to one another when anyone tried approaching. They deserve Lumenick’s razzberry.
Can-do
To conquer NYC, never take no for an answer. Years back, opening Fresco, Marion Scotto needed to mortgage her family-owned home. The local bank refused, saying she didn’t know the restaurant business. She threatened to picket outside with a sign saying they won’t help her. They caved. Today Fresco is so crowded with names like Archie Manning, Fran Tarkenton, Katie Couric, you can hardly get a table.
Tuesday, lunch, a Midtown East Side junior finance executive calls Fresh Direct for broiled salmon, brown rice, beans. All works fine. Truck comes. Delivery comes. Also comes slightly offkilter paperwork. Listed is 25 jars Claussen kosher whole dill pickles — plus — 25 jars of 2.5-ounce KY jelly. Imagine the shock if that particular customer got salmon, rice and beans. One’s high protein. The other’s high whoknows. Question: What’s he/she/it doing with kosher pickles greased in lubricant? And if that’s a lunch order, just imagine the dinner menu.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.