Brian Williams is back on the news beat.
The former NBC News and MSNBC anchor is hosting Election Night Live, Prime Video‘s first crack at live coverage of a breaking-news event. Originating from Amazon’s Culver City studio, the multi-hour, ad-supported special kicked off at 2 p.m. PT — watch the cold open above and a trailer for the special below.
Recalling his stint as host of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, Williams remains the jocular, sorta folksy wordsmith as he riffed about the sheer size of the studio — noting that people there are “getting their steps in — and revived catchphrases including how coverage will continue “on the other side” of a commercial break. At one point, he name-checked his former colleague, MSNBC’s Map Maven Steve Kornacki.
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The show also includes a murderer’s row of TV pundits including James Carville, Abby Huntsman, Baratunde Thurston, Douglas Brinkley, Mike Murphy and others. Early guests included Scott Galloway and former Utah Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to Russia and China Jon Huntsman Jr. The latter was interviewed remotely by his daughter, Abby, who cracked that she hopes she got his name right.
There were some glitches along the way, included paused video and dropped audio, but mostly it has been smooth so far. One note is that it’s not possible to review, pause or fast-forward the stream.
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