NBC's coverage of the Friday night's opening ceremonies may not quite have taken the gold, but let's at least give it a silver.
The network's coverage had to be the next-best thing to being there. Salt Lake organizers should be thrilled that their show look like the greatest on Earth on Friday night.
And, after Jim McKay opened the telecast by speaking of our post-9/11 "loss of innocence," co-host Bob Costas struck the perfect note by saying that Salt Lake "will not convene a simple ceremony of innocence, but a ceremony of resonance."
The telecast scored points simply by showing so much of the opening ceremonies, with mercifully few interruptions for commercials (and inane interviews and features). Co-host Katie Couric apologized to viewers in the hour that preceded the 7 p.m. start of the ceremonies for the number of commercials, explaining that it was done to allow for more uninterrupted coverage later. (NBC even exceeded the 40 unbroken minutes she promised.)
About the only thing we seemed to miss was a few of the countries' athletes coming into the stadium and some transitional musical interludes.
While the first hour of coverage was heavy on features and interviews — the official ceremonies had yet to begin — NBC did a fine job featuring the flag ceremony, U.S. national anthem and a bit of the entertainment.
The greatest flaw was Couric's and Costas' inability to keep quiet. Not that what they had to say wasn't often interesting — they did a fine job of narrating the parade of nations, which would otherwise be pretty much just pictures of athletes walking and waving.
But narration was not necessary during the entertainment part of the program and sometimes drowned out the music and lyrics. Sure, it was funny when Costas said, "You know, Katie, it's never good when you're being pursued by giant icicles who are up to no good," but it was also inappropriate. The performance was trying to set a mood and he broke it.
Frankly, much of their narration was an insult to the audience's intelligence — sort of like a pointless laughtrack during a drama.
Still, it was a fine effort — perhaps NBC's best yet for an opening ceremonies.
NUMBER OF TIMES THE WORDS 'BID SCANDAL' WERE SPOKEN: Once
YIKES: Eighty-year-old McKay, on loan from ABC in a magnanimous move we rarely see in network television, was great in his taped bit — but struggled when chatting with Couric and Costas. Even he commented on his "stuttering." Here's hoping he's alright.
LOVE THAT DOG: Earlier this week, NBC replaced its lead hockey play-by-play man, Mike Emrick, because he wanted to stay home with his sick dog. Really.
Emrick stayed home with his 4-year-old terrier, Katie, and has been replaced by Kenny Albert, which should make the people protesting against the Olympic rodeo feel all warm and fuzzy.
TURNING ON MATT: During "The Today Show" on Friday morning, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer exited their indoor studio to mingle with the crowd. But when Lauer commented that, although it had started snowing, it "wasn't too cold," he was interrupted by the regular folks, who groaned their disapproval.
Gee, if you just came outside what a surprise that you're not too cold.
Minutes later, Lauer complained about all that snow blowing in his face. Maybe he can ask to just cover Summer Olympics from now on.
AL'S PALS: Weatherman Al Roker has been ably fulfilling his role as the clown prince of "Today," although a bit he did with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Thursday may be cause for concern.
Not that Roker leading the choir in "B-I-N-G-O" and having them do the wave wasn't genuinely funny. But that was Day 1 — what will he be doing by the time the Games are over?
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com
