For a little while on Tuesday evening “Election Night with Brian Williams” was the breaking political news equivalent of a meditation app. As CNN's John King and MSNBC's Steve Kornacki poked at states and districts on their respective touchscreen maps, Williams calmly emceed a polite conversation about the election from the center of a gigantic Los Angeles soundstage.

Behind him sprawled a digital backdrop which, from a straight-on camera angle, made him look like his desk was sitting in the middle of a highway dotted with American flags.

Two muscle cars were parked in the carpet of prairie brush over his shoulder. Elsewhere a long table populated with party strategists, consultants and media figures such as Puck founding partner Baratunde Thurston and “The View” alumnus Abby Huntsman debated the merits of red and blue mirages, in front of a classic red barn.

In another section of the set – which, again, looks like the inside of a warehouse – more experts chilled out quietly on couches that looked like they were procured from another Amazon warehouse. Somewhere else in the room Meta public affairs executive Erin McPike circled states and finger-painted numbers on a TV touchscreen that looked like something you’d find in any corporate meeting room.

Related

When you don’t have a Decision Desk breaking your flow, as Williams assured his audience at the top of the streaming broadcast, you don’t have to worry about such things. The ragtag crew at “Election Night” was keeping an eye on everything for us – meaning, Williams received updates from other networks’ decision desks on his phone.

“Election Night” returned the longtime NBC and MSNBC anchor to the desk for a marathon night of gabbing about politics. Politely. So what if it looked slightly better produced than a local TV station’s public affairs program? It is merely an experiment in something passing for nonpartisan coverage, possibly helping Amazon to figure out how to get a foothold in the live, non-sports streaming events space where Disney and Netflix have always made inroads.

Williams opened the night with a voiceover narration of a........

© Salon