Brian Williams

Brian Williams will be moonlighting Mondays this fall, but at least he won't have a long commute to his second job. Just a few steps, in fact. On Monday, NBC will premiere the live newsmagazine "Rock Center With Brian Williams," with the anchor of the No. 1-rated "NBC Nightly News" serving as host. Viewers might find the setting familiar: Both programs will originate from different corners of the same space, Studio 3B in the network's Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York. Long-struggling NBC is angling to make "Rock Center" the first successful launch of a prime-time broadcast newsmagazine in 20 years.

David Milch and HBO have renewed their commitment, with Milch signing a multiyear deal with the pay-cable channel that would include culling the works of William Faulkner. Milch's Redboard Productions will produce TV series and original movies based on books by the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner under an agreement made with the iconic American writer's literary estate. The deal comprises all of the 19 novels and 125 short stories in the estate, as well as other works (with the exception of those currently under contract with other parties)

Brian Williams, the Orlando Magic center-forward who had not played since Nov. 12 because of clinical depression, was activated Sunday. Before being placed on the injured list Nov. 25, Williams, a second-year NBA player who was a first-round draft choice after playing in high school at Santa Monica St. Monica and collegiately at Maryland and Arizona, played in four games, averaging 1.3 points and 2.5 rebounds.

Rock Center With Brian Williams infobox 10/31/11 'Rock Center With Brian Williams' Where: NBC When: 10 p.m. Monday Not rated

When the writers of "30 Rock" sent Brian Williams lines earlier this fall for his latest cameo, the NBC News anchor had a couple of suggestions. A scene in which he auditioned to be on the show's fictional comedy sketch series was "too blue" for his taste. In another, in which he approached Tina Fey's Liz Lemon about trying out for the program, Williams adopted an alter ego that paid homage to his late uncle Tony Mortarulo. "I'm not saying I want to audition, but Nicky Mortarulo from Scotch Plains, N.J., might be interested," Williams said with a broad grin and his best Jersey inflection.

Brian Williams, a player with the Orlando Magic, collapsed Tuesday night while playing for the NBA Pros in a Southern California Summer Pro Basketball League at Redondo Union High. Williams, who played high school ball at Crenshaw and played collegiately at Arizona and Maryland, was taken to South Bay Medical Center and Hospital in Redondo Beach for tests. "Brian is fine and that is the only statement we're making," Williams' mother Patricia said at the hospital.

Brian Williams of the Orlando Magic was given neurological and cardiographic examinations after collapsing during a summer league basketball game in Redondo Beach, a Florida cardiologist said Thursday. Williams, a former standout at St. Monica High School in Santa Monica, is expected to be released today from South Bay Hospital of Redondo Beach, according to Curtis Weaver of the Florida Heart Group and a Magic team physician.

NBC promised it would send its top anchor-in-waiting, Brian Williams, out on the road for reporting experience. His first such trip will be a long one. Williams is traveling to New Delhi for a series of reports on the tensions between India and Pakistan to air on NBC's "Nightly News" starting today. The network announced last week that Williams, anchor of a nightly cablecast shown on both MSNBC and CNBC, would replace Tom Brokaw as "Nightly News" anchor in November 2004.

The University of Maryland has asked the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. to investigate the possibility that another school tampered with Brian Williams before the 6-foot 10-inch center from St. Monica High School in Santa Monica was released to transfer. Williams, who started 29 games and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference freshman team, has mentioned that he would like to return to the West Coast and said last week that he will be taking summer classes at UCLA.

Brian Williams of the Orlando Magic was released from South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach on Friday after two days of neurological and cardiographic examinations. Williams, a former standout at St. Monica High in Santa Monica, will remain in the Los Angeles area until doctors are satisfied with his physical condition, the Magic said in a statement.

Brian Williams will be moonlighting Mondays this fall, but at least he won't have a long commute to his second job. Just a few steps, in fact. On Monday, NBC will premiere the live newsmagazine "Rock Center With Brian Williams," with the anchor of the No. 1-rated "NBC Nightly News" serving as host. Viewers might find the setting familiar: Both programs will originate from different corners of the same space, Studio 3B in the network's Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York. Long-struggling NBC is angling to make "Rock Center" the first successful launch of a prime-time broadcast newsmagazine in 20 years.

NBC News has given a muscular-sounding name to its new prime-time newsmagazine: "Rock Center With Brian Williams. " Williams, anchor of "NBC Nightly News," will host the hour-long, as-yet-unscheduled program, with reports from Harry Smith, Kate Snow and other network correspondents. The name, though, may take some getting used to, which Williams wryly noted in the news release Monday: "Hopefully our journalism will speak louder than any name. If it doesn't, perhaps people will tune in to 'Rock Center' hoping to see Tina Fey. " —Scott Collins Bob Seger albums go digital Just put those old records back on the shelf: Bob Seger is headed to iTunes.

Heading into a game against No. 1 Kansas on Sunday, Tennessee knows it will need every ounce of talent from every player it has left. The Volunteers are down to just six scholarship players after four were suspended indefinitely, charged with gun possession following a traffic stop just hours after the team defeated Memphis on New Year's Eve. Officers reportedly smelled marijuana and saw an open container of alcohol in the car. Senior forward...

When the writers of "30 Rock" sent Brian Williams lines earlier this fall for his latest cameo, the NBC News anchor had a couple of suggestions. A scene in which he auditioned to be on the show's fictional comedy sketch series was "too blue" for his taste. In another, in which he approached Tina Fey's Liz Lemon about trying out for the program, Williams adopted an alter ego that paid homage to his late uncle Tony Mortarulo. "I'm not saying I want to audition, but Nicky Mortarulo from Scotch Plains, N.J., might be interested," Williams said with a broad grin and his best Jersey inflection.

Between the drumbeat of bad economic stories, two wars and a winter that won't quit, Brian Williams knows he's been anchoring a depressing "NBC Nightly News" for a depressed audience. Still, even he was shocked at the thousands of responses he has received in less than two days after asking viewers to suggest some good news to report. "I'm looking at a stack of printed e-mails," Williams said Friday. "We have more stories than we could humanly cover if we combined all three network newscasts.

Each night after watching Brian Williams deliver the "NBC Nightly News," an English teacher in Ohio is moved to go to her computer and write -- about what Williams wore around his neck. The Brian Williams Tie Report Archive isn't the weirdest thing you'll find online, but it's up there. It's a snarky, occasionally appreciative and flat-out funny read that will have you looking at Williams as never before.

Orlando Magic forward Brian Williams, sidelined because of clinical depression, said he attempted suicide last month by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. Williams said he didn't know how many pills he took but that he didn't need hospital treatment. "The pills weren't strong enough" to cause death, Williams told the Orlando Sentinel. "But I was pretty drugged up for the next day or so."

There are a couple of chances that free agent center Brian Williams will stay in Los Angeles--with the Clippers, his team last year, or Lakers. . . . If the Lakers don't sign Shaquille O'Neal, they will need a center to replace Vlade Divac. . . . "There are a lot of free agents out there," said Jerry West, who conceivably could sign high-priced Alonzo Mourning or Dikembe Mutombo or lower-priced Jim McIlvane. . . . Ed Olczyk was a solid free-agent signing by the Kings.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was back home in Bel-Air on Tuesday after a two-day hospital stay prompted by a fall, a family spokeswoman said. She took a spill at home Sunday morning and was taken to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica. The 86-year-old Reagan did not break any bones, and extensive medical tests all produced negative results, said family spokeswoman Joanne Drake. The former first lady returned home Tuesday and is "just taking a lot of phone calls from friends," Drake said.

There were five hours to go before the first debate of the 2008 presidential campaign season, and the campus of South Carolina State University was buzzing with activity. The marching band performed a rousing concert as young activists jostled before the cameras with a thicket of signs bearing messages like "Clinton Country."