LEAGUE OF THEMSELVES - CHET HUNTLEY

CHET HUNTLEY

From Wikipedia:

Chester Robert "Chet" Huntley (December 10, 1911 – March 20, 1974) was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956.

In 1956, coverage of the national political conventions was a major point of pride for the fledgling broadcast news organizations. NBC News executives were seeking to counter the growing popularity of CBS' Walter Cronkite, who had been a ratings success at the 1952 conventions.

They decided to replace their current news anchor, John Cameron Swayze, but there was a disagreement on who the new anchorman should be. The two leading contenders were Huntley and David Brinkley. The eventual decision was to have both men share the assignment. Their on-air chemistry was apparent from the start, with Huntley's straightforward presentation countered by Brinkley's acerbic wit.

This success soon led to the team replacing Swayze on the network's nightly news program. It was decided to have the two men co-anchor the show; Huntley from New York City, Brinkley from Washington, D.C. The Huntley-Brinkley Report began in October 1956 and was soon a ratings success. Huntley and Brinkley's catchphrase closing of "Good night, Chet" - "Good night, David... and good night for NBC News" was developed by the show's producer,Reuven Frank. Although both anchors initially disliked it, the sign-off became famous. 

Huntley and Brinkley gained great celebrity themselves, with surveys showing them better known than John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, or the Beatles. The gregarious Huntley remained the same, a friend commenting in 1968 that "Chet is warm, he's friendly, he's unaffected, he's--well, he's just so damned nice."

Huntley's last NBC News broadcast was aired on July 31, 1970.

AS SEEN IN:

"Vanished"

TV DIMENSION:

Toobworld MOTW

O'BSERVATIONS:

"Toobworld MOTW" is the Movie Of The Week TV dimension which holds those TV movies that can't fit into Earth Prime-Time.  The heart of the dimension are those TV movies which have fictional Presidents of the United States, such as:

• "Of Thee I Sing" (President John P. Wintergreen)
• "Washington: Behind Closed Doors" (President Richard Monckton)
• the Alex McGregor trilogy (President Jonathan Hayes)
• and the President in "The Second Civil War"

This world does not include TV series with fictional presidents like 'The West Wing' and 'Scandal'.

In this TV dimension, Huntley was not teamed up with David Brinkley, but with an alternate world version of TV Crossover Hall Of Fame member Betty White.

BCnU!