In Turin, NBC Bursts Into the Games

If there's anything NBC knows how to do, in addition to airing prime-time sitcoms that die horrible deaths, it's produce Olympic Games and promote the network's coverage of them. NBC has been having such a miserable year in the ratings, however, that it hasn't had enough optimal, highly visible locations to display the promos and spread the word.

If TV were a meritocracy, NBC would already be taking bows and blowing kisses to cheering crowds for its coverage of this year's XX Winter Games from Turin, Italy. The first four (approximately) of 418 (approximately) scheduled hours occupied all of NBC's prime time last night as competitors gathered for the traditional, spectacular and pleasantly uneventful parade of the nations and other events associated with opening night.

Cunningly and cleverly, NBC made sure to give viewers a few early looks at athletes who are likely to be superstars after this year's Olympics end -- or who, if they are already superstars, will be yet more super still. Among them are ingratiatingly irreverent skier Bode Miller (generously promoted for NBC via a much-discussed piece on CBS's "60 Minutes"), hardy perennial and never-say-die figure skater Michelle Kwan (gamely participating, we were told, despite the agony of a "groin pull") and another colorful skater, red-haired Shaun White, alternately known as the Flying Tomato and the Killer Tomato.

Viewers got to see these favorites chat and laugh and go through the motions of competition -- actually just training or qualifying exercises.

NBC's telecast of the most recent Summer Games, from Athens, was ballyhooed as a showcase for the still-emerging technology of high-definition TV. In fact, HDTV sights were relatively rare, and the most satisfying may have been a mini-travelogue that doubled as a pitch for Greece tourism; it aired fairly frequently but grew repetitious.

High-definition video from Turin has been plentiful already, put to use on a travelogue that was even more gorgeous than the Grecian one and that kicked off the coverage just after 9 p.m.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly and unfortunately, anchors gotta talk, so too much of the ravishing footage was encumbered with babble from an unidentified announcer or newsman who spoke of the athletes being "united by an indomitable passion." Oh, really? Does that include athletes from Iran, Israel and the United States, who all marched in the parade of nations later in the night?

There was a surprisingly small amount of booing for Iran, or else an audio imbalance made it hard to hear, what with music playing and an announcer announcing. It's hardly injecting politics into the Olympics to complain about the presence of a terrorist nation whose leader has recently called for the obliteration of Israel from the map of the world. Not coincidentally, an anchor pointed out that $125 million has been allocated to security, in an effort to keep the games as apolitical as possible.

The Opening Ceremonies, most of which followed the parade of athletes, were picturesque and colorful, with elements of the nutty, artsy sort of thing that the Norwegians staged at Lillehammer in 1994. Late in the evening, acrobatic dancers in white cavorted on a large, screened wall behind the orchestra, eventually forming themselves into the shape of a giant, peaceful dove.

Yoko Ono was soon onstage, mangling "Imagine," the song written by her late husband, John Lennon. After she finished reciting the words, Peter Gabriel, mercifully enough, sort of corrected the record by singing them.

Also in the show were Luciano Pavarotti and, as a finale, so many fireworks that they could probably be seen from the moon. Considering that many opening-night entertainments over the years have ranged from goofy to ghastly, last night's was commendably tasteful, handsome and even moving in its message of harmony as an antidote to harm.

Though not exactly the epitome of high-flying funsters, veteran sportscaster Bob Costas and "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams made a satisfyingly capable and no-nonsensical commentator team during the parade. Conspicuous by her absence was NBC uber-anchor Katie Couric, who spent the week in Turin co-anchoring the "Today" show but didn't help with the parade coverage. Although she's bound to turn up as the Games continue, her absence last night lends still more credibility to the notion that she will be leaving NBC for anchorship of "The CBS Evening News," a job which has been offered her.