After NBC ended its somber breaking news report on Saturday on the death of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), it made an immediate and jarring return to regular network programming that featured a kinky tableau of shirtless men acting out a “dolphin love story” ― a production decision the network probably wishes it could undo.
The bizarre scene of two shirtless sumo wrestlers wearing fake dolphin heads and making weird squeaking noises with their bodies was a rerun of the quarterfinals of “America’s Got Talent” from earlier in the week.
There were no intervening commercials, public service announcements or even a few seconds of black on New York’s WNBC after the network’s “Special Report” on McCain’s death with reporter Richard Lui.
The dolphin act, incidentally, was panned in a Forbes review. “The sumo wrestlers who make sounds with their bodies are the first group that I’m more than happy to bid good riddance to,” wrote contributor Carolyn Lipka.
NBC did not immediately respond to a Huffpost request for comment. But Twitter had lots to say.