Of Mice and NBC: Network Invaded

NEW YORK — It’s a story of far less import than the Persian Gulf, but NBC employees are reporting an invasion of their own.

Little brown mice have been spotted running loose in the huge NBC News studios and newsroom on the third floor of Rockefeller Center, and female employees say the men just laugh at their complaints.

Things are so bad, someone at the network news desk has inserted an “Of Mice and Men” category in the computer. The count for Wednesday read “Mice 2, Men 0.”

One employee claimed that mice have even been seen running past anchor Tom Brokaw’s office but that “nobody around here will do anything until a mouse runs across Tom’s anchor desk during a broadcast.”

Peggy Hubble, director of NBC’s news information, confirmed that two mice have been found in recent days on the third floor, which includes Studio 3A, where “NBC Nightly News” is broadcast, 3B, home of the “Today” show, the newsroom and Brokaw’s office.