On Tuesday, TV news offered some familiar election-night imagery: snazzy red-and-blue interactive maps, American flag backdrops, lots of discussion of "the American people" — and Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer.

To cover the midterm elections, several major news programs went with the TV standby, the reunion special. The invitations were meant as gestures of continuity, but the new anchors used the old guard as props, akin to the elephant and donkey logos and the running news ticker.

Katie Couric of CBS, the first female anchor to preside over a national election, shared a desk with Schieffer, the kindly man she replaced to much fanfare earlier this fall. She respectfully referred to the veteran reporter as "our dean," but when she turned to him, she slipped into the same tone you'd use to answer your grandpa's question about "how the Internets work."

Brian Williams, in turn, brought in his NBC predecessor, Brokaw, who looked like his only slighter older brother. (Put a brown wig on Brokaw's head and plop him back in the anchor's chair and I bet most people wouldn't notice a thing.)

The Comedy Central boys teamed up for the best reunion of all. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's live "Midterm Midtacular" was, obviously, the most fun, although it was a shame the two weren't on stage together.

Evidence of fun factor: To Stewart, the question of the night was, "Could Karl Rove's tactical genius overcome, let's say...reality?" Back on the network news, Williams prefaced a question with the (non)word "corollarily."

Colbert, reporting from his own studio, kept up his raving Republican shtick. "If the Democrats win," he warned, "Osama gets to recrucify the Lord and post a resurrection tax."

Former CBS anchor Dan Rather didn't return to his alma mater for election night. Instead, Rather, who earlier Tuesday defended the discredited report about President Bush's military service that led to his ouster, showed up on Comedy Central.

Rather wanted to discuss electoral meat, but Stewart treated him as a joke, waving off any real analysis in favor of ridiculous folkisms. (Regarding a Florida congressional race, Stewart goaded Rather into saying, "If you ain't got the yolk, you can't emulsify the Hollandaise.")

Although the Stewart-Colbert duo was as good as ever, on a night when stakes are genuinely high, Comedy Central's election night coverage was a reminder that it's best enjoyed as dessert, not dinner.

Around the dial, TV's election night reunions served as gimmicks to attract viewers and devices to fill up a long night of airtime. But even the best reunions have to end — usually in the wee hours. Then it's Wednesday-morning mothball time — at least until 2008.

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asap's Sam Dolnick watched a lot of TV on Tuesday night.

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