NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams was on MSNBC's " Morning Joe " this morning. From what I've heard from Williams in these situations - his appearances on Imus come to mind - he has a sense of humor. And a Jack Benny, Johnny Carson knack for timing.

I never watched one episode of The Sporanos. But I'm getting interested in that final episode, about which so many writers are writing this week. Joe Scarborough asked Williams what he thought of the way David Chase chose to end it.

Williams' answer was thoughtful. He started talking about how the painter Jackson Pollack worked. How did Pollack know, Williams asked, what drop of paint should be the last drop? When did a Jackson Pollack work in progress, at which precise point, did the canvas say, " That's it. Done. "

When does a work of art become a work of art. How and where does the process end?

What drop of paint is the last drop, and how does the painter know?

The comments Williams shared with Joe were, I thought, so much more thoughtful than were those of, say, Maureen Dowd. Dowd, in her column in The Times yesterday, likened Chase to a film school amateur.

What does she know about film school? A lot less, it appears, than Williams does of art school.