In the end, it took only about a month for the old-timers at NBC News to get what they wanted: heads on a platter.

A month ago, during the January 30, 2015, broadcast of NBC's "Nightly News," anchor Brian Williams told a story about how he took a veteran to a hockey game at Madison Square Garden.

While telling the story, Williams mentioned that he had once been in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq.

A clip of Williams telling this story was posted to NBC's Facebook page. A veteran commented on the video to say that he had been on the helicopter that was shot down in Iraq and that Williams had not. 

Scandal broke out.