Could a 5th hour of Today be the end if DAYS?

[Khan]

"Today" hasn't had anyone be a credible anchor since Jane Pauley, IMO.

[Soapsuds]

Jessica seems so fake to me...cant stand her.

[quartermainefan]

I don't know if I would go that far. Couric and Gumble were perfectly ok in the role, but it is true that when I started watching today the host was Tom Brokaw. Now they don't want people from news anymore, they want perky personalities. Meredith Viera technically got her start in news but she abandoned news long ago to become a gabber and game show host. I don't know if she ever actually did any serious piece of reporting her entire career. Matt Lauer I remember from his local days in NYC as a local news anchor. Katie Couric's entire career was being in the right place at the right time, often literally and to the minute.

[DRW50]

Katie always seemed like the perky princess to me - and when she lost that, both she and Lauer just seemed fake and strangely bitter.

I think it's the dead-eyed insincerity of so many "entertainment" anchors that bothers me now.

[Max]

Despite falling ratings, one of the nightly entertainment shows (e.g., Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood) mentioned that Today is the most profitable show on television. Though I knew it was highly profitable, I didn't realize just how much until that claim was made. (This is a little surprising, if only because NBC shells out so much money to Today's anchors.)

I was originally very skeptical about this show, but the new CBS This Morning has won me over. (I have no delusions, however, as the show will almost certainly stay in a very distant third-place.) It is the best morning show because of a focus on hard news over fluff.

[BKuzak]

I heard the reason they gave Matt the big raise is because Anne's failing and they are seriouly thinking of replacing her but they want someone on steady to make the transition. I know Matt seriously thought of leaving to go to Katie's talk show. Iam not a Anne Currey fan so i was not suprised. She's great when she's doing serious news but when it comes to more light-hearted fun, i think she totally lacks. It's like it's going back to the Barbara Walters days of Today. When Bryant Gumble came on, he and Jane Pauley lightend the place up a bit. and then when Matt Lauer and Katie were together, it had some great fun moments. Merridith i thought was great too. But Anne Currey need to go back to being the third person on the panel who does the serious news and put someone on with a big personality who can do both the news and the fun stuff without making it looked forced.

[Max]

Even though Ann has no charisma, I do feel sort of sorry for her because she may very well be axed (in spite of her long-time loyalty, and despite being passed over back in 2006 for co-anchor). However, Deborah Norville was treated far worse. I never understood the hatred against her (as she herself didn't push Jane out of the anchor's chair).

[BKuzak]

No, Deborah didn't, but the NBC bosses knew exactly what they were doing. Aparently the "third person" sat in a seperate place but the Today show bosses thought they could create some drama by sitting Deborah right next to Jane and Bryant. and it worked, the press had a field day. they turned it into a soap opera or a real life version of All about Eve. By now Jane was "the older one" and Debbie was the young pretty thing sitting at the desk. It created tension between Deborah and Jane because Jane could see that the bosses knew exactly what they were doing and she didn't like it. So she settled her contract and got out. The viewers never accepted Deborah because they did see her as the "homewrecker" as the press wanted them to. NBC's little plan backfired so when Deborah went on Maternity leave, they brought in katie and the raitings shot through the roof again. I don't think Debbie ever returned after her maturnity leave (except for big Anniversary specials when they try to get all the old cast members to come back.)

The good thing is Matt and Anne haven't been together that long so it won't be the same type story. Jane and Bryant had been togethger for i think seven years by the time Jane left.

[quartermainefan]

Deborah Norville earned every ounce of hatred she had coming to her. That whole incident was straight out of All About Eve. She came on as the 3 mins every half hour newsreader, started sleeping with the producer and suddenly she had Pauley's job. Is it realistic to think she had no idea that was in the works? What did she and her BF talk about at night? And the audience liked Jane Pauley, nobody was clamoring for her dismissal. That was just such a clear right vs wrong situation that there was no way for Norville to come out looking good or Pauley to come out looking bad.

[jcar03]

I think Matt's development deal is probably to developed pieces and specials for primetime.

[Soapsuds]

Why was this thread moved??......why....why.....why......lol......

[Mr. Vixen]

Because this is SON lol

[Khan]

Remember when Charlie Gibson and Joan Lunden left "Good Morning America" and were replaced by Kevin Newman and Lisa McRee? I think most who DO remember would agree that GMA, which had been struggling in the ratings even before Gibson and Lunden's departures, became even more of a hot mess. That, next to Deborah Norville's stint at "Today," is probably one of morning TV's most notorious bad decisions; and it's a good reason, too, why NBC would have given whatever it needed to in order to keep Lauer.

As for Ann Curry...? All I can say is, the day she gets through one segment without tripping over her own words will be a historic day indeed.

[DRW50]

I think Newman and McRee were OK, it's just that McRee was too lightweight to be anchoring GMA (I actually liked Newman, although looking back, they should have hired Tom Bergeron).

I don't know if Lauer would be that much of a loss, as ratings have been falling anyway, and he's not exactly the same personality he was when he first joined the show.

[Eric83]

Exactly. I already know who moved it