History Series / Today

** Ann Curry is the product of this trope. Her white father met her Japanese mother during WorldWarII.

* Spanning the World: Sports bloopers segment done by the head of NBC Sports. Has a funny intro that appears to have gone unchanged since the 1980's, computer graphics and all, where the Earth actually splits open with the sound of a rooster crowing, and then the highlights for that segment pop out of the split. The bloopers are then presented as newspaper segments. The ending goes, "Tune in next time for Spanning the World! (rooster crow; split in the Earth heals) ...If there IS a next time! I'm Don Pardo!"

* Willard Scott, [[EnforcedPlug in conjunction with Smuckers]], gives out birthday wishes to 100+-year-olds.

** Former co-anchor Bryant Gumbel (who was Co-anchor from 1982 to 1997) once wrote a memo containing strong criticisms of Gene Shalit, Willard Scott, and consumer reporter David Horowitz. Of the three, Scott was [[BreakTheCutie hit the hardest]] [[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20119818,00.html when the memo was leaked to a New York newspaper.]] The linked article noted that the memo portrayed the normally affable Gumbel as "a man of little compassion." Scott subsequently delivered a TakeThat at Gumbel while filming ''Today'' promos, teasing that they would [[TakeThatScrappy beat each other to death with baseball bats.]]
** Both Katie Couric (Co-anchor from 1991-2006) and Matt Lauer (Co-anchor since 1997) fall under this category to some extent. While Katie was know for to have a perky sunny demeanor, and Matt a laid-back friendly demeanor on camera, both have had more than their fair share of hard-hitting interviews, and both of them have had some diva moments behind the scenes.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Pretty much ''every single freaking anchor'' in the show's six-decade history. Willard in particular could have easily passed for being in his mid-thirties at most during his heyday in TheEighties - [[http://www.thejoyboys.com/pix/grapefruit1.jpg this]] leaflet for Florida grapefruit was made in 1988 when he was ''54''. His front-tooth gap, chubbiness, and [[{{Keet}} endless optimism]] certainly add to this. Matt also looks to be in his mid-thirties when he's actually in his fifties. Al, born in 1954, seems to be aging ''sideways'' - compare some of his earlier stuff during TheEighties and TheNineties to his current exploits (such as the 2014 "Rokerthon"). Katie Couric and Barbara Walters, two of the show's more legendary female hosts, both seem to be aging slowly, as is former cohost Bryant Gumbel (all three of whom have since left the show aside from {{Milestone Celebration}}s and the like). Justified with Gene Shalit, who has kept the same face and hairstyle throughout his entire 40+ year career.

* ThanksgivingEpisode: Every Thanksgiving morning, the show heavily focuses on the UsefulNotes/MacysThanksgivingDayParade (which airs right after it and has some of its anchors provide commentary), including interviews with some of the performers, spotlights on at least one new balloon being featured, and raw footage of the parade being prepared. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCXlZW2Zk7Q This 1995 video]] shows most if not all of a typical Thanksgiving Episode of ''Today''. (A word of warning: it'll be best if you stop watching 46 minutes into the video, unless you want to watch someone channel surfing and several minutes of the movie ''Pride of the Yankees''.)

** Former co-anchor Bryant Gumbel (who appeared from TheEighties until 1997) once wrote a memo containing strong criticisms of Gene Shalit, Willard Scott, and consumer reporter David Horowitz. Of the three, Scott was [[BreakTheCutie hit the hardest]] [[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20119818,00.html when the memo was leaked to a New York newspaper.]] The linked article noted that the memo portrayed the normally affable Gumbel as "a man of little compassion." Scott subsequently delivered a TakeThat at Gumbel while filming ''Today'' promos, teasing that they would [[TakeThatScrappy beat each other to death with baseball bats.]]
** Both former co-anchor Katie Couric and current co-anchor Matt Lauer fall under this category to some extent. While Katie was know for to have a perky sunny demeanor, and Matt a laid-back friendly demeanor on camera, both have had their share of hard-hitting interviews, and both of them have had some diva moments behind the scenes.
** Original anchor Dave Garroway while having an easy-going appearance on camera, was battling depression, and could be less than easy to work with during his tenure.

** Both former co-anchor Katie Couric and current co-anchor Matt Lauer fall under this category to some extent.

* CriticalResearchFailure: The show was guilty of a rather heartbreaking example in 2012. During their interview with Martin Short, Kathie Lee and Hota repeatedly commended him for his long-running marriage to Nancy Dolman and asked how they kept their marriage going. Short calmly but uneasily made his way through the interview. After the interview finished, the show went to a commercial during which Short took the hosts aside and told them Nancy had died two years earlier. Much apologizing ensued when they came back.

Like its competitors, ''Today'' airs more than just news. It's more like a variety show with some news thrown in. Among the more notable segments:

* {{Adorkable}}: Everyone has their little quirks, but Willard Scott fits this mold more than anyone else. He actually got to [[http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1991-10-31/lifestyle/9110300995_1_willard-scott-original-amateur-hour-ted-mack host a short-lived talent show]] on what is now Creator/ABCFamily mainly because he was so adorkable.

* The Toyota Concert Series: Originally founded as the Summer Concert Series. Bascially, in the second and third hours of the show, someone [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin gives a live concert]]. Prior to the concert, they'll be interviewed.
* Today Throws a Wedding: Series/AmericanIdol-style contest in which you, the viewer, must help the Today guys get a couple married. First, you must pick which couple will be married on the show, at Rockefeller Plaza. Then they go through several elements of the wedding, like the female's gown, what ring she'll be wearing, etc., and your votes decide it all. The wedding is usually done in September.

* They begin their hour with a review of some weird news stories, Ã la Keith Olbermann's ''Countdown'', but without all the [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarking]] at conservatives. That says nothing about what they ''do'' deadpan snark...

* It's also a literal DrinkingGame as the ladies (especially Kathie Lee) are known to consume morning libations quite liberally, finding any excuse for a segment to do so.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who joined in 2012, may appear to be your average "don't take me seriously" morning host, but she is known for her tough interviews and controversial statements.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Before [=DVRs=], on the first Today Plans a Wedding, when shown the arrangements, etc the public would be voting on the future bride would secretly hold a number of fingers at her side indicating the one she liked the most, in hopes the viewers would pick what she wanted. Today noticed this and pointed it out near the end.

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Kathie Lee and Hoda, to the point of MemeticMutation, and especially after Kristen Wiig's parody on ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]''.
** During her time on Today, Meredith Viera was also implied to be this (often whenever she screwed something up on air, Matt Lauer would tip his head back like he was drinking a glass of wine).
* [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Series Naming]]: At one point before DavidLetterman came around, one could turn on NBC and watch ''{{Today}}'', ''[[TheTonightShow Tonight]]'' and ''Tomorrow''.

* LaserGuidedKarma: The show was number in its time slot for over 20 years. Then came the Summer of 2012, with the firing of Ann Curry and the way it was handled (and to a lesser extent Meredith leaving the show about a year previously). The show has since been losing ratings to TheRival ABC's ''Good Morning America''.
* LiveButDelayed: To keep the crowd from not being TV-safe. One notable exception was August 2, 2000 when a woman in the crowds took off her shirt revealing her bare breasts and a radio station bumper sticker stuck to her belly. The producer didn't notice, nor did Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, but Katie Couric ''did'' see it on her monitor while at the Republican National Convention and was visibly shocked. [[http://www.today.com/video/today/49899387#49899387 Today referenced the incident about 10 years later]] with [[{{Pixellation}} the offending]] [[ThinkOfTheCensors scene censored]] (and erroneously stated to have happened in 2006).

* OlderThanTheyLook: Pretty much ''every single freaking anchor'' in the show's six-decade history. Willard in particular could have easily passed for being in his mid-thirties at most during his heyday in TheEighties - [[http://www.thejoyboys.com/pix/grapefruit1.jpg this]] leaflet for Florida grapefruit was made in 1988 when he was ''54''. His front-tooth gap, chubbiness and [[{{Keet}} endless optimism]] certainly add to this. Matt also looks to be in his mid-thirties when he's actually in his fifties. Al, born in 1954, seems to be aging ''sideways'' - compare some of his earlier stuff during TheEighties and TheNineties to his current exploits (such as the 2014 "Rokerthon"). Katie Couric and Barbara Walters, two of the show's more legendary female hosts, both seem to be aging slowly, as is former cohost Bryant Gumbel (all three of whom have since left the show aside from {{Milestone Celebration}}s and the like). Justified with Gene Shalit, who has kept the same face and hairstyle throughout his entire 40+ year career.

* SpinOff: Al Roker's ''Wake Up with Al'' on Creator/TheWeatherChannel is pretty much him doing the ''Today'' weather segment for an hour.

[[caption-width-right:300:Left to right: Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer, Ann Curry[[note]]No longer on the show[[/note]], Al Roker. ]]

For Brits, not to be confused with the [[TheBBC BBC Radio 4 show of the same name]], also a morning news programme.

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Kathie Lee and Hoda, to the point of MemeticMutation, and especially after Kristen Wiig's parody on ''SaturdayNightLive''.

* [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Series Naming]]: At one point before DavidLetterman came around, one could turn on NBC and watch ''{{Today}}'', ''[[TheTonightShow Tonight]]'' and ''Tomorrow''.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Pretty much ''every single freaking anchor'' in the show's six-decade history. Willard in particular could have easily passed for being in his mid-thirties at most during his heyday in TheEighties - [[http://www.thejoyboys.com/pix/grapefruit1.jpg this]] leaflet for Florida grapefruit was made in 1988 when he was ''54''. His front-tooth gap, chubbiness and [[{{Keet}} endless optimism]] certainly add to this. Justified with Gene Shalit, who has kept the same style throughout his entire career.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: New co-anchor Savannah Guthrie may appear to be your average "don't take me seriously" morning host, but she is known for her tough interviews and controversial statements.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: J. Fred Muggs

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Kathie Lee and Hoda, to the point of MemeticMutation. Especially after Kristen Wiig's parody on ''SaturdayNightLive''

* LaserGuidedKarma: The show was number in its time slot for over 20 years. Then came the Summer of 2012, with the firing of Ann Curry and the way it was handled. The show has since been losing ratings to TheRival ABC's ''Good Morning America''.

* ShoutOut: Kathie Lee's opening banter with Hoda Kotb is reminiscient of her banter with Regis Philbin.

** Two failed spinoffs featuring the titles ''Early Today'' (not the current show[[note]]A simple newscast produced by {{MSNBC}} which airs at 4 AM[[/note]], one in the 1980's) and ''Later Today'' have been tried by the network to little success. They later figured out just titling show extensions ''Today'' was better in the long run.

* SpinOff: Al Roker's ''Wake Up with Al'' on TheWeatherChannel is pretty much him doing the ''Today'' weather segment for an hour.

* LiveButDelayed: To keep the crowd from not being TV-safe. One notable incident was August 2, 2000 when a woman took off her shirt revealing her bare breasts and a radio station bumper sticker stuck to her belly. The producer didn't notice, nor did Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, but Katie Couric ''did'' see it on her monitor at the Republican National Convention and was visibly shocked. [[http://www.today.com/video/today/49899387#49899387 Today referenced the incident later]] with {{Pixellation}}. (It was actually in 2000, not 2006 as Matt says.)

** Former co-anchor Bryant Gumbel (who appeared from TheEighties until 1997) once wrote a memo containing strong criticisms of Gene Shalit, Willard Scott, and consumer reporter David Horowitz. Of the three, Scott was hit the hardest [[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20119818,00.html when the memo was leaked to a New York newspaper.]] The linked article noted that the memo portrayed the normally affable Gumbel as "a man of little compassion." Scott subsequently delivered a TakeThat at Gumbel while filming ''Today'' promos, teasing that they would [[TakeThatScrappy beat each other to death with baseball bats.]]

* BigFun: Al Roker..

** During her time on Today, Meredith Vieria was also implied to be this (often whenever she screwed something up on air, Matt Lauer would tip his head back like he was drinking a glass of wine).

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Katie was introduced as "Katherine Couric" until about 1995 or so. (This was actually universal to all of her appearances at NBC, not just this show.)

* LiveButDelayed: To keep the crowd from not being TV-safe. One notable incident was August 2, 2000 when a woman took off her shirt revealing her bare breasts and a radio station bumper sticker stuck to her belly. The producer didn't notice, nor did Matt Lauer and Anne Curry, but Katie Couric ''did'' see it on her monitor at the Republican National Convention and was visibly shocked. [[http://www.today.com/video/today/49899387#49899387 Today referenced the incident later]] with {{Pixellation}}. (It was actually in 2000, not 2006 as Matt says.)