Line #7 Series/Today


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/today22.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Left to right: Creator/SavannahGuthrie and Creator/HodaKotb.]]
3
4	->''"From NBC News, this is ''Today'', with Matt Lauer and Creator/MeredithVieira, live from Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza."''
5	-->--Weekday opening from September 2006 to June 2011, as read by '''Les Marshak'''
6
7	A long-running morning news program on Creator/{{NBC}}. It debuted as ''The Today Show'' in January, 1952. Airs from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. Eastern time. Directly competes with Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''CBS Mornings'' and [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]]'s ''Good Morning America'', and so far is the only one of those three shows to be four hours in length.
8
9	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:
10	* Willard Scott, [[EnforcedPlug in conjunction with Smuckers]], gives out birthday wishes to 100+-year-olds. When Scott retired in 2016, Al Roker took over the segment.
11	* Where in the World is Matt Lauer? For one week, Matt will effectively go island-hopping to various points in the world, and Meredith, Al, and Ann (and you at home, too!) must guess where he is. However, the camera is heavily zoomed in on him to start, and he gives out a clue, but [[UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer it's very cryptic]]. Example: in 2001, he gave out a clue of "the manliest Franchise/{{Pokemon}}" for Machu Picchu, Peru. Once Matt reveals where he is, he'll spend the rest of the episode talking with the locals and showing us some of the culture. This is an obvious homage to ''Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego''; in fact, during the first few years of the segment, they even got Rockapella to modify that show's theme song for the segment!
12	** Also in 2002, WSLS, the NBC affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia, did a similar segment called "Where in Virginia is Sean Sublette?" It was pretty much the same thing, only meteorologist Sean (later with [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany WSET]], now with the website Climate Central) went to locations in WSLS's coverage area. One location he went to was Smith Mountain Lake, where ''Film/DirtyDancing'' and ''Film/WhatAboutBob'' were filmed.
13	** They sometimes do this segment with Al Roker.
14	* Gene Shalit's Critics Corner: The titular guy rips into some movies.
15	* Spanning the World: Sports bloopers segment done by Len Berman, who was then the sports director for NBC's New York flagship station, WNBC. 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!"
16	* The Toyota Concert Series: Originally founded as the Summer Concert Series. Basically, in the second and third hours of the show, someone [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin gives a live concert]]. Prior to the concert, they'll be interviewed.
17	* Today Throws a Wedding: An ''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.
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19	The fourth hour of this show, active since September 2007, is slightly different from the first three. Hoda Kotb and [[Series/LiveWithRegisAndKelly Kathie Lee Gifford]] do a show that's more similar to ''Series/TheView''. Among their more notable segments:
20	* They begin their hour with a review of some weird news stories, much like a less political (though no less [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]]) version of ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''.
21	* While Hoda interviews a health/fitness expert, Kathie Lee asks random people in some place close by to Rockefeller Center questions that are tied to the segment. They often joke about the "prize" for a correct answer, which at one point was [[UndesirablePrize Kathie Lee's latest CD]].
22	* Ambush Makeover: A viewer with a particularly ugly friend or relative will submit that person for a makeover from some beauty experts in the show's staff.
23	* 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.
24
25	There are also lesser-known Saturday and Sunday editions of this show, anchored by Lester Holt and Jenna Wolfe. The Saturday edition has only one notable segment:
26	* Today on the Plaza: Similar to the Concert Series, but with Broadway shows.
27
28	For Aussies, not to be confused with Creator/NineNetwork breakfast show of the same name[[note]]which, oddly enough, is not the sister show/counterpart for our ''Today''; that distinction goes to Creator/SevenNetwork's ''Sunrise''[[/note]]. For Brits, not to be confused with the [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 4 show of the same name]], also a morning news programme.
29
30	----
31	!!That's what's going on around the country; here are some of the tropes being used in your neck of the woods:
32
33	* BewareTheNiceOnes:
34	** Co-anchor Creator/SavannahGuthrie, 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.
35	** Weatherman Creator/AlRoker is very laid back and upbeat for the most part, except when he was covering the 2016 Olympics and U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte was caught making a false police report for assault after vandalizing a Rio gas station restroom. An outraged Roker denounced Lochte as a liar while the other co-hosts tried to give the swimmer the benefit of the doubt.
36	** 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.]]
37	** Both Creator/KatieCouric (co-anchor from 1991-2006) and Matt Lauer (co-anchor 1997 to 2017) 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. NBC fired Lauer in 2017 over allegations of workplace sexual misconduct.
38	** Original anchor Dave Garroway (who anchored from 1952-1961) while having a very friendly easy-going appearance on camera, was battling depression, and could be less than easy to work with during his tenure.
39	* BigFun: Al Roker. Willard Scott counts as well, though he's more of a GentleGiant in terms of personality.
40	* CatchPhrase:
41	** Al Roker has several:
42	*** "That's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods." (Throwing over to the local channels for their forecast)
43	*** "My people!" when addressing concert crowds, a ShoutOut to ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments\|1956}}''.
44	*** "Sunday, SUNDAY!", with reverb on the last one.
45	** ''Spanning the World'' has "And of course, nobody got hurt" whenever a clip of someone taking a fall plays.
46	** From the fourth hour with Kathy Lee and Hoda:
47	*** "Whaaat?"
48	*** "How do we do it day after day?"
49	*** "Louis Licari[[note]]presenter on the Friday Ambush Makeover segments[[/note]], Lala-lala-la-la!"
50	*** "Lou Manfredini![[note]]presenter of home improvement segments[[/note]] He's got a name that rhymes with... (insert word that rhymes with Manfredini)!"
51	* {{Crawl}}: The first known example of a news ticker appeared when the show premiered back in 1952. It took the form of a typewritten strip of paper scrolled across the screen and superimposed via split-screening. It was quickly retired due to its unwieldy nature; it would take until the advent of computer-generated graphics for news crawls to catch on.
52	* CuddleBug: Willard again - sort of taken up to eleven; as demonstrated in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQDtxYv3W68 this video]], he's also prone to randomly kissing people as well.
53	* EnforcedPlug: Willard's 100+-year-old birthday segments are sponsored by the Smuckers jelly company, and everyone else does cross-promotions of other NBC shows.
54	* FreezeFrameBonus: Before [=DVRs=], on the first Today Plans a Wedding, when shown the arrangements, etc. that 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.
55	* GreenAesop: When Creator/NBCUniversal decides to go green, you can expect this show to be at the forefront. It uses a green logo, green NBC logo, green graphics, and so on.
56	* HalloweenEpisode: For the second hour, the team would dress in themed costumes. Matt Lauer would invariably dress as a woman, such as C.J. on ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' or Music/JenniferLopez in her green Grammy dress.
57	* HardDrinkingPartyGirl:
58	** Kathie Lee and Hoda, to the point of MemeticMutation, and especially after Creator/KristenWiig's parody on ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]''.
59	** During her time on Today, Meredith Vieira 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).
60	* [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Idiosyncratic Series Naming]]: At one point before Creator/DavidLetterman came around, one could turn on NBC and watch ''Today'', ''[[Series/TheTonightShow Tonight]]'', and ''Tomorrow''.
61	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Almost everyone not named Willard Scott or Al Roker. The former is [[NiceGuy sweet to a fault]], and the latter is a similarly affable LargeHam. The rest of the team for the most part fits this trope to a T.
62	* LaserGuidedKarma: The show was number one 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''.
63	* 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 The show referenced the incident about 10 years later]] with [[{{Pixellation}} the offending]] [[ThinkOfTheCensors scene censored]] (and erroneously stated to have happened in 2006).
64	* LongRunners: This show is the '''third longest-running program in the history of U.S. TV'''. It debuted on January 14, 1952 and is the first of its kind.
65	* MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow:
66	** Ann Curry is the product of this trope. Her white father met her Japanese mother during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
67	** And possibly related to that, if you believe [=AskMen=].com, [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench Everyone Looks Sexier if Half-Japanese]].
68	* 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 kept the same face and hairstyle throughout his entire 40+ year career.
69	** To drive the point home, [[http://www.thejoyboys.com/pix/today1991.jpg here]] is a picture of the ''Today'' personnel as it stood circa 1991. Keep in mind that literally no one in the picture (save for Shalit and Joe Garagiola, sort-of) looks close to their actual ages!!
70	* OneWordTitle: As it's about the day it airs, as a morning news program.
71	* OpeningNarration: The opening quoted above is not the only opening narration that ''Today'' has had-- in the 80s, for instance, Fred Facey said, "From NBC News, this is ''Today''...with Bryant Gumbel...and Jane Pauley."
72	* {{Parody}}: The [[Website/TheOnion Onion News Network]]'s ''Today Now!'' (whose hosts, "Jim" and "Tracy", have [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/27/today-show-onion-news-network_n_814860.html actually appeared]] on ''Today'' itself).
73	* ProductPlacement: An unusual example in 1968. On the morning of November 6, 1968 - with the Presidential election between Republican former Vice-President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon; Democratic incumbent Vice-President UsefulNotes/HubertHumphrey and George Wallace, normally a Democrat but [[TakeAThirdOption running as a third-party candidate]] this time still up for grabs - the Today Show crew of Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters took over to host the show while simultaneously relieving Chet Huntley and David Brinkley as anchors of NBC's election coverage; with Downs plugging milk and Walters promoting the since-defunct National Journal weekly newspaper.
74	* ShoutOut: Kathie Lee's opening banter with Hoda Kotb is reminiscent of her banter with Regis Philbin.
75	* SmallNameBigEgo: Bryant Gumbel - see BewareTheNiceOnes above.
76	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Katie was introduced as "Katherine Couric" until about 1995 or so. (This was actually universal to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1eqEgLeaSw almost]] all of her appearances at NBC, not just this show.)
77	* SpinOff:
78	** Al Roker's ''Wake Up with Al'' on Creator/TheWeatherChannel is pretty much him doing the ''Today'' weather segment for an hour.
79	** 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]], but the one in TheEighties) and ''Later Today'' have been tried by the network to little success. They later figured out that just titling show extensions ''Today'' was better in the long run.
80	* 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.
81	* TitleConfusion: It is often referred to by popular culture and the mainstream public as ''The Today Show''.
82	* TrueCompanions: The ''Today'' team, like most TV show clans, is incredibly close-knit.

Context Series / Today