Nas' protest outside News Corp. wasn't the only activist-led television disruption yesterday. A group of picketers got their message across during the live broadcast of Today show, calling on NBC to stop ignoring the suffering in Darfur, which the American Jewish World Service said had begun as the network inches closer to broadcasting the 2008 Beijing Olympics and grows more wary of upsetting China, which stands accused of remaining complicit with Sudan's human rights violations. When, during the broadcast, a few of the protesters made their way in front of cameras, and their shouts drowned out the voices of Al Roker, Meredith Vieira and David Gregory outside 30 Rock, the jovial weatherman suggested they switch locations. But not positions. Though it's not like they haven't prepared themselves for something like this to happen again.
The former Regis & Kathie Lee host could be returning to television, says serial speculator FTVLive. Today show producers are said to want her for the fourth hour, though no deal is yet solidified. After the jump, a 1999 Kathie Lee interview with Britney Spears … that she'll hopefully be able to do again. CONTINUED »
Asks a reader: "Is Meredith Viera pregnant? She's been wearing baggy maternity-type clothing the past couple of days. I realize she's in her 50s but stranger things have happened…"
Today on Today, Jane Fonda used a euphemism for vagina that is too terrible to reprint here. Meredith Viera quickly apologized for offending any viewers and then cheerifully told us about their next segment, "secrets to making your love last."
Here's our suggestion: Integrating words that the FCC disapproves of in the bedroom.
While Good Morning America scored a sit down with Katie Holmes on Monday, Diane Sawyer's refusal to ask any questions about, um, SCIENTOLOGY, makes its softball interview look like a steaming pile of PR-friendly crap next to Today anchor Meredith Vieira's chat this morning with Tom Cruise unauthorized biographer Andrew Morton.
While GMA executive producer Jim Murphy claims there was no contract in place that kept them from asking the hard questions in exchange for access to Holmes, few believe their story. (For his part, Murphy claims it was he who ended the interview early, angering Sawyer who didn't get a chance to get to the tough Qs. Take one for the team!)
Morton's book – which isn't being published in England, Australia, and New Zealand because of stringent libel laws – received the expected level of criticism from the Church of Scientology. It also received a skeptic's view from Meredith, who challenged Morton's claims that Cruise is the "de facto" second-in-command, that daughter Suri is the spawn of L. Ron Hubbard, or that Tom Cruise is "dangerous" (a statement he backtracked on in the interview). What's this? Not accepting someone's statements at face value! Tres nouveau!
After the jump, the full video of Tom Cruise's Scientology video that got some of this buzz going. CONTINUED »
A spokeswoman for the Spears family went on the Today Show to go after Dr. Phil for "violating a family trust" by making a statement on Britney Spears.
We get that Dr. Phil has a lecherous avuncular thing going on, but still, how much trust could there be in a family that sells the story of a teen pregnancy to a second-tier tabloid? We're going with exactly zero.
CBS has named Maggie Rodriguez co-anchor of the Early Show. She joins Harry Smith (a white guy) and Julie Chen (an Asian woman).
While Americans like their evening news from old, white men, they appreciate diversity in the morning. The Today Show features a black guy and a half Asian woman; Good Morning America has a gay guy (Sam Champion, duh) and a black woman.
Congratulations on the new gig, Maggie. But the sad truth is that CBS could feature a live sex show every morning, and The Today Show would maintain its streak at number one.
• We forgive the Shins for the "changing over lives" since they recently sold songs for Zune and iPhone ads. Way to stick it to the man by selling out to him.
• Despite mountains of forensic evidence, O.J. Simpson pleads not guilty. Deja vu anyone?
• The Olsen twins business savvy goes beyond direct to rental videos. The asking price for their West Village condo is nearly triple what they originally bought it for. Meanwhile, our rent only increased $45 a month this year.
• Jake Gyllenhaal will star in a Joe Namath biopic. Reenacting the panty hose ad will surely squash any rumors about his sexuality.
• French Tennis player Richard Gasquet insists he's not gay, even when nobody is asking.
• Miss Puerto Rico proves the real way to win a beauty pageant these days is to stage a controversy and appear on the Today Show.
Despite certain anchors (ahem, Katie Couric) on certain other networks who recently ventured to Iraq as part of a certain ill-fated publicity stunt, Meredith Vieira swears she won't be packing her bags and hopping a plane to Baghdad anytime soon. "I'm not going to go because somebody tells me I have to for the sake of appearances. I think that's crazy," she avows to (the NBC-owned) Access Hollywood. When asked for comment, Vieira's Today co-anchor, Ann Curry replied, "Sounds great. What time do I leave?"
Congratulations on not screwing up the Today Show’s rating streak!
Just who is Barbara Corcoran's "friend" who tattled to Page Six about how she cuts through real estate ad hype? "According to a friend of the legendary residential super-broker," says P6, "'cozy' equals too small. 'Charming' means too old and 'original condition' implies appliances that are 50 years old."
Perhaps that "friend" was … the Today show from two weeks ago?
Today and tomorrow on the Today show, Mr. Angelina Jolie extols the importance of actually doing something about various Hurricane Katrina tragedies the news media have dedicated countless specials to. Thankfully, Matt Lauer is there to defend any attacks on Pitt for using his goodwill as a PR stunt. Like, say, for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which hits theatres in about a month.
Reports the Detroit Free Press:
Star reports (quoting unidentified sources and unnamed friends) that Vieira already wants to jump ship. "Meredith told me she's already planning her exit strategy so she can leave Today with her dignity intact," Star quotes a pal. "For her, it's been a noble experiment that hasn't worked as well as she had hoped."
When reached for comment, a beleaguered Katie Couric (the often maligned anchor of CBS' third place Evening News broadcast and the subject of a scandalous unauthorized bio) sarcastically replied, "Yeah, Meredith. This must have been a really difficult year. For you."
Is Katie Couric a domineering prima donna who would do anything to claw her way to the top?
'Absolutely!' proclaims known muckraker Ed Klein, whose new unauthorized bio depicts Couric as a manipulative power-hungry shrew.
Armed with the testimony of various unreliable sources, Klein asserts that Couric alienated her Today show colleagues, willfully destroyed the marriage of a prominent CNN exec, and stood by her ailing husband, Jay Monahan—who died of colon cancer in 1998—purely out of "fear of negative publicity."
The genetically blessed 50-year-old all-around-NBC anchor Ann Curry is "much more frightened about jumping on a plane and doing something I know won't matter - interviewing Paris Hilton, for instance - than I am jumping on a plane to cover a war. No matter what, if I don't come back, it's not okay for my family. But it's less okay if I spent my time on something that doesn't matter."
You know, like Today show relationship advice segments or scoring a whole 25 seconds of Dateline airtime to introduce "To Catch a Predator."
Ach, did we just make things awkward? J/K Ann! [NYDN]
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