Salon.com > Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer recites lyrics to John Mayer’s “Your Body is a Wonderland”

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:39:00 +0000

On last night's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," the host played a bizarre gameshow, "Wheel of Carpet Samples," with an even more bizarre ending: "Today" show anchor Matt Lauer reciting the lyrics to John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland." If this was an attempt to improve Lauer's battered public image...well...you can decide if it's working or not:

Chris Christie to co-host “Today” — while running for reelection

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:06:00 +0000

With his announcement of secret lap-band surgery, Chris Christie has been in the headlines all day. On a morning in the near future, though, he'll be covering the news, not making it.

NBC's "Today" has announced that Chris Christie is to act as a celebrity co-host for the 8-9 a.m. hour on the May 24 edition of the morning news-and-entertainment program, when it shoots in New Jersey. Christie joins past guest hosts like Sarah Palin, who memorably joined the show for a day in April 2012, giving the show a ratings win against insurgent "Good Morning America" on ABC.

But Palin was not an active politician -- the former Alaska governor already announced she was not a candidate in that year's presidential race. Christie is not merely the governor of New Jersey -- he's also running for reelection this November, and the prospect of a presidential run looms over his future.

The persistence of Carson Daly: How an MTV personality became face of “The Voice”

Thu, 02 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

In the early 2000s, Jimmy Fallon had a "Saturday Night Live" bit that always slayed. Impersonating the host of MTV's "Total Request Live," the popular Mr. Fallon would announce, "I'm Carson Daly, and I'm a massive tool!"

Given the popularity of the after-school program, in which Daly introduced a countdown of hit music videos and interviewed musicians, all while tweenage girls shrieked in the studio, the joke was lost on no one. Amid the candy-colored universe of Britney videos, girls who wanted to meet Justin so bad, and in-studio Mariah breakdowns, the stolid host seemed ... well ... a bit dull.

Maybe there's a reason why vanilla is such a popular flavor. Carson Daly -- a massive tool, we all agree -- is the MTV star who survived. Sure, you probably don't watch his late-late-night talk show "Last Call." But somebody does: It was recently renewed for a 13th season. He's the host NBC turns to on New Year's Eve, to counter first Dick Clark and now Ryan Seacrest on ABC. When speculation grew that Matt Lauer was on the outs on "Today," Daly's name not only made the list of potential replacements, but he seemed to be trying out, subbing for Willie Geist during the 9 a.m. hour and joining the panel of "Today's Professionals."

Denial behind the scenes at the “Today” show

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:24:00 +0000

Today, the New York Times Magazine published an excerpt from New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter's upcoming book, "Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV" -- a dishy, definitive account of the scandal that's shrouded NBC's "Today" show in controversy for the past year. What's especially remarkable about Stelter's account of the ousting of Ann Curry, in addition to the complex political web it examines, is how executives continued to politick, even as the secrets became exposed:

Jim Bell, former executive producer, denies endorsing these humiliating segments:

At one point, the executive producer, Jim Bell, commissioned a blooper reel of Curry’s worst on-air mistakes. Another time, according to a producer, Bell called staff members into his office to show a gaffe she made during a cross-talk with a local station. (Bell denies both incidents.)

Bell also denies creating a plan called "Operation Bambi" to fire Curry:

The best and worst apologies of the week

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:58:00 +0000

It has been one sorry excuse for a week. Each new day has brought with it a fresh batch of bad behavior and questionable decision making, and with it, apologies of highly variable quality. If you're looking for object lessons in what not to say – and how to get it right – behold our rogue's gallery of March mad men.

Let's start with our gold medalist in the field of ineffectual apologies – Rick Ross. Ross has come under fire for his part on Rocko's "Gift of Gab" mixtape, specifically the track "U.O.E.N.O." As activist journalist Rosa Clemente pointed out, "U.O.E.N.O." contains Ross' "problematic" line, "Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain't even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it." "Molly," by the way, is what the young folk call Ecstasy.

Matt Lauer’s worst week ever

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:54:00 +0000

Cheer up, Matt Lauer. The week's almost over. Of course, the past few months haven't exactly been a picnic for the handsomely paid host of the "Today" show. But did Al Roker tell him that his forecast for late March would be a severe crap storm?

Now in his 20th year as NBC's main man in the morning, Lauer was long considered near-invincible. He was good-looking enough to lure bleary-eyed morning viewers, possessed a gravitas that enabled him to cover serious political stories and interview heads of state, but was also playful enough to invite the audience to go on a worldwide treasure hunt searching for… him. In the halcyon Katie Couric era, "Today" seemed precisely what America wanted for breakfast.

But it's been a rocky public relations period since. Last year, there was the awkward, much-rumored courtship between Lauer and ABC, while his home network allegedly dangled his "Today" show seat before featherweight Ryan Seacrest. Lauer ended his dalliance with ABC and stayed on "Today" when NBC made him the highest, most grudgingly paid morning anchor in television history. Meanwhile, until she was clumsily shown the "Today" door, there was Lauer's on-air partnership with Ann Curry -- a textbook example of whatever the German word for "the opposite of chemistry" is.

NBC executive: “Matt Lauer is the best in the business”

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:22:00 +0000

NBC is attempting to squelch rumors that Anderson Cooper could replace Matt Lauer as co-anchor of the "Today" show.

Lauer has been intensely criticized since July, when he was blamed by media insiders for the firing of Ann Curry, a move that led to a drop in ratings and eventual rumor that he's being ousted by the network.

NBC News executive Alex Wallace told the AP, "Matt Lauer is the best in the business," adding, "we want him in the `Today' show anchor chair for many years to come."

Another NBC executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that "NBC News has many exploratory talks with talent inside and outside of the network, but to read anything specific into that is presumptuous."

Lauer's time could be up soon, regardless, as his contract ends in 2014. So where does this leave Lauer? "Trapped in a vortex of bad vibes with no escape in sight," according to the AP.

Behind the scenes at “Today”: The politics and personalities that ousted Ann Curry

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:41:00 +0000

"Today" co-anchor Matt Lauer has been on damage control mode since July 2012, when NBC unceremoniously fired its newest (and one of its most beloved) co-hosts, Ann Curry. Since their awkward departing, in which Curry openly stiffed Lauer's embrace on national TV, Lauer has been blamed in the media as the reason for Curry's departure and the subsequent drop in ratings. Now, less than a year later, Lauer's found himself in the same position Curry was in only months ago: fending off rumors that he's to be replaced on NBC's staple show.

This week's New York magazine profiles Lauer and the events that led to Curry's departure, revealing some surprising insights on what was going on behind the scenes at NBC. Some of the highlights, below:

Curry was “next in line” but was never meant to be the host -- she only ended up on-air because a deal with Katie Couric fell through:

Is Matt Lauer’s future in “Jeopardy”?

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:39:00 +0000

I'll take "unexpected career moves" for $200, Alex: Matt Lauer has been named as a potential successor for Alex Trebek as the host of "Jeopardy," the New York Post reports. According to sources close to the show, the "Today" show host's name is at the top of a secret list of Hollywood personalities who might be tapped to replace Trebek when he steps down from the show in 2016.

The news could not come at a more opportune time for Lauer, who has spent the week fending off rumors that he's about to be ousted from the "Today" show. According to the Post, the "Today" show, which has suffered from a ratings decline in recent months, is not expected to renew Lauer's $25-million-a-year contract with NBC when it expires in 2015 -- which coincides with the end of Trebek's three-decade tenure as "Jeopardy!" host.

Must-see morning clip

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:41:00 +0000

It's been almost a week since Paul Ryan made the speech that inspired a thousand fact-checks. (The speech was so riddled with factual errors that some writers even gave up on fact-checking entirely). Then, Paul Ryan lied about his marathon time and forever cemented his campaign identity as a liar, a liar with his pants on fire.

On this morning's Today show, Matt Lauer gave Ryan a chance to explain himself. Lauer asked, "Would you concede that while many of the things you said were effective, some were not completely accurate?"

For a moment, America believed that Ryan might admit the truth. But that moment lasted for one tenth of a picosecond, and Ryan responded, "No, not in the least actually."

Watch the full clip:

Ann Curry is not really sorry

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:15:00 +0000

The very strange saga of Ann Curry’s tenure as co-host of NBC's “Today" show came to an end this morning. Curry took over the gig from Meredith Vieira about a year ago, a period that has coincided with a decline in ratings for “Today” and an uptick for its rival, ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The between-the-lines explanation for the slump has been Curry’s carriage as a co-host — a little too emotional and empathetic — and her lack of chemistry with “Today’s” Grand Poobah Matt Lauer and the rest of the on-air talent.

As a piece in Sunday’s New York Times about Curry’s hosting skills put it, "There’s an inescapable sense that Ms. Curry is outside the group in a subtle but unmistakable way, like the stepsister Cinderella without a prince." (America, not a fan of stepsisters, always looking for a princess?) Last week, news began to leak that NBC was actively trying to oust Curry, leading to several extremely awkward shows wherein Curry reported to do a job that she and all of America knew she was getting fired from.