The TV Zone

Here's was/is Meredith's "Today" interview, which is a substantially abbreviated version, I gather, of the forthcoming one on "AGT:"

And she won't be alone!

Yes, Meredith will be there, along with a few million of her closest media friends.

Here's the press statement: "NBC News' Meredith Vieira will broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles Tuesday, July 7 on "Today." Vieira will also attend the Michael Jackson memorial service and report live from LA on "Today" Wednesday, July 8. Vieira will interview several insiders involved with the memorial service on "Today" Tuesday and Wednesday."

Matt was there last week for the Neverland tour...

And from Fox:

"Shepard Smith will anchor special live coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial beginning during the Noon ET hour on Tuesday, July 7th on FOX News Channel. Greta Van Susteren will be on-scene in Los Angeles providing live coverage updates throughout the day, and will anchor a special edition of On The Record w/ Greta Van Susteren from Los Angeles at 10:00pm ET.

Megyn Kelly will anchor special live coverage of the Jackson memorial on FOX (broadcast network) beginning at 1:00pm ET."

The FOX broadcast anchored by Kelly will also be streamed live on FOXNews.com. Both Smith and Kelly will anchor from New York.

Also: CBS now says that it (too) will provide live coverage: " In addition to the previously announced plans below, CBS News will provide live coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial on Tuesday, July 7 at 10:00 AM PT. CBS News' comprehensive coverage also will include reports via CBSNews.com and CBS Radio News. "

And - suffice it to say - more to come...

"TV One will air live, uninterrupted coverage of Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service from the Staples Center in Los Angeles Tuesday, July 7 beginning at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT. TV One’s coverage will be co-anchored by veteran journalists Art Fennell and Jacque Reid..."

This morning, the big news, again: Sarah and Dave...

Here's the Lauer interview. And it's dy-no-mite.

You have to wade through some serious stuff about politics and pipelines...interesting, sort of...to get to the real reason for this interview. Is Palin angry in this exchange? Hard to say but she's certainly passionate, and implies in so many words that Letterman lied about the contention that he was talking about Bristol, not Willow.

-Photos: Sarah Palin tours New York City

-Photos: David Letterman's memorable guests

Even Matt made a little news! He says he's pretty certain Letterman will "have to pay some price for this."

"Pay a price?" What could Matt - of all people - be implying here? Or is this throwaway comment a reflection of the fact that he's in the "Tonight" camp which is suddenly in a dog fight with CBS? I just got off the phone with Jim Bell, exec producer of "Today," who tells me, "I think his words were colloquially, 'in the court of public opinion he'll pay a price, as this plays out across the country, on cable TV, news programs, newspapers, the blogosphere, around the water cooler. It is fair to say that some people are going to take the governor's position ..."

Here's what Palin said about the Bristol comment from Dave:

"Matt, I would say you and anyone else are extremely naive to believe to believe that convenient excuse of Dave's. Took him a couple days to to think of that excuse. No, he wasn't talking about my fourteen year old daughter who was at the game with me; he was talking about some other daughter."

Photo: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan

You know what you will be watching tomorrow morning...or, allow me to rephrase: I know what I'll be watching tomorrow morning:

Lauer is talking to the Queen of Alaska.

I can't wait.

Here's the bulletin: "In an exclusive interview, Gov. Sarah Palin will talk to NBC News' Matt Lauer live on "Today," tomorrow, Friday, June 12. Gov. Palin will talk to Lauer about the groundbreaking Alaska pipeline announcement made today in Texas, her thoughts on the direction of the GOP, and she will address the recent controversy involving David Letterman and her family. Palin will talk to Lauer live from Texas."

...love how the press release adds, as if an afterthought..."she will address the recent controversy involving..."

-Photos: Sarah Palin tours New York City

(Pix: Getty Images)

What happens when one of the world's finest news interviewers faces off with one of the world's great actors - someone whose vast range and exquisite taste put inferiors to deep shame?

Magic!

That's what happens. If you haven't yet seen - wrong word... If you haven't yet EXPERIENCED yesterday's Curry/Pitt interview, then take a few moments, sit back, put on sunglasses, accessorize some part of your body with an Hermes scarf, and mull the inescapable truth of this encounter: Ah, so this is what TV journalism is really all about...

Is it me or I the only one on the planet who thinks the business of selling your significant other's death-and-dying video - that she herself initiated - to a major network and then doing a long interview with said network to promote the primetime presentation is just a little....smarmy?

Meredith did a good job with this, but I wish she had asked or told Matt why Farrah didn't talk to her when she went out west last week to do this. Is she simply just too ill?

The Palin baby saga remains (and forever shall) a strange asterisk on the 2008 campaign, but today's interview on "Today" with mother and baby was an asterisk to the asterisk ... Check out Bristol's ice-cold reax when Matt tries to ask her about father Levi -- not once, but twice, then thrice. Even that old pro Lauer seemed a little taken aback; the question was a logical one, and she treated it as though he was going through her sock drawer ...

Full clip below but for this exchange push the scroll bar up to the 6:35 mark ...

Meanwhile, Levi doing his own thing on "The Early Show," on the jump...

Continue reading "Bristol Palin and Matt: Maybe not pals" »

(Maersk Line /AP)

Yes, NBC released a few more soundbites this afternoon, and they're interesting - interesting in the sense that Richard Phillips does seem so calm and collected, and that his memories of the first high seas pirate takeover of an American ship in (oh) 200 years was like a carjacking in New Jersey...

Interview airs Tuesday. (Why Tuesday? ...)

To the jump!

Continue reading ""Today:" More Matt/Richard Phillips Quotes" »

Yes, Matt got Capt. Richard Phillips.

NBC just sent quotes and he told Matt, "I didn't think I'd ever get out of that boat" - referring to the craft he was on that was towed by the U.S.S. Bainbridge. And he also praised those who saved him.

"They're unbelievable," he told Lauer, in an interview taped yesterday in Vermont, where Phillips lives. "We really owe it to the military for what they do day in, and day out, that we never even hear about. What they did was impossible."

[Quick background: On April 12, three Navy SEALs fired shots at three pirates on the boat, killing them. A fourth pilot was captured earlier and is now in Federal custody in New York.]

Lauer asked Phillips about an escape attempt, and he said: "I did have radio contact with the Maersk Alabama and I told them if you see a splash in the water, it's going to be 'cause I'm coming. I had always expected to escape." Lauer asked if he said this in front of his captors. "I was still able to communicate...unbelievably so. They were a little lax in t heir control on some things."

Matt was on "assignment" - mysteriously - this morning, and Lester Holt filled in. We now know what the assignment was...The interview will air Tuesday morning. (Why Tuesday and not Monday...? Not sure)

Per NBC:

" In an exclusive interview, hero Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama broke his silence and sat down with NBC News' Matt Lauer in his first interview since he was held hostage at sea by Somali pirates. The interview took place in Vermont and will air on "Today," Monday, April 27. "

There are more quotes on the jump...

Continue reading "Lauer Gets Pirate Captain Phillips" »

Yes, he finally got his closeup yesterday, and the story was on "Today" a little while ago.

As soon as I get a clip will of course post, but they show Blago jumping with a parachute in a studio, with a green screen - or chroma key - behind him; there's a wind machine buffeting him as well, and the anchors note: His hair is not moving.

There are some things you cannot make up.

You simply cannot make them up because they would not occur to you in even a wild, opium-induced dream-nightmare.

This is one of those things...

Go to the jump for yesterday's Meredith interview, where he says he'll still shoot something for "I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here." We now know what he shot...

Above: This eerily prescient piece of parachute art appeared recently in Wonkette and the Chicagoist.

Continue reading "Blago Tapes Bit for "Celebrity" " »

Jeez, I don't think I want to get into the middle of this, or on the side, or within a thousand miles of it either, but it was hard to miss on this morning's "Today" - a pretty good wrap on the Miss California controversy, by Amy Robach and Matt...Perez Hilton was interviewed via Skype and that, as we say in the media consulting trade, was a mistake. A big one...he came off looking like...a blogger! And no one, not even Mr. Blogger himself, wants to come off looking like that. Plus, his answers were terribly silly:

"I expected Miss California to be prepared for that question...especially because she IS [from] California...I wish she could have left politics and religion out of it...she could have answered so many different ways...'well, I want to leave my politics out of it...' That would have been a better answer."

Uhhh, WHAT? You wanted her to sound like some disingenuous politico scrounging for votes, namely YOUR'S?

Bet you didn't know this but "The Today Show" had one of the gets of the week and the week had barely even started: an interview with Eliot Spitzer.

This could have been - indeed, I'm pretty certain was - the first national TV interview with the ex-gov. [In fact, this was NOT the first and so, not quite the exclusive "Today" claimed it was: I'm told that he also appeared on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" recently.]

Still...An amazing get.

A display of "Today Show" power...

But what the HECK happened?

After a few milquetoast perfunctory questions from Matt Lauer on the one of the greatest political scandals in New York state history, Matt let it drop. He moved on. And allowed Spitzer to continue molding his New Public Image - as the Democratic party renegade who just doesn't quite agree with Prez Obama's monetary policy.

Honestly, it was very, very disappointing. Matt had him...right there...and he slipped clean away. What say you about what happened, Gov? Matt wanted to know. "I've tried to balance...the pain to my family..."

"I've had faults...no excuses...tried to address those gremlins...what I did was an egregious violation to the state and my family..."

Ummm, how often did you go to hookers, El? (Matt's question was phrased far more felicitously..)

"Not frequently. Not in the grand context of my life."

What does this mean? What does "in the grand context of my life mean?"

Sorry, but no followup from Matt. Instead, our man let Spitzer slip and slide right away, and then allowed him to tell viewers about how he'd fix the economy. This, friends, is the guy who let New York state down. This is the guy we want any opinion from?

What a wasted opportunity.

But you be the judge...

(Pix: Getty)

And without further ado, here it be...the "Today Show" summer concert schedule, just announced. By the way, "Today" notes that the No Doubt appearance marks the band's first reunion in five years...

MAY

1 No Doubt
8 New Kids On The Block & Special Guest
15 Jennifer Hudson
22 Fall Out Boy
29 Taylor Swift

JUNE

5 The Dave Matthews Band
12 Black Eyed Peas
19 Jonas Brothers
26 The Fray

JULY

3 Rob Thomas
10 Rascal Flatts
17 The All American Rejects
24 Katy Perry
31 Kings of Leon

AUGUST

7 Jason Mraz
14 Flo Rida
21 Natasha Bedingfield
28 TBA

(Pix: GS of ND, by AP)

Good old Matt: He fought the deer and the deer won.

But, our dear boy did manage to get back on the air this morning. With a sling around his shoulder, he wasn't looking the worse for wear, when he surprised viewers by...showing up.

He's on now - it's "The Today Show," in case you didn't know. And he's joking and having a grand old time.

Welcome back Matt - and just a couple days after shoulder surgery, when Ann Curry informed viewers that the operation went "very well," but Lauer is probably in "a lot of pain."

Not too much. He looks just fine.

And a word of advice, Matt. Watch out for Bambi next time - those things are killers on hoofs.

Meanwhile, Matt did a pretty amusing remote with Tony Kornheiser, of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption;" he and co-host Michael Wilbon have been having great fun at Matt's expense all week:

Says Korn, on speculating about what REALLY happened - that Matt had gone on vacation with Al, for example. "Al Roker, Matt Lauer...something goes TERRIBLY wrong."

Matt responds: "If I was going to cover this as a scandal, I'd [make up] something like a mountain lion, or Katie Couric jumped out in front of me."

Next: a lot more ragging from everyone, and I do mean everyone - someone from "Good Morning America" shows up with a sign, which reads "Matt [Pix thereof] crossing."

Oh Yuk, yuk.

The poor "GMA" intern forced into hazing duty also had to read a message from the executive producer of said show: "Matt, I hope GE gives you a few months off - anything less would be scandalous." Oh, groan.

Finally, Brian Williams, via remote: "Hey Buddy, you're...probably half-gooned on Percoset" but we were really really worried...Off camera, a deer head butts the "Nightly News" anchor.

Oh, the yuks just keep on coming.

But seriously folks, those deer - they're KILLERS. (Pix: AP)

"OMG, it's that guy from the Today Show."

Where in the world is Matt Lauer this morning?

In bed, with a dislocated shoulder.

(No jokes this early...unless you can come up with a better one than he did.)

Matt was off the air this morning - and no word on when he'll return - after (almost) running into a deer on his bike over the weekend.

He dislocated his shoulder.

I imagine he'll be back on the show Tuesday. What exactly happened? No specifics just yet, but according to Meredith (Vieira), "he ran into a deer; Matt thinks it was hired by the competition." Lester Holt's filling in.

No word on the deer's condition.

And more clarity from "Today." Here's what a person on the show says: "A deer ran out in front of him as he was going downhill. He hit the brakes hard to avoid hitting the deer and fell of his bike. He separated his shoulder and is having surgery to fix it today. We hope to have him back on "Today" later this week. "

I also believe the accident was in the Hamptons, where Matt's got a place.

I was intrigued by this Lee Cowan story on this morning's edition of "The Today Show."

It's about "The Tonight Show."

This is a good piece, but it understandably avoids the elephant in the room. Prez Obama is going on "Tonight," but not going on "Meet the Press," whose very host intro'd this story. Obama's return tonight isn't in itself terribly interesting at all- he's been on a couple times, and I think just about every candidate, from dog catcher to potential president, has turned up too. What's unique is that this is the FIRST SITTING POTUS to go on "Tonight." That's fascinating and I've yet to see a precise answer anywhere explaining why.

But it is interesting that he's doing this in lieu of "MTP," which has been one of the first stops for just about any president who has a hugely important message to convey. Why, why, why? I address this subject in today's Newsday.

Well, sort of.

I do like to have catchily misleading headlines to get people to read this stuff.

In fact, on this morning's "Today Show," Jim Cramer did make what I believe to be his first public comments about last week's encounter with Jon Stewart. Meredith Vieira was de-briefing some members of the CNBC starting line-up about AIG, when she turned to Cramer, "I can't let you go without asking about..."

...that horrific debacle last week. (She didn't really say that - I did. Actually, it wasn't THAT bad for Cramer, though everyone else pretty much declared it to be career-ending; whatever.)

Said he, "it's naive and misleading to blame the media" for the current economic crisis.

"We weren't behind this. CNBC, in particular, has been out front on this," per a transcript from HuffPo. "I think there are people who bear so much more responsibility [than the media] that it's just wrong-headed -- the politicians, the regulators, the SEC, the lenders, the investment banks. ... It's just a naive focus, it really is Meredith."

He added that he didn't fight back because he was "taught to take the high road."

Right, Jim. Like "Mad Money" is the high road. (Sorry....I couldn't resist. That was uncalled for, Gay, entirely uncalled for.)

That was about it. There were no threats or declarations, like, "if I ever meet Jon Stewart in a dark alley," or "that guy Stewart's a dweeb anyway."

A shame: Nothing like having this thing continue on for a few more weeks. When or if I get a transcript/clip, will post.

Viewers of this morning's "Today" show may have mused about this comment by Matt Lauer, after a story on Alex Rodriguez's admission of 'roid use back during his Ranger days...

"The problem is," said Matt, "is that in an interview last year" A-Rod said he didn't do drugs.

"An interview," Matt? It was - as the whole world now knows - the one conducted by Katie Couric. "An interview?" Couldn't bring yourself to identify it as the interview done by your longtime "Today" co-anchor, who scooped you so badly on the Sully interview - which you couldn't even bring yourself to acknowledge on yesterday's program...?

Bitter...?

Just asking....

..."The Today Show."

Or almost.

The morning leader - spurned by the Sully camp three weeks ago for a much bigger fish, "60 Minutes" - barely acknowledged the Hero of the Hudson on this morning's show.

Natalie Morales finally got around to it around 7:19 - a near eternity of morning show dismissal. When she threw to Meredith and Matt, Mere talked about what an incredible hero the guy is. Matt? He just kind of nodded.

Why the "who's Sully?" shrug of the shoulders, on the very morning when he gets the keys to the city, and hours after one of the most amazing interviews in "60 Minutes" history? Because..."Today" is still furious after getting dumped by his camp. It had the chance to interview him this morning, but effectively said - no way.

"GMA," instead, is doing all-Sully at the moment, as is "The Early Show." (Funny, light moment on "GMA" - he went over to some in-studio display and corrects the spelling of "Yosemite.)

Free advice from TVZone to "The Today Show:" Grow up, people! Time to move on.

Now, let's say you somehow missed last night, or wanted to see it in print...You have come to the right place. Go to the jump for the full transcript...

Continue reading "Sully, Sully Everywhere, Except..." »

Biiiig get for Ann Curry. "Today" just announced that she'll interview Nadya Suleman,the California woman who just gave birth to octuplets. The interview will air on both "Dateline" and "TTS" "in the coming days." And I'd bet on "Nightly" too.

"Today" has actually done a pretty good job covering this story, and so has Michael Okwu for "Nightly" so I'm not surprised this went to Curry; in addition, Ann's carved quite a rep for herself in multiple birth stories - did the Chandler quints, for example, just last spring, and the McCaughey septuplets story ten years ago.

Suleman has emerged as an unlikely lightning rod for those who think fertility treatments have run amok...

Please head to the jump for those quotes from the interview...which, you can bet the car, will be on "Today" tomorrow...

Continue reading "Ann Curry's Got the Octs Mom; We've Got the Quotes" »

Just got off the phone with Sully's San Francisco-based rep (who's been juggling all the media requests), and he's taking some issue with NBC's version of the events.

The events? That Sully and crew are going with "60" and have passed over "Today," after first agreeing to go the ayem show.

His name is Alex Clemens, and he's the boss of something called Barbary Coast Consulting, described as a government and communications strategy firm. He says that he got tied up in this because he knows Sully's wife, Lorraine. And ... he adds, the work is pro bono.

We had a nice long chat, but it's just easiest to give you the written statement, sent to me and other members of The Press (it's long; do you have a couple minutes?):

"On Thursday, January 22, I told my contact at the Today show that the five members of the crew had talked amongst themselves about how they would like to see their story told, and later that day, Captain Sullenberger told me that their collective decision was to start with 60 Minutes, and to then visit each of the morning shows – starting with NBC.

"On a day earlier this week – possibly Sunday or Monday – that same contact at the Today show and I were chatting about a wide range of topics, and he asked me about the volume of requests for endorsements, book deals, and appearance opportunities that Captain Sullenberger had received. I responded with an answer similar to this: “There have been so many requests that the Captain’s family and children yet unborn will probably all attend the college of their choice.”

"For that contact to conflate those two conversations and insinuate that financial incentives were sought in exchange for appearances on one news show or another is repulsive, untrue, and extraordinarily unprofessional."

And...for the record, Clemens says no book deal was cut with S&S; Sully just wanted to go with "60."

Well, it's not often you see Meredith Vieira tear up and shed a couple, and I think I can count exactly zero instances over the last twenty years or so. But this morning? The record was finally broken!

"Today" aired the Bush Twins video to the Obama girls; it's their "here's what you need to know" list. Honestly, it's very sweet - and herein you will see the nicest things probably ever said about W. After eight years, the prez left with nary a positive word from anyone - so consumed was the media with the exciting newcomer, and so consumed were voters with just seeing him go. So, it was left to his daughters to offer him, and Sasha and Malia, this tribute.

Meredith and Matt were moved...

That's right, Al.

It was brief.

It was only partially informative.

And I think the president even fibbed. Already: His first interview with the press, and the truth was stretched.

For those wondering why Al is croaking this morning, and who MAY have turned away from the screen yesterday just around 4:15 or so, here's the clip ...

Hold off on watching that Sully/Matt Lauer interview that was scheduled for tomorrow...

"Today" just announced that it was postponed.

Bummer.

"Matt Lauer still has the first interview with Capt. 'Sully,' however, the interview has been postponed to a future date," per the network.

No reason given...but I'm thinking, the NTSB investigation is continuing, and it might impede that if he gets on the air and discusses what happened. But that's just a guess, and why wouldn't that have occurred to him or "Today" when they first announced this?

More details as they come...

"Today" has scored the biggest get in the land: Sully.

AKA, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III.

It'll air tomorrow morning. Of course, everyone has been after Sully - even the president-elect, who wants him in Washington on Tuesday. He is the man of the moment, the all-our-hopes-and-dreams, the guy we want behind the wheel the next time we get on a jet.

Here's the press release: "NBC News' Matt Lauer will sit down live with Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, in his first interview since he piloted the crash landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River in New York City. The live interview will air on "Today," Monday, January 19 in Washington, D.C. This will be Capt. Sullenberger's first comments since the incident now known as "Miracle on the Hudson." The pilot will be joined by his wife and two children during the interview. "

OK, when will this big get air? My professional opinion: Probably the second half hour, so that excerpts can be pulled during the rest of the show. But maybe in the 8 a.m. half hour too.

"Lauer, say your prayers - I'm about to re-arrange your face..."

Oh for the days of on-set fights, where Tom Cruise comes to "The Today Show" half in the bag, throws punches at Matt Lauer, connects a couple times, finds the nearest couch. Jumps on it.

And, then (long story short), security carts him away.

Oh for those days.

Instead, we get this morning's snooz-o-rama. Tom on his best behavior does not, repeat not, make for a compelling interview.

I'm pretty certain he was coached. First piece of advice from coach: "Don't make jokes about Matt's hair..." Second piece: Don't talk about psychiatry, lest viewers think you are in need of some...

Anyway, if you missed it, it was do dull, so sleep-inducing, so milquetoasty, that I'm not even gonna bother to hunt up the clip. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Here's the sound bite -- Tom sort of apologizing for that interview a few years ago...remember? -- where he called Lauer "glib" or something.

"It was a subject matter [presumably Scientology and not poor Brooke Shields) that was important and now is being debated in public [Really? Debated where and by whom? And what is the substance of this non-existent debate? Those are just some of the questions Matt declined to ask]. But after looking at it, I thought, it's not what I intended [Really? And what did you intend? More Lauer questions gone unasked]. In looking at myself, I came across as arrogant. [No you didn't. You came across as a lunatic]. It's one of those things where you go, I could have absolutely handled that better." [Really? You think?]

"Should I kick your butt now or later, Lauer?"

Anyone remember that Matt Lauer interview with Tom Cruise on "Today" three years ago? Fireworks, I tell ya, fireworks! It was crazy. Tom called Matt a "girlyboy," challenged him to a duel, pulled out a bottle of hootch, got drunk, and then busted up the "Today" set.

It even made the front page of the "NY Post."

But, I'm exaggerating a little. He actually called Matt "smug," and it was that day when I finally learned the meaning of the word. (Actually, an astute reader, Trish, points out that he actually called him "glib;" unfortunately, I still don't know what that word means, so I'm sticking with "smug." )

Anyway, Tom's back with Matt next Monday - probably to promote some movie I won't see. Until it comes out on DVD. If then.

"More than three years after Tom Cruise's unforgettable interview with Matt Lauer, the three-time Oscar-nominated actor returns to 'Today.' On Monday, December 15, Cruise will sit down once again with Lauer for a live interview in Studio 1A.

"Cruise will talk to Lauer about his latest historical thriller, "Valkyrie," and..."

Hold it right there, press release. His "latest historical thriller?" I heard it was a "laugh-out loud comedy..." Back to the press release...

"his role in the much buzzed-about film. The legendary actor will also chat about his distinguished career, his family, including wife Katie Holmes, and children Connor, Isabella and Suri and their life at home."

(Honestly, do not be fooled. These guys are pals in all probability. Cruise even went to Matt's recent roast...)

Click here to see photos of Tom Cruise through the years.