Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 01 > Entry
Kathie Lee and ‘Today’ ….. zzzzzzzzzz
It has taken me a full 24 hours to rev up an ounce of concern about Kathie Lee Gifford joining “Today” next week.
OK. I’m still not exactly concerned, but at least I can form a thought. Sort of …
Kathie Lee (she prefers we use her first two names rather than her last) will be co-anchoring the fourth hour of “Today,” starting Monday. The flighty, one-line-tossing hostess will be paired with the more serious NBC newsie Hoda Kotb, previously a contributor on “Dateline.”
You remember Kathie Lee, don’t you? She’s the perky singing celebrity who bolted from “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee” eight years ago because (she actually said at the time) the media had become too intrusive in her life. This after she regaled viewers just about every day with stories about her adorable kids (Cody was a particular favorite) and her super-sexy hubby Frank Gifford.
Kathie Lee bathed herself in the limelight during her run on the popular syndicated daytime talk show, chronicling her personal life and business accomplishments. But when former pro football player Frank was caught on camera having a fling with a flight attendant — and her clothing line was revealed to be churned out by foreign sweat shops — Kathie Lee decided celebrity was no longer working for her.
But that was then and this is now. Kathie Lee is 54 years old, Cody is heading off to college and Frank, now 77 and publicly “forgiven” by his wife, nevertheless might not be as spunky as he was in the days of their “perfect marriage.”
Matt Lauer and the rest of the “Today” gang made the announcement Monday, heralding Kathie Lee’s pending arrival in grand style. The whole gang perched on one very long couch. Kathie Lee responded by telling the world she has had “cosmetic surgery on my feet.” We desperately needed to know that, didn’t we? Here we go again.
The fourth hour of “Today” — a show that, like Jack’s bean stalk, just keeps growing — has struggled to find an audience since it arrived last summer. Can Kathie Lee and her well-publicized family save it? Do we care? Probably not, on both counts.
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