What’s happened to The Today Show? It used to be a place where you could go to get a quickie—a rundown of the morning’s current events. It was all on a need-to-know basis.
Then, spicy Katie left to moldy CBS and milk toast Meredith slid into her seat. A bevy of gorgeous brunettes including Natalie Morales, Maria Menoudos and that Delaurentis gal from The Food Network (the new executive producer clearly does not care for blondes) also came on board. Lotsa chit chat and fluff ensued (even more than when Katie was co-host), and although not as loyal a viewer anymore, I still occasionally tuned in. But this morning’s show, aimed at kicking off the fall sweeps rating period, might change that.
At 7:00 a.m. sharp, with much pomp and circumstance and a dramatic news open, complete with an original score long enough for me to down half my coffee, The Today Show kicked off their week-long fest “Today Goes to the Ends of the Earth.” Matt apparently got the short stick. He was freezing his ass off somewhere in the Arctic. Ann was in Antarctica and Al was at the equator in Ecuador. They’re doing special reports on global warming and climate change on location all week.
Look, that’s all fine and dandy. How we can prevent further abuse to our planet is something we clearly need to learn about. My problem is one of placement and timing. That kind of programming does not belong on a morning news program.
Honestly, I would enjoy seeing those kinds of special reports on the Discovery Channel or as part of an NBC news special. I would welcome something educational the entire family could enjoy. I could cozy up on the couch, grab the kids (strap them down, basically), relax, and tune in. Maybe a family discussion could follow. But information I need to start my day while I’m jamming to get the kids fed, teeth brushed, backpacks filled, and out the door? No. It’s all just noise at that hour. And that kind of noise, quite frankly, makes me long for NPR.
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