Thursday, June 01, 2006

KC: The Last Stand

May 31, 2006, the top story of the morning: after 15 years of early mornings, forever changing hairstyles, and the type of perkiness that only a mother could really love, Katie Couric steps down from her co-anchor role on TV's #1 rated Today Show.

Matt, Al and Ann paid numerous tributes to their co-star through montages, anecdotes, quips and of course the obligatory Tony Bennett tribute. Was three hours of "all about Katie" a little much? Maybe. But by the time Katie said her final "goodbyes" tears were unabashedly shed.

I may have been at odds lately with Katie's growing conservatism. I tried to change the channel, but ultimately kept coming back. Through 9/11, Columbine, the Oklahoma bombing, Katrina, the deaths of husband Jay, Princess Diana and JFK, Jr., numerous Olympics, live colonoscopies, fluffy interviews with B-list celebs, outdoor cooking demonstrations and maternity-wear fashion segments, Katie has held the nation's hand.

"Don't be a stranger, because if you do, I'll come calling." - Ann Curry

"I will miss that smile, and I'll miss the face, and I'll miss the spirit that you bring to this." - Al Roker

"I thank you for the laughs." - Matt Laurer

Upon waking this morning and switching on a Katie-less Today, the team has moved to a "temporary summer location," Ann is in the driving seat, and promos with Meredith abound. Katie has well and truly gone to that great CBS in the sky. But yes, ultimately we will miss the laughs!

[ Oh, and by the way, did you know that Sally Field is on Boniva to fight her osteoporosis? ]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope you're referring to her choice in pantsuits and not her politics... ;-)

Anonymous said...

Yes! I saw her on the snow of my TV the other night... the irony is that Boniva isn't really an option for a lot of women b/c of the side effects...

I'm over KC - I grew up with Today but like everything else the big media machine overhyped her place in the world... You'd think she cured cancer by all the lauding that was going on for the last couple of weeks... She's a softball tv anchor who masquerades as a journalist and people just eat it up... blah, sorry to be a bitch but I'm over it...

Though to be fair, I did the live colonoscopy thing was very brave and sincere. I had to have one a couple years ago and I watched an archive of it online and yes it did help me feel a little less scared. So in that regard I do appreciate her... Ok hopefully I've redeemed myself..

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna miss Katie. I'm not a big fan of change and this is gonna set me waaaaaaaaaay back. :) I'll tune it to see her in the pm - if for no other reason that to get my fix.