Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Photo
Gee, all that outdoor noise during the Today Show outside Rockefeller Center. What will the neighbors think? "Cool it!" is what they think.As a result, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, hosts of the fourth hour of Today (Weekdays, 10 am/ET on NBC), have moved indoors permanently.The New York Daily News reports nearby offices complained that all that giggling and gossiping made too much noise during business hours. — J.R. Whalen
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First Lady Laura Bush by Dimitrios Kambouris/ WireImage.com
Who isn't hosting Today these days? First, Kathie Lee Gifford set the world on fire by returning to morning TV to co-anchor Today's fourth hour, which had been seriously lacking in Cody stories, with Hoda Kotb. Seeing all seven(!) correspondents on the ever-expanding set sofa made me feel a little outnumbered.Now First Lady Laura Bush is grabbing herself a cushion, hosting the 9 am hour of Today on April 22 — the same day as the Pennsylvania primary, incidentally. While she will join in several segments during the hour, she'll also talk with her daughter Jenna about a children's book they wrote together, and Ann Curry will get a tour of the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. — Mickey O'Connor
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Kathie Lee Gifford by Virginia Sherwood/ NBC Photo
Today co-anchor Matt Lauer on Monday morning announced that Kathie Lee Gifford will join Hoda Kotb for the fourth hour of the NBC morning program. "I'm eight years older, 10 pounds heavier and a half-inch shorter — just in time for HD television," quipped Gifford, 54. Once Gifford starts her Today job on April 7, Ann Curry and Natalie Morales will go back to working the show's first three hours with Al Roker. Gifford of course was a staple of morning TV when she sat beside Regis Philbin for the syndicated Live with Regis and Kathie Lee from 1988 to 2000. She was also a regular fill-in host for ABC's Good Morning America during the early '80s. It was during one of those fill-in stints that she met future husband Frank Gifford. — Stephen BattaglioWhat's your take? Do you welcome Kathie Lee back to morning TV? Or did this just seal Today: Hour 4's fate on your viewing schedule? POLL: Will Kathie Lee make you more or less inclined to watch Today?Related:• Dawn of a New To...
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Kathie Lee Gifford by Jesse Grant/WireImage.com
Is Kathie Lee Gifford joining the Today show team? Yes, if we are to believe Newsday's TV blog. The TV Zone's Verne Gay cites FTV Live, a subscription-only site for the news biz that apparently has the "exclusive."FTV claims that Gifford skews "older female," making her a perfect choice to anchor Today's fourth hour. It's unclear what this scoop means for Ann Curry and/or Natalie Morales and/or Hoda Kotb, who currently share anchor duties there.Gay, for one, supports the idea, saying that with Rosie O'Donnell MIA from daytime, "it's all become so bland and tired. Yes, of course, Reeg is still great. And sure, I love Babs Walters, but the dear girl isn't on all the time, and when she's not (even when she is) The View is so dreadfully polite." (I am now convinced that "Verne Gay" is my nana's pen name.)I, for one, remember Gifford's tenure on Regis and Kathie Lee with a mixture of amusement and horror. She's kind of in on the joke, but then she kind of isn't.What do you think? Is this...
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Kelly Ripa and Regis Philbin, Live
Unwinding to some Dean Martin after a taping of Live with Regis and Kelly (ABC, 9 am/ET; check local listings), 76-year-old Regis Philbin is feeling nostalgic about the show's 20th anniversary. Live's two-week celebration closes out tomorrow morning when former spitfire cohost Kathie Lee Gifford returns as a guest.
TV Guide: It's been 20 years. How's it feel? Regis Philbin: Twenty years, where did they go? My dream was to go national with the kind of show I'm doing now. I'm glad I finally achieved it.
TV Guide: Say you had to spend an eternity with Kathie Lee, Kelly [Ripa] or Joey Bishop [to whom Regis
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Kathie Lee Gifford by Jesse Grant/WireImage.com
See that .38-caliber projectile whizzing past your head, fans of The View? That's the bullet you dodged when Reege's "ex," Kathie Lee Gifford, removed herself from consideration to replace Rosie on ABC's other daytime talker. "[The View] did ask me last spring [to consider the gig]," Gifford tells Entertainment Weekly. "And I graciously said, 'No thanks.'" Why the rebuff? "It's a world I know too well," says Cody et al's momma. "So many people who would just die for fame and fortune don't understand that you can die from it. I had my fill of the negative side of fame and fortune long ago."View executive producer Bill Geddie clarifies for EW that while "we love Kathie Lee and always love having her on the program" — she has guest-hosted numerous times — "Whoopi [Goldberg] was always our first choice and the only person the network offered the job to."
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Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa courtesy Buena Vista Television
Live with Regis and Kelly has unveiled its plan to celebrate the morning program's 20 years on the air starting Sept. 3, and among the two-week event's special guests is no less than Reege's previous sidekick, Kathie Lee Gifford. "This will be the first time Regis, Kelly and Kathie are together on the air," executive producer Michael Gelman reminds the New York Post. "We've been waiting for the right time to have her back and this is a big event, so we're happy to have her." Gelman shrugs off talk of lingering bad blood between "Kathie Me" and the talker, saying, "We agreed on most things and disagreed on others."Also as part of the celebration, Live is teaming with Chrysler to give away one minivan a day for 20 days. (Mom Jeans not included.)
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Kathie Lee Gifford is taking on the role of kid-hater Miss Hannigan in a staging of Annie, playing at Madison Square Garden from December 6-30.... Today cohost Meredith Vieira launches her first blog today on iVillage.com.... The Tyra Banks Show welcomes reality-TV clans the Hogans and the Carters next Monday, Oct. 23.
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