NBC’s ‘Today’ Airs 14-Minute Musical

NBC’s Today show finally aired its long-teased musical during the 10 o’clock hour of Monday’s show.

In August, co-host Kathie Lee Gifford announced that the show would put on a brief musical, written by her, featuring the Today hosts and crew sometime before the end of the year. In the initial announcement, Gifford said the show would air before NBC’s Peter Pan Live! on Dec. 4, but the Today production may have been delayed, as it made its debut just three days before the end of the year.

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All of the Today hosts participated in the musical: Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Al Roker, Willie Geist, Carson Daly, Tamron Hall, Jenna Bush Hager, Hoda Kotb and Gifford. Gifford’s old Live co-host Regis Philbin guest-starred, as she announced in August.

Beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET, Kotb and Gifford introduced segments of the musical after commercial breaks. The show opened with all of Today‘s co-hosts at the show’s round anchor desk flipping through scripts before they began singing the opening song, “This is Today.” The hosts were soon joined by hairstylists, makeup artists, producers and stagehands, all wearing Today T-shirts, singing about their behind-the-scenes duties. The story ultimately focused on prop guy Sal Cacciato, who dreams of a life in front of the camera. A meeting with Philbin, set to be a guest on the show, could help him land his big break. There was also a subplot involving the director of the Today kitchen brewing up a secret, strong sauce designed to take down Martha Stewart.

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The musical also featured a couple of jokes about Lauer leaving the show, poking fun at frequent rumors of his departure and questions of who would be his successor, with potential replacements Daly and Geist each saying that he would take over for Lauer after he leaves.

Watch the full musical, clocking in at a little over 14 minutes, below.

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