• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Couric Bids Good Night to 'Today': Longtime Host of Storied Morning Show Heads to the Anchor Chair; Vieira to Fill Her Shoes Host

Posted on: Thursday, 1 June 2006, 21:00 CDT

By Chuck Barney, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Jun. 1--Katie Couric's bloated going-away party on the "Today" show Wednesday began with her longtime partner, Matt Lauer, pulling out the tissues, and ended three hours later with champagne toasts in the streets of New York.

Now, history awaits.

"I'm feeling happy and sad and completely out of control," said Couric, who, after 15 years on the "Today" show, is leaving to become broadcast journalism's first female solo anchor. In September, she will assume the CBS "Evening News" chair once occupied by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather But first the queen of morning television was called upon to formally abdicate her throne. She did so alongside a parade of teary-eyed well-wishers, tribute songs and enough vintage video clips to fill a vast vault in the Smithsonian.

Even Couric, 49, acknowledged it as a case of TV overkill, at one point joking that viewers at home were rushing to change the channel. "It's a little overwhelming," she said. "It's a lot of Katie."

Indeed it was, but it also an important reminder of the enormous impact Couric has had on morning television and the extraordinary bond she forged with fans who were at her side through good times and bad -- the latter of which included the death of her husband, Jay, of colon cancer, as well as the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001, and Columbine.

She was a "staple of America's mornings," noted Lauer, who sent Couric off with a hug and kiss.

NBC hopes America is willing to latch onto a new staple beginning next fall when Meredith Vieira of "The View" arrives to replace Couric. "Today" long has been a dominant No. 1 among morning shows and a huge cash cow for the network. Meanwhile, its closest competitor, ABC's "Good Morning America," is also in flux as Charlie Gibson left last week to take over as the anchor of "World News Tonight."

But the morning-show wars were hardly top-of-mind during the onslaught of retrospective clips Wednesday. While most of the footage featured lighthearted moments -- Couric's kibitzing with celebrities, her outlandish Halloween costumes and her assorted hairdos -- the opening barrage emphasized her hard-nosed interviews with world leaders in which she asked tough questions and refused to back down.

In effect, it was a boisterous retort to critics who have questioned Couric's journalistic credentials after working on a show that wallowed in so much fluff over the years. Interestingly enough, those same critics uttered hardly a word when Gibson departed "GMA" last week to succeed Bob Woodward and Elizabeth Vargas in the wake of ABC's ill-fated two-anchor experiment.

For a reported annual salary of $15 million (the largest among evening anchors), Couric will lead CBS's third-ranked newscast against Gibson, 63, and Brian Williams, 47, who heads the No. 1-rated "NBC Nightly News." With millions of ad dollars and prestige at stake, it will be a closely watched competition. Also looming is a larger challenge: to reestablish the viability of network news after years of waning ratings.

Noting that Couric will be carrying the hopes of an entire gender, country singer Martina McBride dedicated her song, "This One's For the Girls," to the outgoing "Today" star. Couric was also serenaded by Tony Bennett during the farewell celebration, which featured several musical interludes.

"I leave this morning not with a heavy heart ... but with a very full heart filled with love and memories and, yes, gratitude," she said.

Occasionally Couric found herself fighting back tears with only sporadic success. But there were also welcome moments of comic relief. Joan Rivers, for example, was enlisted to critique Couric's sense of style over the years -- as seen in another batch of goofy film clips.

Rivers pointed out that Couric's "head was like a mood ring" because her hair "changed colors so often," and also noted that the behind-the-desk format of the evening news will bring with it be a major grooming bonus. "You'll only have to shave your legs on the weekends," she said.

Chuck Barney is the Times TV critic. Reach him at 925-952-2685 or cbarney@cctimes.com.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

More News in this Category