Lauer's safe spot: middle of the road
Chicago Sun-Times, Oct 16, 2007 by Doug Elfman
It was time for Matt Lauer to do a live "Today" show "teaser" for a Texas affiliate. But there was no copy in front of him to read. He spun in his chair, confused for a second, then calmly got the job done.
"I realized I'm on live to Dallas-Fort Worth, and yet there's nothing in the monitor," Lauer told me later, bending a funny grin.
"At that point, the only thing you train yourself not to do is go, 'What the hell am I doing?' We train ourselves: No four-letter words until we're off the air."
This was the only snag Lauer faced Monday while he and Al Roker co-hosted half of "Today" from Chicago, bringing airtime to local chefs, choirs and comedy troupes.
Lauer anchored a few local-centric segments from NBC's downtown studio. Then he speed-walked outside, where about 130 "Today" gawkers engaged in the usual sign-holding battles. ("Ask Me About [some company]!")
A few women over 60 from Downstate Danvers wore $3 sequin tiaras from Walgreens and waved under an iridescent-orange sign proclaiming their group's superiority as "Danvers Dollies."
Lauer looked "thin," said "Dolly" Bev Miller, who was happy to see him nonetheless. "And maybe not quite as tall as I thought."
After Monday's show, Lauer flew off to conduct an undisclosed "big" interview. He's piling up newsmakers, lately. Over the weekend, he sat down with Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and his wife to ask about Craig's gay-sex-bathroom scandal. Portions run at 7 tonight on NBC, with more Wednesday on "Today."
In between "Today" segments, I half-joked, "Did you ask him why he's a big liar?"
"That's not my job," Lauer said. "My job is to ask middle-of-the- road questions and let the audience judge for themselves."
Observing the "Today" crowd, it became clear how easy it would be for someone to scream a curse word live to the nation. Lauer and Roker say that's never happened. In fact, they've seen only one seriously weird incident in 12 years of outdoor "Today"-ing.
"A young woman showed her ta-tas," Roker said. "There were two thoughts. First of all: Your parents have to be so proud. And two is: They weren't that good. Put those away. They were real, and not so great."
"As it turns out," Lauer said, "we have a lot of wholesome people that just want to wave home."
Engaging the crowd while broadcasting -- shaking dozens of hands and posing for photos -- looked simple but exhausting. Lauer celebrates his 50th birthday in December. He's starting to question his future on "Today." He can't "run up and down the stairs as I used to be able to."
And he'll want more time to coach soccer and such, once his kids turn 10, 7 and 4, when his contract runs out in three years. (Lauer and Roker employ nannies but say they're home most of the day.)
"You start to think, 'OK, I'm 50. How long am I going to live? How old are my kids going to be?' Some of [those thoughts] are a little morose," Lauer said. "As much of a privilege as ['Today'] is, getting up at sometime other than 4 o'clock in the morning sounds good."
delfman@suntimes.com
It was time for Matt Lauer to do a live "Today" show "teaser" for a Texas affiliate. But there was no copy in front of him to read. He spun in his chair, confused for a second, then calmly got the job done.
"I realized I'm on live to Dallas-Fort Worth, and yet there's nothing in the monitor," Lauer told me later, bending a funny grin.
"At that point, the only thing you train yourself not to do is go, 'What the hell am I doing?' We train ourselves: No four-letter words until we're off the air."
This was the only snag Lauer faced Monday while he and Al Roker co-hosted half of "Today" from Chicago, bringing airtime to local chefs, choirs and comedy troupes.
Lauer anchored a few local-centric segments from NBC's downtown studio. Then he speed-walked outside, where about 130 "Today" gawkers engaged in the usual sign-holding battles. ("Ask Me About [some company]!")
A few women over 60 from Downstate Danvers wore $3 sequin tiaras from Walgreens and waved under an iridescent-orange sign proclaiming their group's superiority as "Danvers Dollies."
Lauer looked "thin," said "Dolly" Bev Miller, who was happy to see him nonetheless. "And maybe not quite as tall as I thought."
After Monday's show, Lauer flew off to conduct an undisclosed "big" interview. He's piling up newsmakers, lately. Over the weekend, he sat down with Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and his wife to ask about Craig's gay-sex-bathroom scandal. Portions run at 7 tonight on NBC, with more Wednesday on "Today."
In between "Today" segments, I half-joked, "Did you ask him why he's a big liar?"
"That's not my job," Lauer said. "My job is to ask middle-of-the- road questions and let the audience judge for themselves."
Observing the "Today" crowd, it became clear how easy it would be for someone to scream a curse word live to the nation. Lauer and Roker say that's never happened. In fact, they've seen only one seriously weird incident in 12 years of outdoor "Today"-ing.
"A young woman showed her ta-tas," Roker said. "There were two thoughts. First of all: Your parents have to be so proud. And two is: They weren't that good. Put those away. They were real, and not so great."
"As it turns out," Lauer said, "we have a lot of wholesome people that just want to wave home."
Engaging the crowd while broadcasting -- shaking dozens of hands and posing for photos -- looked simple but exhausting. Lauer celebrates his 50th birthday in December. He's starting to question his future on "Today." He can't "run up and down the stairs as I used to be able to."
And he'll want more time to coach soccer and such, once his kids turn 10, 7 and 4, when his contract runs out in three years. (Lauer and Roker employ nannies but say they're home most of the day.)
"You start to think, 'OK, I'm 50. How long am I going to live? How old are my kids going to be?' Some of [those thoughts] are a little morose," Lauer said. "As much of a privilege as ['Today'] is, getting up at sometime other than 4 o'clock in the morning sounds good."
delfman@suntimes.com
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