Get ready for an even more caffeinated version of Today starting Monday. Amy Rosenblum who’ll be producing the show’s fourth hour tells TVNewser, “It’s going to be a more spontaneous version of Today.” Rosenblum teases that there will be “lots of surprises” including a rotating roster of guest hosts who will share the couch with Ann Curry, Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb. “There’ll be a cross section of people who are doing interesting things in lots of different areas,” says Rosenblum. Fashionable foodie Giada De Laurentiis and Tiki Barber will be correspondents for the show.
Rosenblum says the fourth hour will also distinguish itself from the mothership by offering viewers a glimpse of “what goes on behind the scenes,” adding “We’ve never let them in like this. It’s going to be fun.”
Unlike the failed Later Today which bore absolutely no resemblance to its parent (Florence Henderson was one of the co-hosts), the newly expanded portion of Today will offer viewers what is perhaps its most stabilizing and reassuring factor: fan favorite Ann Curry. “We’re really lucky to have her,” says Rosenblum. It’s widely believed among Today show staffers that Curry has really come into her own in the last year and finally gotten her due, earning kudos for her reporting from Darfur, not to mention being Angelina Jolie‘s first choice anytime the actress/ activist decides to talk. Now if the Oscar winner shows up on Monday, we’ll really be impressed.
— Diane Clehane