Gail Shister
TVNewser Columnist
After 12 years of malodorous jocks, Today will be a sensory adjustment for new correspondent Jenna Wolfe. “It will smell slightly better,” she says, “and everyone I interview will be dressed… most likely.”
A former sports anchor at New York’s WABC, the spunky Wolfe is expected to debut this week. She’ll do “light features and witty stories,” none of them sports-driven. Wolfe could pop up in any Today hour, says executive producer Jim Bell. Don’t be surprised if she’s part of the anchor mix when Today adds its fourth hour Sept. 10.
At 33, Wolfe is 20 years younger than co-anchor Meredith Vieira; 16 younger than Matt Lauer. Her youth “certainly was a factor” in getting the gig, according to Bell, “but mostly we were going for a fresh face, something different.”
No problem there. Wolfe has spent her career being different. She’s often the only woman in the Yankees clubhouse after a game. “I’ve always been in the minority, and I love it,” she says. “This is the first time I’ll have to play nicely with others.”
Wolfe, who has a four-year deal, says NBC expects “more youth, craziness and spontaneity” for Today, “and I want to be all those things. I’m like a 12-year-old, at heart. I have the attention span of a loofah sponge.”
Except when it comes to Seinfeld. Wolfe knows almost all the episodes by heart and she used to slip a Seinfeld reference into every sportscast. Says she: “I practice Judaism and Seinfeldism.” (Is there a difference?)
This is Wolfe’s second Today hitch. She was a student intern in 1995, when Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel co-anchored. Couric spent most of that summer on maternity leave.
“I remember how big and important everything seemed,” Wolfe says. “Everybody had a larger-than-life persona. In a million years, I never thought I’d get a job here. This is everything I’ve ever wanted, professionally.”
Maybe, but the first question women always ask Wolfe is about naked athletes and their, uh, equipment. (Ex-New York Giant star-turned Today host Tiki Barber, among them.)
“I don’t even see it,” she says. “I go in, do my job and leave. There’s no more ‘awe’ factor.”