Meredith Debuts: Morning Papers, Part 1

By Brian 

> St. Petersburg Times: “For now, in the show’s faux-family structure, Vieira is the nervous stepmom, trying hard to say everything right and make sure the kids really, really come to like her. Judging by Wednesday’s performance, she has given us very few reasons not to…”

> Providence Journal: “Some of the camaraderie between Lauer and Vieira seemed a bit forced, especially given that yesterday was Vieira’s first day on the job…”

> Houston Chronicle: “She proved versatile and self-deprecating and more than capable of handling one of television’s toughest jobs…”

> USA Today: “A relatively slow news day let Today do what it clearly wanted to do: devote two hours to introducing its new addition…”

> Boston Herald: “Her debut exposed how soft the 54-year-old Today has become. The show devoted approximately 45 minutes of airtime to its wedding couple challenge. The only highlight? Seeing Vieira smudge some wedding cake on Lauer’s nose. NBC executives were probably cheering at the symbolism…”

> Hartford Courant: “In a three-hour program, we heard just a sentence about primary elections held Tuesday (and only one result) and saw some footage of a raging wildfire in the West but didn’t hear from a reporter there…”

> Philadelphia Inquirer: “Still she was trying too hard. It looked more like an audition for Desperate Housewives…”

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