It's hard to remember now, but there was a time when the "Today" show ended at 9 AM, and Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb did not occupy one of the craziest and most wonderful slots on daytime television.
On Friday, the leading ladies of the "Today" show's fourth hour celebrated their five year anniversary on the air together. As they remembered the years gone by, we too took a moment to recall our favorite Kathie Lee and Hoda spectacles.
There was the time they dressed up in dog suits for no apparent reason, the time they described their bikini waxing habits in excruciating detail, the time Kathie Lee dropped a puppy on its head, the time they celebrated Hoda's birthday in amazing fashion, and so much more.
The hour is the place where judgment and reason go to die; where insanity reigns; where the viewer sits and watches, in awe, with a unique combination of slack-jawed delight and pure terror; where not drinking at 10 AM is considered a sin; and where, day after day, the tacky and tawdry combine with the joyful and daffy to make one incredible and deeply watchable package.
The producers at the fourth hour of "Today" put together a pretty amazing montage of Kathie Lee and Hoda's greatest moments beginning with their first day on air together. Kathie Lee revealed that she laughs to Hoda every morning she hears the "Today" announcer preface the show title with, "From NBC News."
"Nobody thinks of me as a newsperson," Kathie Lee said. (Ironically, that statement could be held up as a model of journalistic accuracy.)
"It's easy to kind of dismiss what Hoda and I do on a daily basis," she added. "It seems kind of silly. But it means something to people."
Amen to that!