A couple that gets together stays together, or something: If so, then the double-kudos for "Today" show duo Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira should serve their partnership well. Matt Lauer will have the first prime time interview with Senator Larry Craig, airing as a special "Matt Lauer Reports" next Tuesday, Oct. 16th at 8:00 pm (with excerpts to run on "Today" the following day), and Meredith Vieira has secured the "first-ever live television interview" with Valerie Plame on Monday, Oct. 22nd — the release date for her book, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House (that one will run in the morning).
It's obviously a function of timing, but the fact that these two gets were gotten at the same time bodes well for the Matt-Meredith relationship. Each of them have seemed to be pointedly given the chance to shine, showcased as newsmakers with important interviews as well as chummy morning anchors smiling their way through segments you can drink your coffee too. In the previous incarnation of the "Today" show (remember? Katie Couric used to host!) Lauer was often overshadowed by his leggy, toothy co-anchor; when she announced her move to CBS, the NYT called Couric "the most successful host in the more than 50-year history of NBC's 'Today' show. Who knows who between him and Katie would have taken this interview (or his interview with the Princes etc.) but in this new incarnation of "Today" he is getting more of his due.
One possible signal of this is next week's prime-time special — the first such "Matt Lauer Reports," NBC confirms, and one not affiliated with "Dateline" besides. Couric used to have her awkwardly-named "Katie at Night" (if you're ready for prime time, need you shout it so?), and both Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw have had their own "Reports" NBC News specials. The Dateline/non-Dateline distinction has some significance — is this person a big enough draw to take them outside the established newsmagazine framework, and audience? — but the significance seems to be in NBC's confident highlighting of Lauer the newsman separate and apart from Lauer the morning utility player.
(A separate question: What, if anything, does this say about Dateline? Is it less that Lauer is ready for his own special than the fact that the Dateline brand has moved on to "To Catch A Predator?" The William-and-Harry interview was a Dateline special. Perhaps all it says is that Lauer's Larry Craig interview has a wide enough stance to bridge both morning show and newsmagazine. When in doubt, punt on your own question with a very obvious joke. But either way, Laeur's special is not affiliated with the newsmagazine, and that's unusual.)
Meanwhile, getting back to our hed above, Lauer's no-longer-new new partner, Vieira, is getting her share of plums (Plame, J.K. Rowling) and is developing on her own as co-anchor without being unduly dwarfed by Matt's incumbent star power. Last May David Bauder dubbed Lauer "the King of morning TV" (after the abdications of Couric and Charlie Gibson from their respective thrones); it looks like his reign is shaping up to be one of those enlightened, peaceful ones, with plenty of room for a Queen. Yes, the metaphor just went a little too far, but for the moment at least it's nice to know that no one will be chopping anyone's head off anytime soon. Okay we're done here. Good luck on Tuesay, Matt!
Photo courtesy of AP via People.com