LOVE her or hate her, Kathie Lee Gifford was born to do television.
And yesterday, she reclaimed her birthright.
In a business where experience is not as prized as it once was, here she came – a woman of a certain age (54) with an actual resume – to start her new job as co-host of the 10 a.m. hour of NBC’s “Today” show.
The show, which was staged outdoors at Rockefeller Plaza before a mini-throng of out-of-town tourists, was styled mostly as a get-acquainted session for Gifford and her new on-air partner, Hoda Kotb.
Inevitably, we learned more about Kathie Lee than Hoda, though we did learn where Hoda was born (Norman, Okla.) and how to pronounce her last name (it’s Kaht-bee).
“Can you imagine putting a muzzle on this?” Kathie Lee asked, pointing at her mouth when describing how she was ordered to keep her new gig a secret for the last six weeks.
Of course not – muzzling Kathie Lee would run counter to her purpose in life, which is to come on TV and say anything and everything that pops into her head.
Thus, we learned yesterday how she views her marriage to Frank Gifford – “22 years of almost a marriage” (oops!); and why she named her dog “Regis” (so she can say, “Regis! Don’t poop on the carpet!”).
She reported that her kids – Cody, 18, and Cassidy, 14 – have ordered her not to talk about them on the “Today” show as she once did on “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.”
“Nobody’s in diapers in my house anymore,” she said, adding, “Actually that’s not true!” – a reference to her 77-year-old husband that was probably (hopefully) a joke.
Kathie Lee described how Hoda recently came to visit the Giffords at their home and evidently charmed the entire family. “You came up and passed the muster [sic – maybe they were having hot dogs] with my family, all of my kids, my dogs licked you!” Kathie Lee said excitedly.
If Hoda took a licking at the Giffords, she was still ticking yesterday, even if the 10 o’clock “Today” show was not the program’s finest hour.
Among the gaffes was a pre-prepared question from an audience member for guest Harvey Fierstein, who’s openly gay. The question was: What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
“That’s not the one you particularly care about, right?” Kathie Lee interjected, saving the day.
At another point, a photograph of Paula Abdul’s face appeared on screen for a split second coming out of an Egg Beaters commercial. NBC had no explanation for its subliminal Paula, although, for some reason, I had a sudden hankering to watch “American Idol.”
I also had a feeling that TV in general had suddenly improved, now that Kathie Lee Gifford has returned.