MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Come Monday, daytime TV will look different. That's because today was the last day of Anchor Hoda Kotb's time on the "Today" show after 17 years. To send her off, the show aired a special celebration, a Hoda-bration (ph), they called it. Well, congratulations. And here's NPR's Andrew Limbong.
ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: Let's hold off on the tearful goodbyes and weepy montages for a sec and start with a hello.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: From NBC News...
LIMBONG: In 2007, NBC expanded its morning flagship show, "Today," to a fourth hour.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: ...With Ann Curry, Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb.
LIMBONG: And while she was last billed there that first day, by the next year, Kotb was the star of the show, along with a new co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford. Their first show together was literally them getting to know each other live on the air. Here's Kotb.
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HODA KOTB: I was born in a little town - not little - but called Norman, Oklahoma.
KATHIE LEE GIFFORD: I know Norman, Oklahoma.
H KOTB: OK, I was born in Norman, Oklahoma and grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia, OK?
GIFFORD: Haven't been there.
H KOTB: West Virginia. I was...
GIFFORD: Is that a steel town?
H KOTB: What - yes.
GIFFORD: OK.
H KOTB: And it also - it's a coal town, and also...
LIMBONG: You can hear them feeling out their dynamic here, one that audiences would come to love for more than a decade until Gifford left in 2019. But Gifford made a surprise return to the NBC set at this morning's Hoda-bration to toast Kotb away, with everyone holding impossibly large wine glasses filled close to the top.
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GIFFORD: I think what I want to send her off with - which is what she knows from my heart means the most of me - is that I'm sending you off with a prayer.
LIMBONG: This was the tone for a lot of the broadcast this morning, with tissues being grabbed through special surprise appearances from Gayle King, Jimmy Fallon, Kotb's own mom...
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SAMEHA KOTB: Hodie, I'm proud of you.
LIMBONG: ...And, of course, Kotb's current co-host, Jenna Bush Hager.
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JENNA BUSH HAGER: You have taught me to look, really look, into the eyes and the hearts of our guest and to listen, how to really listen.
LIMBONG: This was the special sauce that Kotb brought to the "Today" show formula. In 2018, she was promoted to co-anchor the earlier hours of the "Today" show, alongside Samantha (ph) Guthrie. This was after former anchor Matt Lauer got fired following allegations of sexual misconduct. And in that position, Kotb shined as she interviewed people. In her recent interview with TV food personality Ina Garten, Kotb asks her multiple times about Garten's difficult relationship with her mom growing up...
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H KOTB: What about hugs and kisses?
INA GARTEN: No hugs and kisses in my family (laughter).
LIMBONG: ...Until Kotb gets enough information to ask this.
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H KOTB: How did you know that your mother loved you?
GARTEN: I'm not sure that I did. I don't know that she was capable.
LIMBONG: Kotb didn't just ask questions. She revealed a lot about herself on air - her health, her breakup, her adopting two kids. It felt like a two-way street for daytime TV audiences. And so, after Kotb ended this morning's broadcast thanking her staff...
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H KOTB: And second of all, I want you to look into the eyes of the people who are behind me right now. This is our longtime staff, our incredible crew, our producers. They all came. They're all here.
LIMBONG: ...It was the audience that sent her off with a cheer.
(CHEERING)
LIMBONG: Andrew Limbong, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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