I don’t usually watch The Today Show (“Today on Today- a two minute report on a cholera epidemic that killed three million people in Pennsylvania, a cursory look at a terrorist attack that threatens to end civilization as we know it, plus Al makes candles from his liposuction fat and Matt gets a one hour makeover from Carson & Kyan!”) but I happened to see it this morning.
Katie Couric was interviewing Mark Burnett (the producer of ‘Survivor’, ‘The Apprentice’, Ecochallenge, etc.). Now Burnett is not a controversial figure to my knowledge, he’s not accused of any wrongdoings and he’s not testifying before Congress, but Katie asked him several questions that warranted a “Go straight to hell, bi-atch!” response.
She asked him repeatedly how much money he had made from his shows. I don’t think it’s a secret that producers/owners of hit shows clean up- I’m sure the figure is in the tens of millions conservatively- but it’s a very rude question whether you ask it to Donald Trump or the doorman at his building. And she kept on and on asking it!
Then what I really thought took some nerve: she mentioned that he is dating Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey. No problem, fair game, this is basically an ET type interview. Then she asks if there are wedding plans- again, no great problem. Then when he hesitates she asks “Are you going to make an honest woman of her Mark?” which is slightly ill-taste (as even if jokingly it implies Downey’s currently a fallen woman), but then goes on to say “Of course why buy the cow if you’re getting the milk for free?”
I’d have pulled off the pumps and heel and gone all Shirley Q. Liquor on her personally, but he weathered it with grace. Is she always like this or was she just riding the cotton pony today or what? I thought it was as rude a hell piece of fluff as I’ve ever seen.
Personally I would have stomped off the set in a snit at the “Of course why buy the cow if you’re getting the milk for free?” comment, but lines like this
I’m not being held to any standards of professional conduct.
I’m not embarassing any person on nationwide TV.
If Vicky Lawrence can use it as Mama on an episode of The Carol Burnett Show in one of the funniest improvs of all time and it can be shown in prime-time, it can’t be that misogynistic
I have the show on pretty much every morning, including this morning, and I heard her ask him only once, and at the end of the interview, how much he made. He answered something like ‘not as much as you make, Katie’ and she said, “Touche.” She did not seem rude in any way. I was doing other things while it was on so I didn’t hear it all, but some of what you report just sounds like friendly banter.
OMG, did she really say this? I’d have asked if she felt guilty that dating again would degrade the memory of her dead husband. Or, “You should know you f’in com”.
It’s banter. Unscripted banter is hard. Unscripted banter when your stage manager is counting you down to the exact second when the computer takes over and runs a commercial is even harder.
Doesn’t anyone remember when Bryant Gumbel hosted the Today show? Man, you talk about RUDE!
Personally, I would have taken the “honest woman” crack to be a below-the-belt reference to Downey’s affair with married actor Michael Nouri while she was appearing on “Touched by an Angel” (an affair that made things a bit tense with strait-laced co-star Della Reese), especially if I were the woman’s current paramour…
I remember what an ass Gumbel was. One time he had Pat Buchanen on the show (even though I hate PB) Pat said “Hi Bryan, nice to see you” Gumbel responded “Wish I could say the same” and then went on to ask him questions.
So she prefaced a question by admitting it was tacky, asked for permission, got it, then simply and good-naturedly dropped it when it was turned back on her? Why, the nerve of that hateful little pig!
And then she used a joking, crass euphemism (like "big chunk of change in the bank) parodying the annoying questions about getting married that all couples who’ve recently started dating get? Clearly, she’s looking to be fired.
So where did y’all find a henhouse with an internet connection, anyway?
For what it’s worth, they were both at Trump’s wedding saturday night, probably saw and talked to each other there since they’re both involved with NBC.
those are rude question’s, imho. If asked in private it’s rude, on national tv…pretty smarmy. Didn’t Couric’s marriage just break up too??
Um … no, her marriage didn’t just break up, her husband died several years ago.
I don’t think she’s rude but she may have thought she could get away with being overly familiar in this case. Maybe she was still sauced from the wedding celebration? Maybe she was hungover?
Riding the cotton pony? That’s a new one for me.
I never have been able to tolerate that unctuous little creature for more than a few seconds. She is, without a doubt, the worst muppet ever created by the Jim Henson Company.