A Hundred Years in Costume, the TODAY Anchors Dress Up NBC
Savannah Guthrie came as Rachel Green and Willie Geist as Johnny Carson as the Rockefeller Plaza crew turned Halloween into an NBC birthday party
The TODAY anchors marked Halloween on Friday, October 30, by dressing as icons from NBC's first 100 years, with Savannah Guthrie as Friends' Rachel Green and Al Roker as Saturday Night Live's Gumby on Rockefeller Plaza.
The theme was announced at about 8:10 in the morning. By about 8:21 every anchor was out.
NBC turns 100 this year, and the costumes were the show's way of throwing the party early, according to NBCUniversal's announcement. The network has a three-hour live primetime special planned for Thursday, December 10, from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The plaza at Rockefeller Center got there first.
Who Dressed as What?
Nine anchors, one cat. TODAY's own minute-by-minute live blog lists them in order.
Willie Geist came out first as Johnny Carson in the Carnac the Magnificent turban. "If you're going to do NBC 100, you have to have Johnny Carson," he said. Dylan Dreyer followed as Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager arrived together as Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay. "This is right in my wheelhouse," Guthrie said.
Roker was Gumby. Carson Daly came as the singer Ella Langley. Laura Jarrett was Simone Biles and admitted she does not have a limber bone in her body. Craig Melvin was Snoop Dogg, and Roker called it on the spot. "There IS a God! Winner!" he said.
Sheinelle Jones closed the reveal as a Radio City Rockette in a costume inspired by the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, then danced with the Rockettes on the plaza. Jenna's cat, Maisie, wandered Studio 1A as Smelly Cat, the Friends song.
"If you're going to do NBC 100, you have to have Johnny Carson," Geist said.
Who Else Turned Up?
Jack McBrayer came back as Kenneth the page from 30 Rock and toured the building with Guthrie. Martha Stewart surprised Melvin, looked at the Snoop costume and told him the real Snoop would never do that. Carla Hall dressed as Dwayne Wayne from A Different World. Correspondents joined in too. Chloe Melas was Count Dracula and Brian Cheung was George Washington.
The Costumes, by Our Count
Suite 646 sorted the nine anchor costumes. This tally is ours, with show dates from each program's record.
Five of the nine came from NBC programs. Carson hosted The Tonight Show from October 1, 1962, to May 22, 1992. I Dream of Jeannie ran on NBC from 1965 to 1970. Friends ran from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, and it was the only show to land two anchors, three if you count the cat. Gumby came from Saturday Night Live, which still goes out live from Studio 8H, where Jalen Brunson opened the new season in September.
Three anchors dressed as real people from outside the network's shows, Langley, Biles and Snoop Dogg. One, the Rockette, came from the block itself.
Put the dated shows on a timeline and they cover 42 years of NBC history, from Carson's first night in 1962 to the last Friends in 2004. The newest finale on the list is 22 years old. For a hundredth birthday, the anchors reached for the middle of the story.
How to See It
The full set of reveals and the group photo are on TODAY's site. The morning crowd on the plaza is free to join any weekday. Sixty-five floors up at the Rainbow Room, Laura Benanti hosted a theater breakfast this week too.
Carson in a turban. Jeannie in a bottle. Rachel Green, 22 years after the finale. NBC dressed as its own memory.
