Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

Al Roker, the weather anchor for NBC’s “Today,” and Hoda Kotb, co-host of “Today’s” fourth hour, will welcome 2017 co-hosting NBC’s live, high-definition coverage of the “128th Rose Parade” from Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2 (11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET) This year marks the milestone 90-year anniversary of NBC broadcasting the parade, beginning on radio in 1927 and then televising the popular annual event beginning in 1954. This will be Roker’s twentieth year as host and the fourth year for Kotb. The event will be held on January 2 this year due to the parade’s ‘Never on a Sunday’ rule. “Echoes of Success” is the theme of the 2017 Rose Parade, the most popular New Year’s celebration in the world. Three Olympic legends are honored as this year’s Grand Marshals – six-time Olympic gold medalist and track and field star Allyson Felix, five-time Olympic medalist and long distance swimmer Janet Evans and five-time Olympic medalist and diver Greg Louganis. The fun kicks of...

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By Olivia Barker, USA Today NEW YORK - Amid the whir of hair dryers huddle a half-dozen women chatting about Lindsay Lohan and Jersey Shore. Cases of makeup litter a counter, behind which sits Kathie Lee Gifford, wearing a Flashdance-friendly gray tunic and a crown of rollers, and Hoda Kotb, clad in black and fuchsia workout gear and expertly applied mascara. No matter that it's 8:35 a.m. on a Wednesday. "It's Winesday," Gifford reminds the ladies. One, a Today show producer, produces a tiny foam flip-flop that hugs the foot of a wine glass and lets an imbiber know whose stem is theirs amid a glut of goblets. Gifford studies the spongy pink-and-purple Chardonnay cozy, considering whether she and Kotb should discuss it during their on-air chat. "How truly elegant," she deadpans. "I never put mine down - that's the thing." Kotb's assessment is slightly more generous: "Oh, that is cute." ...