Ann Curry was weak on cooking segments. KILL HER!

Ann Curry was weak on cooking segments!

That’s the horsehit explanation Steve Capus, the idiot president of NBC News gave for why they had to unceremoniously dump Ann Curry as co-host of THE TODAY SHOW.

Yeah. That was the problem. America tuned out in droves because Ann wasn't enthusiastic enough about whipped potatoes.  It wasn't the guests.  It wasn't that NBC's primetime lineup had become a national afterthought?  No, sir.  It was those damn potatoes!  Turn in your apron, Ann.   We can't allow you to bring down the National Broadcasting Company any longer.

Attention journalism schools: Forget international relations. Ditch Political Science. Teach cooking!

You tell me what’s worse -- A top executive of a major television network publicly humiliating a lifelong loyal employee by saying something hurtful and unconscionable or not being excited enough when corn muffins come out of the oven?

Ann Curry didn’t deserve that.  Jeff Zucker didn’t deserve that. Well… maybe Jeff Zucker. But not Ann Curry.

So why was she fired… excuse me – “re-assigned to exciting new challenges?”

THE TODAY SHOW ratings have declined. GOOD MORNING AMERICA is nipping at their heels. Robin Roberts apparently can baste.

Ann Curry is 55. Savannah Guthrie (her replacement) is 40.

This was NBC’s plan all along. Ann was just a placeholder while Savannah got more seasoning. Her goose was already cooked, to use metaphors that obviously have great priority at NBC News.

Everything NBC does this year revolves around its Olympic coverage. The Olympics will bring back millions of viewers who fled because of WHITNEY, THE PLAYBOY CLUB, etc. NBC is trying to maximize that coverage to promote its shows. So they want the new TODAY SHOW line-up already in place.  Pity because Ann is really a whiz on the mesquite grill and would absolute kill it on the 4th of July party segment, but alas, she’ll never get the chance.

Look, if they wanted to replace her it's their prerogative.  But they could have handled this matter sooo much better. And there’s a good chance it will backfire on them. Remember Deborah Norville, Mr. Capus? For years, the co-host of THE TODAY SHOW was Jane Pauley (pictured: right). The audience took to her. She asked knothead questions at times but made a mean strudel. After 13 years it was announced that she was being “re-assigned to exciting new challenges” and replaced by Deborah Norville, who was a rising star at NBC (and younger than Pauley). The audience perceived Norville to be a backstabber who squeezed Pauley out and they just hated her. Ratings plummeted and Norville was gone in five months.  Savannah beware! 

Ann Curry may not be flashy, may no longer be 40, and might not give a fuck how you make blintzes, but she’s the consummate professional, intelligent, sincere to a fault, and even in what has been described a “public execution” she has handled herself with dignity and grace.

Just compare these statements:

Ann Curry to the viewers of TODAY: “I have loved you and I have wanted to give you the world. And I still do.”

And:

The President of NBC News: “We gave her a year to prove herself, and ultimately we came to the conclusion that she had played at the highest level she could. When you’re in the major leagues of our profession, you’ve got to continue to be at peak performance in order to stay there.”

Here is Ann's final sign-off from THE TODAY SHOW. I offer her nothing but gratitude and wish her nothing but enormous success and happiness. For Steve Capus, I hope in three years he's covering a neighbor dispute over sprinkler heads for some Public Access channel.