Kathie Lee Gifford to leave NBC’s ‘Today’ show in April
New drama series on Hepburn
LOS ANGELES, Dec 12, (RTRS): Kathie Lee Gifford will leave “Today” after more than a decade co-hosting the fourth hour of the NBC morning franchise.
Gifford wants to spend more time focused on a variety of media projects, and said during Monday’s broadcast that her decision was “bittersweet, as these things are.” She expects to stay with the program through April 7th of next year – her 11th anniversary co-hosting the hour with Hoda Kotb.
“It’s an exciting time for me, and I’m thrilled about all the projects that are coming up, but it’s also hard,” Gifford said on “Today” this morning.
The announcement puts another hour of “Today” in transition. NBC News recently retooled the third hour of “Today” after canceling Megyn Kelly’s tenure on the program. Many of the show’s anchors and personalities are already turning up to host at 9 am, including Craig Melvin, Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer.
Gifford’s departure will mark the end of a pairing that has blossomed into a morning favorite. When Gifford and Kotb were first matched together in 2008, it drew attention. Gifford, known for her many years hosting ABC’s syndicated “Live” with Regis Philbin, would often poke fun at her co-host, a veteran of NBC News’ “Dateline.” “Saturday Night Live” spoofed the show. But something happened: Kotb and Gifford’s banter and rambling conversation drew fans. NBC began to offer repeats of the show to local stations to run overnight, and Gifford and Kotb became cult favorites.
Their show is the loosest hour in NBC’s “Today” lineup. There are no weather segments, no newsreader. But the hosts drink wine (Gifford’s product) on set and talk freely throughout the hour.
NBC News offered no word on who might replace Gifford or if the fourth hour would be changed after her departure. Kotb took up new duties during the first two hours of “Today” earlier this year, joining Savannah Guthrie as a co-anchor of the show’s flagship broadcast after Matt Lauer was ousted in late 2017. She also hosts a program on Sirius XM and her duties have grown exponentially in recent months.
“When we first launched this incredible hour, no one could have predicted the lightning (or rather, wine) in a bottle that is Hoda & Kathie Lee,” said Noah Oppenheim, president of NBC News, in a statement. “Whether in studio or on one of their many road trips, they have delighted our audience with their distinct brand of fun, friendship and adventure. During that time, Kathie Lee has cemented her status as one of the most enduring and endearing talents in morning television. In short – she is a legend.”
NBC News launched a fourth hour of “Today” at 10 am by canceling the soap opera “Passions” in the fall of 2007, giving the network a new took to vie for viewers opposite “The View” on ABC. Natalie Morales, Ann Curry and Kotb were the hour’s original hosts before Gifford joined the show in 2008.
Epix has renewed “Get Shorty” for Season
The loose adaptation of the 1990 Elmore Leonard novel and subsequent film stars Chris O’Dowd, Ray Romano, Lidio Porto, Megan Stevenson, Sean Bridgers, and Carolyn Dodd. In the series, O’Dowd plays a hitman from Nevada who struggles to shed his criminal past after he moves to Hollywood to become a movie producer.
The series is executive produced by Davey Holmes and Adam Arkin. The series is produced by MGM Television and internationally distributed by MGM, now the sole owner of Epix.
“Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano have so thoroughly embraced their roles, and I know I speak for all fans of ‘Get Shorty’ when I say that we can’t wait for their escapades to unfold in season three,” said Epix President Michael Wright. “The entire Epix team is looking forward to working again with Davey Holmes, Adam Arkin and the MGM Television team to continue ‘Get Shorty’s’ success.”
Epix’s current originals lineup includes “Get Shorty,” “Berlin Station,” and the reality series “The Contender.” They have also ordered shows like the Batman prequel “Pennyworth,” “The Godfather of Harlem,” and “Our Lady, LTD,” and are also developing a number of projects, including an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five.”
A TV drama series about the life of Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn is being developed by Wildside, the expanding Italian production company behind “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend,” with plans to start shooting in 2020.
The Oscar-winning actress was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces of the 20th century and was celebrated for her charm and elegance in such films as “Sabrina,” “Roman Holiday,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “My Fair Lady.” But her life has not yet been portrayed in a high-end skein for the global marketplace.
Wildside, which is owned by global production and distribution giant Fremantle, has announced that its still-untitled English-language show will be based on a treatment co-written by Luca Dotti, Hepburn’s son, and Italian journalist and writer Luigi Spinola. Dotti’s father was Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, whom Hepburn married in 1970 and divorced 10 years later.
Dotti and Spinola co-authored the 2015 bestseller “Audrey at Home,” a part-biography, part-cookbook combining anecdotes, excerpts from Hepburn’s correspondence, her recipes and unpublished family photographs. Their research has now gone deeper, in particular when it comes to Hepburn’s “formative years,” which the series will explore, according to a statement from Wildside. Fuller details of the project have not been disclosed.
Hepburn revolutionized movie glamour with inspired film performances and an understated allure that brought a unique level of class and grace to Hollywood. “With her penchant for couture, she became a groundbreaking style icon in an era of sexpot starlets, melding some of the screen’s most memorable characters with her own regal charm and sophistication,” as a Variety profile put it.