"THE TODAY SHOW"

A Risky Morning Show

On 14 January 1952, at 7:00 A.M., NBC premiered "The Today Show." A risky offering in the until-then-barren early-morning television hours, "Today" faced problems that other television programs did not face. First, "Today" faced an audience that was more concerned with preparing for work or school than watching a television show. NBC executive Pat Weaver, who proposed the show to the network, outlined in a planning memo what the show hoped to accomplish:

We are not trying to get people to rise earlier to see the show, nor to stay at home and be late.… We therefore must repeat key information … all important hunks or points should be made in each of the two hours … We are not trying to get a 10 rating for two hours, but we are trying to get sixty per cent of all sets to turn on the show, with time from the viewers varying between a fast two-minute look at the time and the headline from a bachelor who eats out and has a big apartment… to a longish hour from a large family … where the father hits the road at 7:50 and the kids leave for school at 8:40.

Affiliate Doubts

Second, the show's producers had to negotiate with the network affiliates, the local broadcast stations, to convince them to carry the show. Affiliates, the majority of which did not carry any shows before 10:00 A.M., were reluctant to add the show since it would leave them with an empty hour between the end of "The Today Show" at 9:00 A.M. and the beginning of their broadcast day. Weaver finally persuaded thirty-one affiliates by agreeing to give each station five minutes of every half hour for their own local newscasts, a concession which gave them a larger stake in the success of the show.

The Show's Cast

"Today" was hosted by Dave Garroway, an affable eccentric. The news was delivered by Jim Fleming, a former foreign correspondent. Garroway's assistant on the telecast was Jack Lescoulie. Garroway's on-air persona was so laid-back early in the show's run as to be laughable. An early Garroway interview on "Today" shows the tenor of his laconic style:

Garroway: "Hello, Ed Lasker in Frankfurt. Tell me the news in your part of the world."

Lasker: "The big news is the weather. We had our first big storm of the year. We're really chilly."

Garroway: "You're not alone. Good-bye, Ed."

Need for Spice

Garroway was charming but also slightly boring. In January 1953 the ratings for the show were respectable but not large. The number of affiliates had grown to forty. The "Today" producers decided that the show needed someone, or something, to add spice to the mix.

Chimp to the Rescue

Early in 1953 the show introduced a new cast member, a chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs. Introduced as comic relief, the chimp had the double effect of attracting children and, through them, their parents to the show and of making Dave Garroway seem more serious by comparison. Whatever the effects, the ratings of "Today" skyrocketed.

Success and the Monkey's Departure

Muggs remained on the show until mid 1957, when the chimp's erratic behavior—he made a habit of biting Garroway and terrorizing "Today" guests—became too much of a burden. By this time the show was a ratings and financial success, and the network had few qualms about dismissing the chimp. Still, NBC felt it necessary to provide a replacement chimp, Mr. Kokomo, who did not remain for long and was the last animal star of "Today."

Enduring Popularity

From a risky venture in the beginning, "Today" became during the 1950s a fixture of the emerging television culture of the United States. It also showed the networks that television viewing was not limited to the time slots that had proved popular with radio. Still broadcast in the 1990s, "Today" has become the longest-running television show in history.

THE FIRING OF JULIUS LA ROSA

On 19 October 1953 the young singer Julius La Ros a was fired by Arthur Godfrey from Godfrey's daily television show. What was notable in this mundane business decision was that Godfrey carried out the firing without warning live on television. After La Rosa finished singing a song near the end of the Monday morning show, Godfrey faced the camera and issued a thirty-eight-word statement:

That was Julie's swan song with us. He goes now out on his own, as his own star, soon to be seen on his own program, and I know you wish him God-speed as I do. Bye, Bye.

The singer was shocked, as were the estimated 7 million viewers. Godfrey justified the firing on the grounds that La Rosa had "lost his humility." He claimed that the singer had written him a note, saying that "in the future, when you wish to talk to me, please see my agent."

La Rosa disputed Godfrey's account, denying that he had approached Godfrey with anything resembling the haughtiness reported. The real problem, La Rosa explained, was that he had signed a contract with an outside agent, General Artists Corporation. Whatever the reason, the incident boosted La Rosa's career. On the day following his dismissal, La Rosa was hired to appear on Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" show at three times his Godfrey salary of nine hundred dollars per week.

During the two years following his firing by God-frey, La Rosa grossed over __BODY__ million and had over thirty hit records. La Rosa—whose conversation was reported by Look to be filled with lines such as, "Cyrano de Bergerac said, 'I carry my adornments on my soul' … Man, that gasses me."—thanked the firing for an intellectual rebirth as well as a financial windfall.

Explaining why he had read Winston Churchill's World War II histories, works by Voltaire, and biographies of Michelangelo and Saint Francis of Assisi during the two years on his own, La Rosa said,

I started to read when I got off the Godfrey show, partly because of shock. I wanted to find out the reason behind things that happen to you. Also, I began being exposed to people who'd drop names like Schopenhauer or Kant. Then I'd say, "Who's he? Playing first base for the Giants?" I wanted to see for myself what they were talking about, and I also wanted to find out if these talkers were phonies or if they really knew.

The firing of La Rosa had the opposite effect of that Godfrey intended, establishing a career rather than ending it. As New York Times critic Jack Gould commented,

[Godfrey's] error actually was in forgetting his own humility while complaining that others had. After all, he was doing what he thought best for his own career, yet at the same time he was objecting to Mr. La Rosa following his example.

Sources:

"Godfery Confirms Dismissing La Rosa," New York Times, 22 October 1953, p. 42;

Jack Gould, "More About Dispute With La Rosa and Public Reaction," New York Times, 26 October 1953, p. 32;

Eleanor Harris, "Julius La Rosa's Life Since Godfrey," Look, 20 (15 May 1956): 67-81.

Source:

Robert Metz, The Today Show (Chicago: Playboy, 1977).