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After 30 years on the Today show, Al Roker has participated in a lot of funny segments. But none tops Halloween in 2009, when the Today show cast dressed like hit Star Wars characters.
“I know they probably would hate me bringing this up, but to this day it still makes me laugh,” Roker tells PEOPLE. “It was our Halloween show and we had Star Wars theme.”
Roker, who was dressed like Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, recalled some special guests who made a cameo during the themed show.
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“The folks from Lucas Films provided props and we had an X-wing fighter out on the Plaza. We had R2D2, C-3PO, and ewoks,” he says. “And the ewoks I guess had stopped at the Cantina bar before the show because they were very naughty ewoks. Every time I watch it, I just break out, it makes me laugh because, it’s like, ‘Wow, nobody saw that coming. No one had that on their bingo card.’ ”
During the segment, which has since gone viral, Roker and co-hosts Ann Curry and Natalie Morales were conducting a Halloween party segment when two ewoks crashed the broadcast. They grabbed things off the table, including a martini. Another ewok then proceeded to moonwalk on the Today plaza before grabbing Roker’s leg and humping it.
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“I feel so dirty!” Roker declared at the time.
Curry quipped, “The risk of live television.”
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The segment was replayed on Today on Tuesday, Jan. 27 during the “Aliversary” celebration. Roker pumped his fist in the air, shouting, “My proudest moment ever!” after watching the hilarious scene unfold.
“Every day is different, literally,” Roker tells PEOPLE of his time on the NBC morning show. “From the weather to the crowd outside to the guests we have on the broadcast.”
The meteorologist has been with the NBC morning show since replacing the late Willard Scott in 1996.
“At the end of the day it’s still us talking with you at home and I think that’s the beauty of the broadcast is that the mission over these 74 years has not changed,” he says. “The way we bring it to you may have, and look, the fact of the matter is we are each temporary custodians of this legacy.”
