NEED TO KNOW
Al Roker got a special surprise on air from Howard Stern, who questioned why exactly he wound up in this position.
The daytime TV fixture — who celebrated his 30th anniversary at the Today show on Tuesday, Jan. 27 — got some love from the radio personality, who called in from The Howard Stern Show and simulcasted on Today during the morning’s celebratory chat.
“I’m sitting here doing my radio show and there’s nothing more exciting than celebrating your 30 years in the business. And you know, all the people to appear live, you chose me, Al,” Stern, 72, said, jokingly.
“And I have no idea why. I barely know you. Share with me Al: Do you not know anyone besides me? You must have a friend to appear before me, you and I barely know each other. I’m baffled by this.”
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Roker, 71, playfully fired back that Stern’s appearance was “sad” and a “commentary on the emptiness of my life,” before Stern quipped that he was tasked with coming up with a “phony, baloney speech” to recognize his friend’s TV milestone.
“For you to last at NBC for 30 years is an amazing accomplishment,” Stern said. “I worked there for three years and I couldn’t wait to get out. I mean, they tortured me there.”
He added, “They fired me, they threw me right out of the building and you said to me, ‘I’ll never be fired because I’m never gonna say anything that will offend anyone, that anyone will be interested in. I’m just gonna keep quiet and say, Let me see what’s going on in your neck of the woods.’ That was the famous line, whatever that is.”
Still, Stern called his friend “smart” and applauded him for having “lasted” three decades without having to offend viewers.
“I don’t know why I’m here but I always tell people, ‘I love Al Roker.’ I mean it sincerely, I truly do. And someone said, ‘Why do you love Al Roker?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know why, but I love Al Roker,’ ” Stern said.
The radio personality then nodded to the name of Roker’s SiriusXM show Off the Rails, by joking that there is “nobody more off the rails than Al.”
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Stern’s congratulations came during Roker’s milestone 30th anniversary on Today, which he boarded when he replaced the late Willard Scott on the show in 1996.
Speaking with PEOPLE ahead of his big day, the veteran meteorologist revealed he hasn’t “thought about retirement” and still loves the work he does at the network. “I feel good. I love this job. I love doing it,” he said. “At some point I guess I won’t be, but I don’t feel like that’s anytime soon, so I’m just gonna keep going.”
Ultimately, Roker acknowledged that Today is the result of many people coming together.
“I think that’s the beauty of the broadcast is that the mission over these 74 years has not changed,” he said. “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 … at some point I won’t be part of the show, somebody else will be, but to be part of a pretty cool club is very special. To say that this was a dream job isn’t really accurate because it never dawned on me that I could be on the Today show.”
Today airs weekdays at 7 a.m. on NBC.
