Television series

Today

Name: Today
Released: 1952
Cast: Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker, Carson Daly

Light-hearted
Dip in and out

Today is the original and still-running morning news and talk show that essentially invented the format in 1952. A daily mix of hard news, celebrity interviews, weather, and human-interest stories, punctuated by the hosts' rapport. It's comfort viewing for people who want to start their day informed but not harried, with personalities who've earned decades of trust.

TVMaze rating

2.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like the bustle of a live, rolling mix of headlines, weather, cooking and chatty banter, the feeling of company at the kitchen table before work.

Skip it if you want a focused, deep dive into one story, since the show is a loose stream of short segments, host chatter and lifestyle items that can feel thin.

What it asks of you: It is long and rolls on without a single arc, so you dip in and out across a morning rather than sitting down for a story.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Good Morning America1975

ABC's answer to Today, equally polished and professional. Offers the same reliable mix of news and celebrity chat if you prefer their particular hosting chemistry or scheduling.

But Feels like a very competent copy rather than the original—it's watching someone else's established format rather than the thing that created the mold.

The View1997

Trades hard news for longer-form conversation and panel debate. Same DNA—hosts with chemistry discussing current events, pop culture, and guest interviews—but more argumentative and playful.

But Opinion-driven rather than news-driven; can feel chaotic or partisan depending on your tolerance for morning-show sparring.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015

Different time of day, but the same engine: a trusted host conducting interviews, mixing monologue with guest chat, with a tight production around personality. Evening equivalent of what Today pioneered.

But Skews heavily comedic and political; aimed at a different energy level and ideology than traditional morning-show neutrality.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Today

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

An American Family1973

Both pioneered intimacy on television: Today through the host-guest relationship and daily ritual, American Family through unfiltered domestic access. Both asked 'what happens when cameras are always on?'

Pioneer documentary series that lived in a family's home for months. Same DNA as Today—intimate, daily access to real people's lives—but flipped entirely to documentary observation rather than celebrity and news.

But Slow, genuinely difficult in places, and intensely unsettling; made audiences uncomfortable about privacy and performance in ways still relevant today.

Morning Joe2007

MSNBC's answer: politics-forward, hosted by journalists who actually debate rather than just interview. More ideologically driven than Today, but the daily-conversation format is identical.

But Assumes political interest and engagement; Morning Joe viewers tend to be news junkies, not casual starters-of-the-day.

Meet the Press1947

NBC's own Sunday political interview show, the precursor to Today's DNA. Serious, foundational American television, proof that the network built an entire house on the strength of talking to people.

But Weekly not daily, entirely political, heavy on policy; doesn't have Today's human-interest warmth or pop-culture mix.

The Morning Show2019

Apple TV+ drama that uses Today as its spiritual template: morning show politics, on-air chemistry, behind-the-scenes chaos. If you love the idea of Today but want narrative tension, this is fiction's take on the format.

But It's a thriller about workplace dysfunction, not actually a morning show. The real thing is far gentler and less dramatically fraught than this portrays.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Both 1952, both about the machinery of daily American performance and connection. Today made the format real; Singin' in the Rain captured the fantasy of what that performance could be.

Released the same year Today debuted, this film is about performance, personality, and the business of entertaining Americans every morning. Gene Kelly's charm and the system around him mirror exactly what Today was inventing.

But It's a 1952 musical, so if you don't like studio-era dance numbers and theatrical sentiment, it will feel impossibly alien.