NBC hatched an ambitious plan at the top of Grouse Mountain.
There, well before the break of dawn an army of cameramen, crew and news anchors - known to viewers as Meredith, Matt, Al and Ann - broadcast Today from a chalet turned soundstage to audiences across North America.
"At 3:30 in the morning, we all are kind of still rubbing the sleep out of our eyes," said Today executive producer Jim Bell. "We're a family, sometimes in many cases, we spend more time together than we do with our real families."
Camaraderie among the cast was evident Tuesday when Meredith Vieira teases Olympic correspondent Kristi Yamaguchi on camera by calling her Kristi "Yama-hoochie" before a girls' night out segment.
The cast shared a few yuks in a later segment describing Vieira as a "Van-cougar".
"Once we get here the energy takes over and so does the excitement," said Vieira, who stretches her legs on the chairs during commercial breaks. "The show moves so quickly. All of us say the same thing, we can't believe when the three hours are up."
Time can fly in front of a teleprompter but a team of engineers keeps busy producing indoor and outdoor sets, cooking segments, live interviews and segments on skating, skiing and snowboarding while keeping in mind a crowd of guests who are there to be entertained.
Today anchor Matt Lauer said staging such an interactive production can be difficult when just a week ago shoots in New York were scheduled three hours later for the show's 7 a.m. EST start time.
"The stories are great but the hours are tough for us," said Lauer, who turns the charm on like a light switch. "Through the grace of their hearts we've had some athletes join us here live but it's a tough time to do a show."
Most of the cast and crew told 24 hours there's little time for nightlife when broadcasting from an Olympic City.
At least Vancouver's rainy season isn't an issue for America's most beloved weatherman.
"We have a fire pit and one of our guys said it's turned into a wishing well but we're used to that," said the always jovial Al Roker. "This isn't much. I've done weather in hurricanes and blizzards. This is nothing."
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Sketch
- Reporter
- Dharm Makwana currently serves as a web editor at The Province, British Columbia's best read daily newspaper. For more than four years he wrote on issues affecting the Lower Mainland for the province's third largest daily newspaper Vancouver 24 hours. Before arriving in Vancouver in January 2007, Dharm won the John Lott Scholarship for outstanding journalism at Centennial College. Since then Dharm has developed an interest in municipal and provincial politics, crime and policing and social issues including immigration, prostitution and trafficking. He is currently working on a series of stories involving Vancouver's sex workers.
Wisdom
I don't want to be that guy mumbling into his drink at a bar.
-Bill Murray
-Bill Murray