All eyes in midtown Manhattan on Monday may be on those giant Today show studio windows, trying to catch a glimpse of Savannah Guthrie as she returns to work.
When Guthrie anchors the Today show on Easter Monday, a major break in the case withstanding, the Christian spillover-holiday will mark the 65th day since her mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, was taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona. There are still no suspects and there has been no proof of life.
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The most-anticipated comeback in morning TV since, well, ever, will not be business as usual inside or outside 10 Rockefeller Plaza’s (across the street from 30 Rock) famed Studio 1A, where fans of the show gather daily to catch a glimpse of the Today show’s talent and celebrity guests. Savannah will be welcomed home with an outpouring of love via poster board and Sharpie.
Guthrie, who first joined the show for its third hour in 2011 (she had been NBC News’ chief legal analyst since 2008), has been off the air for more than two months, but never forgotten. She visited her work family twice — once for a lengthy sit-down interview with colleague and friend Hoda Kotb — but has been top of mind for much of America throughout the entire ordeal. How Guthrie will specifically handle her moment cannot yet be known, but those who know her (that The Hollywood Reporter spoke with) say it will surely be done with uncommon levels of grace and professionalism. That’s how Guthrie managed those previous tearful, temporary returns.
Near and far from the flagship Nintendo store next door, all eyes will be on NBC (and Peacock) on Monday starting at 7 a.m. ET. Many of those eyes, including some newer ones to the program, have tuned in regularly since Feb. 2, when Savannah first reported to Pima County instead of midtown Manhattan. During this stretch, Today, which for weeks dedicated two segments to the Guthrie case and family (before downsizing to one segment and then again to as-dictated-by news), has surpassed its chief rival Good Morning America in total viewers while expanding its edge in the key news demo of adults 25-54, according to Nielsen data. CBS Mornings is nowhere in sight.
Monday’s Today TV ratings could likely make GMA look like CBSM.
Through no fault of Guthrie’s, there will be a certain level of awkwardness or discomfort on Monday. But if anyone is naturally equipped to handle the toughest of transitions, it is Guthrie, Today‘s 7 a.m.-9 a.m. co-anchor (with Craig Melvin since January 2025) since 2012. Guthrie would not return to her day job if she could not handle the “job” part. As one source from a rival TV morning show put it to THR, Guthrie is “incredibly resilient.”
She also has incredible chops. As much as she may not want to be the story, Guthrie knows that she and family are, both still and also again given the lead-up to the return, which was first announced March 27. It is a Band-aid that has to come off, even if the wound is still fresh. Today will let Guthrie, who is 54, set the tone. Savannah is expected to taper her own story out of the teleprompter as the week goes on and return to some semblance of normalcy — whatever “normalcy” is in such uncharted waters. If and when new information in the case comes to light, Today will walk that tightrope with its star.
Morning shows tend to follow a general format. The hardest news tends opens the show — so maybe Monday’s Today opens on Iran; then perhaps the partial government shutdown. As the 7 o’clock hour dwindles, so does the seriousness of the news, generally. Perhaps a true crime story carries viewers to 8 a.m., when the lighter fare is often cued up. Considering a typical rundown, in our guessing-example, it’s a good bet Guthrie will address the elephant in the room in the mid-to-late 7 a.m. hour, albeit probably with at least a general acknowledgment of her return to open.
The 74-year-old NBC instituion has weathered very public in-house situations before. The first that comes to mind is, of course, one of an anchor’s own doing — and his ultimate undoing. In 2017, Matt Lauer was fired from the NBC News show over a “detailed complaint” about “inappropriate sexual behavior.” It was Guthrie who read the news on TV. It was not an easy assignment, but it’s the job.
It is not yet clear how the competing morning shows will handle Guthrie’s return. Concrete plans will be ironed out on Sunday (yes, Easter Sunday), one source with knowledge of the inner machinations tells THR. The competitors will cover Guthrie’s return as news on Monday and likely reflect on the specific details on Tuesday after clips and context are available.
Elsewhere it won’t be wall-to-wall Guthrie either. GMA, for example, already has a big booking it plans to roll Monday: Melissa Gilbert’s sit down with George Stephanopoulos in which she will discuss the child-sexual abuse charges against her husband, Timothy Busfield. It’s a good get, one that might make things interesting had it aired, say, today. But even Stephanopoulos knows he’s playing for second place on Monday — Savannah Guthrie already owns the day.
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