Sarah Palin made her big Today show debut as a guest co-host, going up against Katie Couric as guest co-host on Good Morning America. INSIDE EDITION has the latest on the morning show wars.
Sarah Palin can now add morning show host to her resumé.
Palin said on the Today show, "Very excited to get to be here with all you New Yorkers and all you tourists."
And the reviews are pretty positive. The Hollywood Reporter called Palin, "Sly and spirited." While The Washington Post said, "Palin cruised her way through the hour." The Daily Beast said she succeeded in casting herself in a new light: "Smarting from her recent portrayal (on HBO's Game Change), Sarah Palin this morning inhabited a new role on TV: affable guest-host."
Outside NBC's studio, Today show fans had their say.
"She seemed very comfortable in front of the camera," said one fan.
"I think she is very poised, always," said another fan.
Palin even poked fun at herself, and posed with a stack of newspapers, a direct reference to the Katie Couric question that so damaged her reputation in the last national election.
Matt Lauer joked, "I see she's doing her homework."
She also faced controversy head-on bringing up the HBO movie, Game Change in a discussion about Ashton Kutcher being cast to play Steve Jobs in a new movie.
Palin said, "Do any of you here have experience with people being paid a lot of money to pretend like they're you?"
But was there tension behind the scenes?
The New York Times said, when Matt Lauer announced that Palin would guest host, "[Ann] Curry smiled grimly, then looked down at her desk, patting papers."
Meanwhile, Couric filled in at the competition, Good Morning America, which is edging closer than ever to the Today show in the morning show's ratings war.
George Stephanopoulos said, "So glad to have you back. You decided to come back for day two."
Couric responded, "I had so much fun yesterday, I decided to come back for more, George."
The ratings are in for the first day of the morning show ratings war. The Today show emerged the winner, with 5.1 million viewers on Monday, 300,000 more than GMA.
Palin dressed in black with a red print scarf and said she made a last-minute wardrobe change.
Palin said, "What I showed up in to wear, Matt, happens to be the same jacket, the same pink jacket from a consignment shop that I had worn in an interview with you almost four years ago."
