Today (also referred to as The Today Show) is an American breakfast television show that airs every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series. Originally a two-hour program on weekdays, it expanded to Sundays (currently one hour) in 1987 and Saturdays (two hours) in 1992. The weekday broadcast expanded to three hours in 2000, and a fourth hour launched in 2007.

Today's dominance was virtually unchallenged by the other networks until the late 1980s, when it was overtaken by ABC's Good Morning America. Today retook the Nielsen ratings lead the week of December 11, 1995, and held onto that position for 852 consecutive weeks, until the week of April 9, 2012.^[1]

In 2002, Today was ranked #17 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.^[2]

Current cast[link]

Today is broadcast from Studio 1A in 10 Rockefeller Center, to the left of the GE Building

The first two hours of the show are anchored by Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, with broadcast meteorologist Al Roker, news anchor Natalie Morales, and Chief Legal Analyst Savannah Guthrie. Roker, Morales and Guthrie also serve as co-hosts of the third hour, while Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford co-host the fourth hour. Lauer and Curry typically appear with Roker, Morales and Guthrie at the very beginning of the third hour, occasionally staying on if breaking news warrants it. Weekend editions are anchored by Lester Holt, Various (Saturdays) and Jenna Wolfe (Sundays), all three of whom frequently contribute to the weekday show.

Guthrie substitutes for Curry, while Holt, MSNBC host Willie Geist, Meet the Press anchor David Gregory and CNBC host Carl Quintanilla cover for Lauer. Kotb, Saturday co-host Robach and correspondent Peter Alexander occasionally host, mainly during holidays.

Guthrie is also the main fill-in for Morales at the news desk, while Geist, Kotb, correspondent Peter Alexander, MSNBC host Tamron Hall, Quintanilla, Robach and Wolfe have also appeared as news anchor. Various NBC News correspondents appear at the news desk at weekends.

Regular correspondents include Chief White House correspondent and NBC Political Director Chuck Todd, Mike Leonard, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell, Bob Dotson, Jamie Gangel, and Alexander. Dr. Nancy Snyderman is the network's chief medical correspondent. Jean Chatzky, editor-at-large for Money Magazine, provides weekly financial segments. Sara Haines is the online correspondent. CNBC correspondents, including Amanda Drury, Melissa Francis and Melissa Lee, regularly report from the New York Stock Exchange, while MSNBC and Weather Channel correspondents are frequent contributors. Jenna Bush Hager is a special correspondent for the program.

History[link]

The show's first broadcast aired on January 14, 1952. It was the brainchild of Sylvester B. "Pat" Weaver, Jr., who was then vice-president of NBC. Weaver was president of the company from 1953 to 1955, during which time Today's late-night companion The Tonight Show premiered. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The Rise and Shine Revue.^[3]

Today was the first show of its genre when it signed on with original host Dave Garroway. The show blended national news headlines, interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks (including the presence of the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs as the show's mascot during the early years), and local station news updates. It has spawned several other shows of a similar type, including ABC's Good Morning America, and CBS' The Early Show. In other countries the format was copied – most notably in the United Kingdom with the BBC's Breakfast and ITV's Good Morning Britain. In Canada with Canada AM on CTV and in Australia with the Sunrise (TV program) on the Seven Network.

Mascot J. Fred Muggs and companion with Dave Garroway, 1954.

When Today started, it was seen live only in the Eastern and Central time zones, broadcasting three hours per morning but seen for only two hours in each time zone. Since 1958, Today is tape-delayed for the different time zones. Partly to accommodate host Dave Garroway's declining health, the program ceased live broadcasts in the summer of 1958, opting instead to broadcast an edition taped the prior afternoon. The experiment, which drew criticism from many sides, ended when John Chancellor replaced Garroway in July 1961.^[4]

For many years Today was a two-hour program, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in all time zones except for Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. Virgin Islands, until NBC expanded it to three hours on October 2, 2000. A fourth hour was added on September 10, 2007. In some markets (such as Boston, Massachusetts, on WHDH-TV), the third and fourth hours of Today are aired on further tape delay.

During the first three hours, local affiliates are offered a five-minute window at :25 and :55 to insert a local newsbreak, although the show provides additional segments for those affiliates who do not do so.

When breaking news stories warrant, Today will broadcast a live West Coast edition. The live updates typically do not last longer than the 7:00 a.m. (PT) hour and once completed, will return to the taped East Coast feed. When the anchors welcome the viewers to the show, they will note the current time as being "Pacific Time" and continue to note it as such until the tape delay is started. In some instances, when NBC Special Reports occur during the Today timeslot, the show's anchors will assume hosting responsibilities.

For the most part, Today is aired live in the Eastern Time Zone in most markets while taped delayed in the remaining time zones.

Studio[link]

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The Today program first originated from the RCA Exhibition Hall on 49th Street in a space now occupied by the Christie's auction house, just down the block from the current studio. The first set placed a functional newsroom in the studio, which Garroway called "the nerve center of the world." The barrier between backstage and on-stage was virtually nonexistent. Garroway and the on-air staff often walked through the newsroom set. Glimpses of camera crew and technicians were a frequent occurrence, as were off-screen voices conversing with Garroway. Gradually, machines and personnel were placed behind the scenes to assemble the news and weather reports, and the newsroom was gone by 1955.

In the summer of 1958, television manufacturer Philco complained to NBC that staging Today in a studio explicitly called the RCA Exhibition Hall was unfair (RCA owned NBC at the time). The network bowed to the pressure, and on July 7, 1958, Today moved across the street to Studio 3K in the RCA Building, where it remained through the early 1960s.

On July 9, 1962, the show returned to a street-side studio in the space then occupied by the Florida Showcase. Each day, the Today production crew would have to move the Florida-related tourism merchandise off the floor and wheel in the Today news set, desks, chairs and cameras. When the show wrapped at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the news set would be put away and the tourism merchandise returned to the floor.

After three years in the Florida Showcase, Today moved back to the RCA Building on September 13, 1965. The network's news programming went to all-color broadcasts at that time, and NBC could not justify allocating four (then-expensive) color cameras to the Florida Showcase studio.

For the next twenty years, the show occupied a series of studios on the third, sixth, and eighth floors of NBC's headquarters; most notably Studio 3K in the 1970s, Studio 8G (adjacent to Studio 8H, home to Saturday Night Live) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and finally Studio 3B from 1983 to 1994. Today moved to the current street-side studio on June 20, 1994, providing a link to the show's 1950s origins.

Since the premiere of the 1990s set, the morning shows of each of the major broadcast and cable-news networks has moved street-side—including two of Today's Rockefeller Center neighbors, Fox News' Fox & Friends (at Avenue of the Americas) and CNN's American Morning. (In summer 2005, CNN reversed the trend, abandoning its street-level studio and moving upstairs in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.) ABC's Good Morning America broadcasts from Times Square Studios.

The Today outdoor studio as seen at the Torino Winter Olympic Games in 2006.

In 2006, Studio 1A underwent a major renovation to prepare for 1080i high-definition broadcasting. After the departure of Katie Couric and while a new set was readied (summer of 2006), the program was broadcast from a temporary outdoor studio in Rockefeller Plaza, the same set NBC used at the Olympic Games since 2004 (Athens (2004), in Torino, Italy, (2006), and would be re-used for Beijing (2008). However, it would not be used during in Vancouver (2010), as their studio was the atrium at Grouse Mountain.)^[5] During the week of August 28, 2006, the show was moved to a temporary location outside of Studio 1A because MTV was converting the Outdoor Studio into their Red Carpet booth for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. A mock set was set up in Dateline's studio, also used during inclement weather. Also, they used a temporary outdoor set at 30 Rock,and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann (which joined at Studio 1A in 30 Rock on October 22, 2007).

On September 13, 2006, Today moved back into the revamped Studio 1-A space. The new studio is divided into five different parts on the lower level. It includes the interview area, the couch area, the news desk, the performance/interview/extra space area, and home base, which is where the anchors start the show. A gigantic Panasonic 103-inch plasma monitor is often used for graphic display backgrounds. A kitchen set is located upstairs from the main studio. The blue background that is seen in the opening of the show in home base moves up and down to allow a view of the outside from the home base.

Current on-air staff[link]

Anchors[link]

Today anchors started out as "Communicators." Creator Pat Weaver envisioned a person whose responsibilities would go beyond the bounds of traditional sit-down news anchors. The Communicator would interview, report, moderate dialogue and generally tie the show together into a coherent whole.^[6] Garroway and his successors have all followed that model, with little variation. Today, the hosts are expected to do much the same, and on any given day will talk with correspondents, newsmakers and lifestyle experts; introduce and close each half-hour; conduct special segments (such as cooking or fashion) and go on-assignment to host the program from different locations. Although the "Communicator" nomenclature has since dropped out of favor, the job remains largely the same. The principal anchors/hosts of the show include:

• Matt Lauer, anchor (1997–present)
• Ann Curry, anchor (2011–present)
• Natalie Morales, news anchor (2011–present), third-hour anchor (2006–present)
• Al Roker, weather anchor (1996–present), third-hour anchor (2006–present)
• Savannah Guthrie, third-hour anchor (2011–present)
• Hoda Kotb, fourth-hour anchor (2007–present)
• Kathie Lee Gifford, fourth-hour anchor (2008–present)
• Willard Scott, other (1980–present)

Former on-air staff[link]

Anchors[link]

• Dave Garroway (1952–1961)
• John Chancellor (1961–1962)
• Hugh Downs (1962–1971)
• Barbara Walters (1961–1976)¹
• Frank McGee (1971–1974)
• Jim Hartz (1974–1976)
• Tom Brokaw (1976–1981)
• Jane Pauley (1976–1989)
• Bryant Gumbel (1982–1997)
• Deborah Norville (1990–1991)
• Katie Couric (1991–2006)
• Meredith Vieira (2006–2011)

News anchors[link]

From the show's inception, the idea of providing the latest news has been critical to the function of the program. In that vein, there has always been at least one person on set whose job it is to prepare and deliver newscasts. In 1952, that person was called Today's "news editor" or (informally) "news chief." In modern parlance, the term "newsreader" or "news anchor" is preferred. Under the two-hour format, four newscasts would be delivered, once every half-hour. Now there are only three newscasts, delivered at the top of each of the first three hours. Some anchors, including Jim Fleming, Lew Wood, Floyd Kalber and John Palmer, were seasoned journalists before joining the program. Others, including Ann Curry, have used the position to increase their journalistic acumen, at times leaving the newsdesk behind to venture into the field. News anchors have included the following:

The program in 1961: John Chancellor, Frank Blair and Edwin Newman.

• Jim Fleming, news anchor (1952–1953)
• Merrill Mueller, news anchor (1953)
• Frank Blair, news anchor (1953–1975)
• Lew Wood, news anchor (1975–1976)
• Floyd Kalber, news anchor (1976–1979)
• Tony Guida, news anchor (1979)
• None (1979–1981; Brokaw and Pauley read headlines during this period.)
• Chris Wallace, news anchor (1982)
• John Palmer, news anchor (1982–1989)
• Deborah Norville, news anchor (1989)
• Steven Frazier, news anchor (1990)
• Faith Daniels, news anchor (1990–1992)
• Margaret Larson, news anchor (1992–1994)
• Matt Lauer, news anchor (1994–1997)
• Ann Curry, news anchor (1997–2011)

Weather anchors[link]

For the program's first 25 years, weather reports were delivered by the host or newsreader. Dave Garroway would draw the day's weather fronts and areas of precipitation on a big chalkboard map of the United States, based on information gathered earlier in the morning from the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C. Subsequent hosts John Chancellor and Hugh Downs dropped the chalkboard weather map concept and instead read a prepared weather summary over a still image of a weather map. When the show went to all-color broadcasts in 1965, weather maps were prepared and projected on a screen behind Frank Blair, who would deliver the forecast immediately after his news summaries.^[7] Following Blair's retirement in 1975, Lew Wood took over the newsreader and weather reporting duties. When Floyd Kalber became news anchor in 1976, Wood continued to do the weather (in addition to doing other news, sports, and commercials) until 1978. The weather is reported every half-hour during the program's first three hours, though since Al Roker took over as weather reporter, this is not always the case as an interview by Al at the beginning of the show may air in place of the national weather forecast at least once during the show at certain times during the week, leaving only the local weather inserts by NBC stations.

With the purchase of The Weather Channel by NBC in association with two private equity groups in 2008 and the July 2009 launch of pre-Today program Wake Up with Al on that network, the forecast segment is now often augmented with reports and observations by Weather Channel staff at the site of a weather event or from the Weather Channel's suburban Atlanta headquarters.

Until the hiring of Bob Ryan in 1978, however, no one on the show had practical experience or academic credentials in meteorology.

Today weather reporters have included:

• Bob Ryan, weather anchor (1978–1980)
• Willard Scott, weather anchor (1980–1996)
• Al Roker, weather anchor (1996–present)

NBC affiliate stations are given a 30 second window to insert a local forecast into the program following the national weather report; Roker's outcue for the local break is "That's what's going on around the country, here’s what’s happening in your neck of the woods." (A national summary of temperatures from Roker is shown if no local forecast is inserted in the area, international viewers and to those watching outside Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza.)

The semi-retired Scott, who gained fame through his antics that included costumes and props,^[8] still occasionally appears as Roker's fill-in, and to continue his tradition of wishing "happy birthday" to centenarians. Scott's traditional local cue is "Here's what's happening in your world, even as we speak."

Regular panelists[link]

1973 show panel: Gene Shalit, Barbara Walters and Frank McGee.

The job of "panelist" has no set definition. Panelist duties can range from conducting interviews to reporting on a number of topics in-studio and in the field. Regular panelists on the program include the following:

• Jack Lescoulie (1952–1965)
• Edwin Newman (1952–1984)
• Barbara Walters (1966–1974 as de facto co-anchor; officially titled "co-host" in 1974)
• Judith Crist (1964–1973)
• Joe Garagiola (1967–1973, 1990–1992)
• Gene Shalit (1973–2010)

[edit] Today Girls

From 1952 to 1964, a notable member of the cast was a woman, often an entertainer, the Today Girl. Usually, she would discuss fashion and lifestyle, report the weather, cover lighter-fare stories or engage in verbal jousting with Garroway. Estelle Parsons was the first to hold the job, though her title at the time was "Women's Editor". Upon her departure in 1955, the Today Girl name was adopted. The last to hold the position, Barbara Walters, discussed the job in her autobiography Audition: A Memoir. She wrote that the era was before the Women's Movement, and it was believed that nobody would take a woman seriously reporting "hard news"; Walters described the position as a "tea pourer".^[9] In 1966, Walters was promoted to co-host alongside Hugh Downs, and the Today Girl position was eliminated. Those who held the position were:

• Estelle Parsons (official title: "Women's Editor") (1952–1955)
• Lee Meriwether (1955–1956)
• Helen O'Connell (1956–1958)
• Betsy Palmer (1958)
• Florence Henderson (1959–1960; co-hosted Later Today in 1999–2000)
• Beryl Pfizer (1960–1961)
• Robbin Bain (1961)
• Louise King (1962)
• Pat Fontaine (1963–1964)
• Maureen O'Sullivan (1964)
• Barbara Walters (1964–1966)

From 1953 until 1957, the program featured J. Fred Muggs, a chimpanzee whose antics entertained viewers, but frustrated the program's staff, especially Dave Garroway. Also occasionally appearing was J. Fred's "girlfriend" Phoebe B. Beebe. J. Fred Muggs drew the attention of the growing post war baby-boom children, whom may have encouraged the growth of television sales in the United States, in order to see him.^{[citation needed]}

Controversies and transitions[link]

Gumbel-"Memogate"[link]

In 1989, Gumbel wrote a memo to Today Show executive producer Marty Ryan which was critical of other Today personalities. This memo was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented that Willard Scott "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste...This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in." He commented that Gene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good."^[10]

There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott that Gumbel was shown making up with Scott on Today.^[11]

Exit Jane Pauley, enter Deborah Norville[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

By 1989, Deborah Norville replaced John Palmer at the Today newsdesk and he assumed her previous role on Sunrise. She also began substituting for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. Shortly after Norville's appointment as Today's news anchor, the decision was made to feature Norville as an unofficial third host. Whereas Palmer had read the news from a desk separate from where Gumbel and Pauley sat, Norville was seated alongside the program's hosts at the opening and closing of every show. Before long, gossip columns and media observers predicted that NBC would remove Jane Pauley from the program and replace her with Norville in an effort to improve the program's recently declining viewership by young women, the demographic most coveted by morning shows. During this period Saturday Night Live featured a skit titled "All About Deborah Norville" (a takeoff on the classic film All About Eve), which depicted Norville as ruthlessly scheming to take Pauley's place as Today co-host.

By late 1989, it was announced that 13-year veteran Pauley would leave Today at the end of the year. NBC, as expected, announced that Norville would become co-host. An emotional Norville hugged Pauley on the air after the announcement was made, and many at NBC hoped the negative press generated by Norville's increased presence on the program would end. It did not. Prior to the announcement of Pauley's departure, much of the criticism had focused on Norville's youth and beauty, with many branding her "the other woman" and a "home wrecker," in a reference to what some felt seemed like her intent on "breaking up" the television marriage of Gumbel and Pauley.

Negative press only heightened after the announcement of Pauley's resignation, and Norville was put under a gag order by NBC brass which prevented her from defending herself from the widespread and erroneous reports that she somehow orchestrated her rise on Today. In January 1990, the new anchor team of Bryant Gumbel and Deborah Norville, minus Jane Pauley, debuted with disastrous results. Ratings for the program began to plummet. Critics felt that Gumbel and Norville lacked chemistry and many loyal viewers began turning to rival ABC's Good Morning America (GMA).

By the end of 1990, Today, the longtime dominant program, was officially the second place morning show behind GMA, and most of the blame was pinned on Norville. By the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Norville saw her role as co-host continually minimized. Today aired special editions of the program called America at War, with Gumbel anchoring most of the show alone. It was not uncommon for Norville not to even make an appearance until the two hour show's second half hour. In addition, she was directed not to initiate conversation on the show and only speak when asked a question by Gumbel. Norville left the show for maternity leave in February 1991. It was announced that Katie Couric would substitute co-host during Norville's absence. Ratings for the program rose immediately following Norville's departure and Couric's arrival.

Midway though her maternity leave, Norville was interviewed by People. In the story, she avoided conversation about her recent trouble on Today, and instead focused on her newborn baby boy. She was photographed breastfeeding her son, a seemingly innocuous event, but NBC management was said to be greatly displeased by this, believing the photo to be in poor taste. By April 1991, in light of improved ratings on Today and NBC's displeasure at the People photograph, it was announced that Norville would not return to Today and that Katie Couric had been named the program's co-host. Norville, it was disclosed, would continue to be paid in accordance with her contract, although she would no longer appear on any NBC News programs.

Rumored Couric-Lauer feud[link]

Beginning in 2003 there were rumors that Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were in the midst of a feud. Reports say that this was due to Katie Couric's prominence, that she was generally perceived as handling the news program, and that she was the only person who could guarantee high ratings for a morning news program.^[12]

Couric leaves, Vieira enters[link]

On Wednesday April 5, 2006, Katie Couric announced on her fifteenth anniversary as co-host of Today that she would leave Today and NBC News at the end of May to become the new anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News. Katie Couric's final broadcast was aired on May 31, 2006. The day's show was dedicated to Couric's fifteen years as one of the show's co-hosts, and celebrated her move to the anchor chair at CBS, where she also became a correspondent for the network's Sunday night program 60 Minutes. Couric said during the show, "It's been a pleasure hosting this program, and thank you for fifteen great years." A special video presentation was broadcast, recapping her best moments and news stories on Today during her fifteen years.

The day after Couric's announcement, Meredith Vieira, then a host of ABC's The View announced on that show that she would take over as Lauer's co-anchor in September. Lauer and Vieira began co-hosting together on September 13, 2006.

On June 1, 2006 (the day after Couric's departure), NBC News announced that for the summer of 2006 Today would move to a temporary outdoor studio as Studio 1A was going through renovations to prepare for high-definition. On that same day, NBC News launched a new advertisement promoting Vieira's arrival. For the summer of 2006, Couric's anchor seat was filled with various hosts, consisting of Curry, Morales and Campbell Brown (all of whom were considered candidates to replace Couric), until Vieira took over that fall.

Lauer's contract has been secured for the future years. He has signed through 2012 and has received a sizable salary increase.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2010, Vieira signed a contract that would keep her with the program until at least September 2011, though reports state that she will not renew her contract when it expires at that time.^[13] Vieira announced on May 9, 2011 that she would depart as co-host in the following month, but would remain at NBC News in an as-yet undetermined role.^[14]

Vieira exits, Curry takes over[link]

After announcing her resignation, Vieira departed the program on June 8, 2011. Former news anchor Ann Curry replaced her, appearing alongside Matt Lauer as co-host. Correspondent Natalie Morales replaced Curry as news anchor, with Al Roker remaining as the weather anchor. Savannah Guthrie joins Morales and Roker as co-host of the third, 9am hour.

Selective editing of 911 call[link]

After the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Today was accused of selectively editing shooter George Zimmerman's 911 call to make it appear as if Zimmerman was racist. Today played a recording of Zimmerman saying, "This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black." However, in the original 911 tape, Zimmerman said, "This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about." Then the 911 operator asked, "OK, and this guy - is he black, white or Hispanic?" Zimmerman answered, "He looks black." The Washington Post wrote that Today's alteration "would more readily paint Zimmerman as a racial profiler. In reality’s version, Zimmerman simply answered a question about the race of the person whom he was reporting to the police. Nothing prejudicial at all in responding to such an inquiry... it’s a falsehood with repercussions. Much of the public discussion over the past week has settled on how conflicting facts and interpretations call into question whether Zimmerman acted justifiably or criminally... To portray that exchange in a way that wrongs Zimmerman is high editorial malpractice..."^[15]

Expansion[link]

[edit] Early Today and Later Today

The first brand extension was created in 1982. Early Today was conceived as a lead-in for Today. It even had the same anchors, Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley. The program was conceived so local stations could carry the full hour or one of the two half-hours. After a year NBC replaced it with NBC News at Sunrise, anchored by Connie Chung.

In 1999, NBC canceled Sunrise and created two brand extensions for Today. One was Early Today (not to be confused with the earlier incarnation); the program originally was produced by CNBC and focused on business and financial news before switching to general news under the same production staff as MSNBC First Look; it continues to air on many NBC affiliates. Also in the of fall 1999, Later Today, a talk show that was intended to air immediately following the then two-hour Today, was launched with hosts Jodi Applegate, Florence Henderson and Asha Blake. Sagging ratings for that show caused its cancellation in August 2000; it was replaced two months later by the current third hour of Today.

Fourth hour[link]

Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda (sometimes called The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda or simply Kathie Lee and Hoda) is the fourth-hour segment of NBC's The Today Show. This "show-within-a-show" has its own opening and theme music, anchors, and website.

On September 10, 2007, NBC expanded the show length to four hours, as announced on January 17, 2007 at its press tour sessions.^[16] The fourth hour was originally hosted by Curry, Morales, and Hoda Kotb; Kathie Lee Gifford replaced Curry and Morales on April 7, 2008. Without news segments or input from the earlier hosts, the fourth hour operates virtually as a standalone talk show, with an opening "host chat" segment reminiscent of the one popularized by Gifford and Regis Philbin on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, as well as features focusing on entertainment, fashion and other topics intended to draw in female viewers.

NBC had aired the daytime soap opera Passions from 1999 to 2007 but dropped it to make room on its schedule for the extended version of Today. The fourth hour of Today competes with ABC's The View and CBS's The Price Is Right in most markets in the Central and Pacific time zones, but most Eastern time stations air it live one hour before those programs. Not all NBC affiliates carry the new hour, including Hearst-owned affiliates KSBW in Salinas, California; WBAL-TV, Baltimore, Maryland; and WYFF, Greenville, South Carolina.

On September 26, 2011, this hour began to be rebroadcast as part of what NBC formerly called their NBC All Night lineup in an overnight 2:05 a.m. ET/PT timeslot on weekday early mornings (varied according to local scheduling), as a replacement for Poker After Dark, which was canceled due to legal issues involving that show's sponsor Full Tilt Poker and televised poker in general.

Today in Two Minutes[link]

On May 3, 2010, the show launched a new online-only feature called "Today in Two Minutes," anchored by Today News Anchor Natalie Morales. The video provides brief updates on the day's weather, news headlines and other stories, while giving a look ahead to segments appearing later in the morning on the television broadcast. It appears on the program's website each weekday morning. While it shares a name with a news segment on Today during Dave Garroway's tenure, the current "Today in Two Minutes" otherwise bears little resemblance to its 1952 forebear.

Music[link]

Today Show host Dave Garroway selected Les Brown's Sentimental Journey as the program's very first theme, used during the entire Garroway era from 1952 to 1961. In 1962, when Hugh Downs became host, Django Reinhardt's "Melodie au Crepuscule" was chosen as the new theme; it was replaced in 1963 by Misty, an instrumental ballad composed by Erroll Garner and performed by Bobby Hackett and John B. Seng.^[17]

Misty served as Today’s theme until 1971, when NBC News correspondent Frank McGee joined the show. Composer Ray Ellis penned an entirely new instrumental theme entitled "This is Today", a jazzy, up-tempo piece that served as the program's main theme until 1978. Because This is Today closely resembled the theme Day by Day from the musical Godspell, Ellis was successfully sued for copyright infringement and This is Today was revised. The second version of This is Today incorporated the familiar NBC chime signature (G-E-C) in a bright, appropriately sunny arrangement that was used until 1981, at the close of the Tom Brokaw-Jane Pauley era.^[17] The G-E-C signature was also used throughout the program to introduce and conclude segments, usually in combination with the familiar Today Show sunburst.

By 1982, Today had a new anchor, Bryant Gumbel, and a new version of Ellis' This is Today theme, a looser, more relaxed arrangement that continued to feature the NBC chimes in its melody. A shorter arrangement of This is Today was used for the show open (featuring a rotating globe and Today sunburst) from 1983 to 1985. The main theme was used until 1985, and due to its popularity with viewers was resurrected as the show's secondary theme in January 1993. The 1982 theme now serves as the program's official "anniversary" music, used to open and close retrospective segments as Today approaches its 60th anniversary.

1985 saw the end of the synthesizer era at NBC as composer John Williams wrote a series of themes for all NBC News programs, with a cut entitled The Mission serving as the principal theme for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Williams also composed two themes for Today: an opening fanfare for the program that was derived from the opening of The Mission; and a two-minute closing theme for the show entitled Scherzo for Today, a dramatic arrangement that made heavy use of strings and flutes. In the late 1980s, Scherzo was played in its entirety multiple times daily during the weather scrolls that ran during local commercial breaks; however, most NBC affiliates preempted these segments with advertising. The new Today themes—used in tandem with the show's new opening sequence featuring the Statue of Liberty and a new living room studio set—gave the program a distinctly modern look and sound beginning in September 1985. A series of Williams-penned bumpers featuring the Mission signature were also used to open and close segments.

Scherzo for Today was used as the program's closing theme until 1990, and the Mission bumpers were used until 1993. (One of them could be heard as a station break lead-in on NBC's Meet The Press until 2004.) Meanwhile, Williams' opening fanfare has opened the program ever since its 1985 introduction, with two brief interruptions; new opening themes were briefly introduced and quickly discarded in the summer of 1994 (to mark the debut of Studio 1A) and in 2004. The fanfare was iconically accompanied by Fred Facey announcing "From NBC News, this is Today... with (anchor) and (anchor)." Although Facey died in April 2003, his introduction of the Couric/Lauer team was used for the duration of Couric's era (except for special editions requiring special introductions). Weekend Today announcer Les Marshak became the new voice of the weekday program on September 13, 2006.^[18]

Currently, a lighter theme employing the NBC chimes is used to open the show's 7:30 through 9:30 half-hour segments, and also used as a closing theme.

[edit] Weekend Today

The Sunday edition of Today debuted on September 20, 1987. Five years later on August 1, 1992, the Saturday edition debuted expanding the Today schedule to seven days a week. The Sunday broadcast airs for one hour (originally 90 minutes, until the expansion of Meet the Press to a full hour in 1992), and the Saturday broadcast airs for two hours.

The weekend broadcasts continue the Today tradition of covering breaking news, interviewing newsmakers, reporting on a variety of popular-culture and human-interest stories, covering health and finance issues and presenting the latest weather reports. NBC feeds the Saturday edition from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. first hour, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET, and 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. CT and the Sunday edition from 8:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m. (both Eastern Time), although many of the network's affiliates air local newscasts in those time slots and carry the network broadcast later in the morning. NBC's New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles owned and operated stations air Weekend Today simultaneously (but not live) at 9:00 a.m ET, 8:00 a.m. CT and 6:00 am PT.

Weekend editions are tailored to the priorities and interests of weekend viewers—offering special series such as "Saturday Today on the Plaza", featuring live performances by the biggest names in music and Broadway outside the studio throughout the summer.

Special editions[link]

Ratings[link]

Week of April 25, 2011/ Day of April 29, 2011 (Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton)^[19]

• Today: 6,424,000/ 9,628,000 viewers
• Good Morning America: 5,735,000/ 8,650,000 viewers
• The Early Show: 2,650,000/ unknown viewers

This week was Today's best week since August 11, 2008, which was week of the Beijing Olympics. Also, April 29, was the best single day rating since November 8, 2000, which was the day after the 2000 presidential election.

Week of April 11, 2011^[20]

• Today: 5,662,000 viewers
• Good Morning America: 4,812,000 viewers
• The Early Show: 2,659,000 viewers

This week was Today's 800th week at the number one spot. At ABC, Good Morning America compared to last year has closed the gap by 35%, the smallest gap since 2006-2007. However NBC is calling this week the widest margin in six weeks.

Week of January 4, 2009: Today (8am) averaged 5,998,000 million viewers, Today II (9:00am) averaged 4,447,000 total viewers and a 1.4 rating in the A25-54 demo. It was the hour's best ratings since the week of August 11, 2008. Today III (10:00am) averaged 2,412,000 total viewers and a .8 rating in the demo. It was the most total viewers for the program since the week of December 31, 2007.^[21]

Week of October 12, 2008^[22]

• Today: 4,910,000 viewers
• Good Morning America: 4,250,000 viewers
• The Early Show: 2,660,000 viewers

Only the first two hours of Today are counted above. For the sake of Nielsen ratings (but not on-air), NBC refers to the third and fourth hours as Today II and Today III, respectively. For the week above, Today II drew 2.9 million viewers and Today III' delivered 1.7 million.

Week of June 30, 2008^[23]

• Today: 4,900,000 viewers
• Good Morning America: 3,800,000 viewers
• The Early Show: 2,400,000 viewers

Week of September 11, 2006

• Today: 6,320,000 viewers
• Good Morning America: 4,730,000
• The Early Show: 2,800,000

International broadcasts[link]

• NBC News programming is shown daily on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes a live broadcast of Today.

• In Australia, NBC Today (titled as such locally to avoid confusion with the local Nine Network program Today) airs from 4am Tuesday to Saturday on the Seven Network. Sunday's edition is broadcast at 5:00am on Mondays, following Meet The Press. The program is condensed into a 90 minute broadcast (except for Saturday mornings where the full 2-hour edition is shown), with no local news inserted. However, a news ticker appears at the bottom of the screen, containing National headlines, as well as upcoming information for the Sunrise breakfast show. A national weather map of Australia is inserted during cut-aways to local affiliates for weather. Today is pre-empted by paid programming on regional Seven affiliates Prime7 and GWN7. The top three U.S. breakfast programs air simultaneously on Australian television with the CBS This Morning airing on Network Ten and Good Morning America on the Nine Network.

Also is shown on 7mate at 9am as a two-hour condensed edition.

• Today is also shown in the Philippines on Talk TV with the weekday editions which airs at 9.00 pm local time from Mondays to Fridays after Anderson. Weekend Today airs Saturdays at 8:00pm for 2 hours and Sundays at 9:00 pm local time.

• In the United Kingdom and across Europe, Today originally aired on Sky News between 1989 and 1993, and from 1993 and 1998 on NBC Europe. The show was initially aired live in the afternoons until 1995, when it was delayed until the next morning.

See also[link]

• Where in the World is Matt Lauer?

References[link]

Notes[link]

1.^ Walters was women's editor and contributor from 1961 through 1964. In 1964, her role was titled "Today Girl" and panelist. In 1966, she began regularly co-anchoring alongside Downs. In 1974, following the death of McGee, she was titled "co-host".

External links[link]

• Official website
  • www.klgandhoda.com
• Today (NBC program) at the Internet Movie Database
• “Today” Music History page
• Kathy Lee and Hoda on Twitter
• Kathy Lee and Hoda on Facebook

• Today at TV.com

Look up today in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Today may refer to:

• Current events; see Portal:Current events
• Present, the time that is perceived directly, often called now

News media[link]

Broadcast[link]

• Today (NBC program), a U.S. morning TV news program, also known as The Today Show
  • Weekend Today, the unofficial title of the weekend editions of Today
• Today (Australian TV program), an Australian morning TV news program
• Today (BBC Radio 4), formally known as the Today programme, a BBC Radio 4 current-affairs radio programme
• Today FM, an Irish Independent National radio station
• Today Network, a radio network in Australia
• 2Day FM, a radio station in Sydney, Australia
• Today Today, an Australian radio show
• Today (Thames Television) a 1970s news programme, most famous for the infamous Bill Grundy/Sex Pistols interview
• GMTV Today, a defunct UK weekday breakfast programme
• LK Today, a defunct female lifestyle show presented by Lorraine Kelly, succeeded by GMTV with Lorraine
• heute (English: Today) the main evening news programme of ZDF in Germany

Press[link]

• Today (Indian newspaper), a defunct afternoon newspaper in India
• Today (Singapore newspaper), a newspaper in Singapore
• Today (UK newspaper), a defunct newspaper in the United Kingdom
• Today Newspaper (Gambia), a newspaper in The Gambia, West Africa
• Today Newspapers, a defunct newspaper chain in Texas, United States
• Today, the new John Bull, a defunct British magazine
• Haynt (English: Today), a defunct Yiddish newspaper in Poland
• Danas (English: Today), a newspaper in Serbia
• Florida Today, a U.S. daily newspaper originally known as just Today
• Today, a Filipino newspaper that was merged with the Manila Standard resulting in the Manila Standard Today
• Today, a Chinese literary journal co-founded by Huang Rui

Music[link]

Groups[link]

• Today (band), an American R&B vocal group

Albums[link]

• Today (33Miles album)
• Today (Angela Aki album)
• Today! (The Beach Boys album)
• Today (Elvis Presley album)
• Today (Galaxie 500 album)
• Today! (Herbie Mann album)
• Today (Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge album)
• Today (Junkie XL album)
• Today! (Mississippi John Hurt album)
• Today (Perry Como album)
• Today! (Skip James album)
• Today (The Statler Brothers album)
• Today (Superpitcher album)
• Today (EP), an EP by Everlast
• Today!, an album by The Airmen of Note
• Today, an album by Gary McFarland
• Today, an album by Gigi Leung

Songs[link]

• "Today" (Gary Allan song)
• "Today" (Jefferson Airplane song)
• "Today" (Melanie Brown song)
• "Today" (Poe song)
• "Today" (The Smashing Pumpkins song)
• "Today", by Air
• "Today", by Jesse Clegg
• "Today", by Joshua Radin from We Were Here
• "Today", by KMFDM from Adios
• "Today", by Mad Caddies from Keep It Going
• "Today", by The New Christy Minstrels, covered by John Denver
• "Today", by Sandie Shaw
• "Today", by Talk Talk from The Party's Over
• "Today", by Tom Scott
• "Today", by Zero 7 from The Garden

Other[link]

• Today Art Museum, in Beijing, China
• Today sponge, a brand of barrier contraceptive
• Today (film), a 1930 film starring Conrad Nagel
• Today, the name of the catcher in the Abbott and Costello comedy routine "Who's on First?"

See also[link]

Time portal

• All pages beginning with "Today"
• All pages with titles containing "Today"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Ted Williams
Left fielder
Born: (1918-08-30)August 30, 1918 San Diego, California
Died: July 5, 2002(2002-07-05) (aged 83) Inverness, Florida
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 20, 1939 for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 1960 for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics
Batting average	.344
Home runs	521
Hits	2,654
Runs batted in	1,839
Teams
As player Boston Red Sox (1939–1942, 1946–1960) As manager Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1969–1972)
Career highlights and awards
19× All-Star (1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1959², 1960, 1960²) 2× AL MVP (1946, 1949) Boston Red Sox #9 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team Major League Baseball All-Time Team
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1966
Vote	93.38% (first ballot)

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox (1939–1942 and 1946–1960). Williams was a two-time American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner, led the league in batting six times, and won the Triple Crown twice. A nineteen-time All-Star, he had a career batting average of .344, with 521 home runs, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.^[1] Williams recorded a hit 34 percent of the time; he reached base an astounding 48 percent of the time.^[2]

Williams was the last player in Major League Baseball to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941). Williams holds the highest career batting average of anyone with 500 or more home runs. His career year was 1941, when he hit .406 with 37 HR, 120 RBI, and 135 runs scored. His .551 on base percentage set a record that stood for 61 years. Nicknamed "The Kid", "The Splendid Splinter", "Teddy Ballgame", "The Thumper" and, because of his hitting prowess, "The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived", Williams's career was twice interrupted by service as a U.S. Marine Corps fighter-bomber pilot.^[3] An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a television program about fishing, and he was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.^[4]

Early life[link]

Ted Williams was born in San Diego^[5] as Teddy Samuel Williams, named after his father, Samuel Stuart Williams, and former President Teddy Roosevelt,^[6] although Williams claimed that his middle name stemmed from one of his mother's brothers (in truth, her dead brother was Daniel Venzor) who had been killed in World War I.^[7] At some point, Williams changed the name on his birth certificate to Theodore.^[6] The elder of his brother, Danny,^[8] his father was a soldier, sheriff, and photographer from New York,^[9] while his mother, May Venzor, from El Paso, Texas, was an evangelist and lifelong soldier in the Salvation Army.^[6] Williams resented his mother's long hours work in the Salvation Army,^[10] and Williams and his brother cringed whenever they were brought by her to the Army's street-corner revivals.^[11]

Williams's paternal ancestors were a mix of Welsh and Irish, and his maternal ancestors were of Mexican and French descent.^{[8][12][13][14]} The Mexican side of Williams's family was quite diverse, having Spanish (Basque), Russian, and American Indian roots.^[15] Of his Mexican ancestry he said that "If I had my mother's name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, [considering] the prejudices people had in Southern California".^[14]

Williams lived in San Diego's North Park neighborhood (4121 Utah Street).^[16] At the age of eight, he was taught how to throw a baseball by his uncle Saul Venzor, who was one of his mother's four brothers as well as a former semi-pro baseball player who had pitched against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Gordon in an exhibition game.^[17][18] As a child, Williams' heroes were Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals and Bill Terry of the New York Giants.^[19] Williams graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, where he played baseball as a hitter-pitcher and was the star of the team.^[20] Though he had offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees while he was still in high school,^[21] his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed up with the local minor league club, the San Diego Padres.^[22]

Baseball career[link]

Plaque of Ted Williams in Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame at Fenway Park.

Throughout his career, Williams stated his goal was to have people point to Williams and remark, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."^[23]

Williams played back-up behind DiMaggio's brother Vince DiMaggio and Ivey Shiver on the (then) Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres. While in the Pacific Coast League in 1936, Williams met future teammates and friends Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr, who were on the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals.^[24] When Shiver announced he was quitting to become a football coach at the University of Georgia, the job, by default, was open for Williams.^[25] Williams posted a .271 batting average on 107 at-bats in 42 games for the Padres in 1936.^[25] Unknown to Williams, he had caught the eye of the Boston Red Sox's general manager, Eddie Collins, while Collins was scouting Bobby Doerr and the shortstop George Myatt in August 1936.^[25][26] Collins later explained, "It wasn't hard to find Ted Williams. He stood out like a brown cow in a field of white cows."^[25] In the 1937 season, after graduating Hoover High in the winter, Williams finally broke into the line-up on June 22, when he hit an inside-the-park home run to help the Padres win 3-2. The Padres ended up winning the PCL title, while Williams ended up hitting .291 with 23 home runs.^[25] Meanwhile, Collins kept in touch with Padres general manager Bill Lane, calling him two times throughout the season. In December 1937, during the winter meetings, the deal was made between Lane and Collins, sending Williams to the Boston Red Sox and giving Lane $35,000 and two major leaguers, Dom D'Allessandro and Al Niemiec, and two other minor leaguers.^[27][28]

In 1938, the nineteen-year-old Williams was ten days late to spring training camp in Sarasota, Florida, because of a flood in California blocking the railroads. Williams had to borrow $200 from a bank to make the trip from San Diego to Sarasota.^[29] Also during spring training Williams was nicknamed "The Kid" by Red Sox equipment manager Johnny Orlando, who after Williams arrived to Sarasota for the first time, said, "'The Kid' has arrived". Orlando still called Williams "The Kid" twenty years later,^[29] while the nickname stuck with Williams the rest of his life.^[30] Williams remained in major league spring training for about a week.^[29] Williams was then sent to the Double-A-league Minneapolis Millers.^[31] While in the training camp of the Millers camp for the springtime, Williams met Rogers Hornsby, who had hit over .400 three times, including a .424 average in 1924,^[32] who was a coach for the Millers for the spring.^[32] Hornsby told Williams useful advice, including to "get a good pitch to hit".^[31] Talking with the game's greats would become a pattern for Williams, who talked with Hugh Duffy who hit .438 in 1894, Bill Terry who hit .401 in 1930, and Ty Cobb against whom he would argue that a batter (baseball) should hit up on the ball, opposed to Cobb's view that a batter should hit down on the ball.^[33]

While in Minnesota, Williams quickly became the team's star.^[34] He collected his first hit on the Millers' first game of the season, and his first and second home runs on his third game. Both were inside-the-park home runs, while the second traveled an estimated five-hundred feet on the fly to a five-hundred and twelve foot center field fence.^[34] Williams later had a twenty-two game hitting streak that lasted from Memorial Day to mid-June.^[34] While the Millers ended up sixth place in an eight-team race,^[34] Williams ended up hitting .366 with 46 home runs and 142 RBIs while receiving the American Association's Triple Crown and finishing second in the voting for Most Valuable Player voting.^[35]

1939–1940[link]

Williams came to spring training three days late in 1939, thanks to Williams driving from California to Florida and respiratory problems, the latter of which would plague Williams for the rest of his career.^[36] In the winter, the Red Sox traded right fielder Ben Chapman to the Cleveland Indians to make room for Williams on the roster, with Williams inheriting Chapman's number 9 on his uniform opposed to Williams' number 5 in the previous spring training, even though Chapman had hit .340 in the previous season,^[37][38] which led Boston Globe sports journalist Gerry Moore to quip, "Not since Joe DiMaggio broke in with the Yankees by "five for five" in St. Petersberg in 1936 has any baseball rookie received the nationwide publicity that has been accorded this spring to Theodore Francis [sic] Williams".^[36] Williams made his major league debut against the New York Yankees on April 20,^[39] going 1-for-4 against Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing. This was the only game which featured both Williams and Lou Gehrig playing against one another.^[40] In his first series at Fenway Park, Williams batted a double, a home run, and a triple, the first two against Cotton Pippen, who gave Williams his first strikeout as a professional while Williams had been in San Diego.^[41] By July, Williams was hitting just .280, but leading the league in RBIs.^[41] Johnny Orlando, now Williams' friend, then gave Williams a quick pep talk, telling Williams that he should hit .335 with 35 home runs and he would drive in 150 runs. Williams said he would buy Orlando a Cadillac if this all came true.^[42] Williams ended up hitting .327 with 31 home runs and 145 RBIs,^[39] leading the league in the latter category, the first rookie to lead the league in runs batted in.^[43] and finishing fourth in MVP voting.^[44] Even though there was not a Rookie of the Year award yet in 1939, Babe Ruth declared Williams to be the Rookie of the Year, to which Williams later said was "good enough for me".^[45]

Williams' pay doubled in 1940, going from $5,000 to $10,000.^[46] With the addition of a new bullpen in right field of Fenway Park, which reduced the distance from home plate from 400 feet to 380 feet, the bullpen was nicknamed "Williamsburg", because the new addition was "obviously designed for Williams".^[47] Williams was then switched from right field to left field, as there would be less sun in his eyes, and it would give Dominic DiMaggio a chance to play. Finally, Williams was flip-flopped in the order with the great slugger Jimmie Foxx, with the idea that Williams would get more pitches to hit.^[47] Pitchers, though, were not afraid to walk him to get to the 33-year-old Foxx, and after that the 34-year-old Joe Cronin, the player-manager.^[48] Williams also made his first of sixteen All-Star Game appearances^[49] in 1940, going 0-for-2.^[50] Although Williams hit .344, his power and runs batted in were down from the previous season, with 23 home runs and 113 RBIs.^[39] Williams also caused a controversy in mid-August when he called his salary "peanuts", along with saying he hated the city of Boston and reporters, leading reporters to lash back at him, saying that he should be traded.^[51] Williams said that the "only real fun" he had in 1940 was being able to pitch once on August 24, when he pitched the last two innings in a 12 - 1 loss to the Detroit Tigers, allowing one earned run on three hits, while striking out one batter, Rudy York.^[52][53]

1941[link]

In the second week of spring training in 1941, Williams broke a bone in his right ankle, limiting him to pinch hitting for the first two weeks of the season.^[54] Bobby Doerr later claimed that the injury would be the foundation of Williams's season, as it forced him to put less pressure on his right foot for the rest of the season.^[55] Against the Chicago White Sox on May 7, in extra innings, Williams told the Red Sox pitcher, Charlie Wagner, to hold the White Sox, since he was going to hit a home run. In the 11th inning, Williams's prediction came true, as he hit a 600-footer to help the Red Sox win. The home run is still considered to be the longest home run ever hit in the old Comiskey Park, some saying that it went 600 feet (183 meters).^[56] Williams's average slowly climbed in the first half of May, and on May 15, he started a 22-game hitting streak. From May 17 to June 1, Williams batted .536, with his season average going above .400 on May 25 and then continuing up to .430.^[57] By the All-Star break, Williams was hitting .406 with 62 RBIs and 16 home runs.^[58]

In the 1941 All-Star Game, Williams batted fourth behind Joe DiMaggio, who at that time had broken the consecutive hitting streak record and already had a 48-consecutive-game hitting streak by the All-Star break.^[59] In the fourth inning, Williams doubled to drive in a run,^[60] but the National League was winning 5-2 in the eighth inning, and Williams struck out in the bottom half of the inning in the middle of a rally by the American League team.^[59] In the ninth inning, with the American League trailing 5-3, Ken Keltner got an infield single, Joe Gordon singled, and then Cecil Travis walked to fill the bases.^[60] After that, Joe DiMaggio grounded to the infield, and in attempting to carry out a double play, Billy Herman was distracted by Travis as Travis slid into second base, and the throw to first base was wide, with Keltner scoring, making the score 5-4.^[60] With runners on first base and third base, Williams stepped to the plate. With a two-ball-and-one-strike count, Williams swung with his eyes closed and hit a home run,^[60] making the American League walk-off to win 7-5.^[61] Williams later said that the moment "remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life".^[62]

In late August, Williams was hitting .402.^[62] Williams said that "just about everybody was rooting for me" to hit .400 in the season, including Yankee fans, who gave pitcher Lefty Gomez a "hell of a boo" after walking Williams with the bases loaded after Williams had gotten three straight hits one game in September.^[63] In mid-September, Williams was hitting .413, but dropped a point a game from then on.^[62] Before the game on September 28, Williams was batting .39955, which would have been rounded up to a .400 average.^[62] Williams, who had the chance to sit out the final, decided to play a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics. Williams explained that he didn't really deserve the .400 average if he did sit out).^[64] Williams went 6-for-8 on the day, finishing the baseball season at .406.^[65] (The present-day baseball sacrifice fly rule was not in effect in 1941; had it been, Williams would have hit .416.) Portions of the 10,268 people in the crowd ran out on the field to surround Williams after the game, forcing him to grab his hat in fear of its getting stolen, and he was helped into the clubhouse by his teammates.^[66] Along with his .406 average, Williams also hit 37 home runs and had 120 RBIs.^[39] Williams's baseball season of 1941 is often considered to be the best offensive season of all time. The .406 batting average was Williams's first of six batting championships, is still the highest single-season batting average in Red Sox history and the highest batting average in the major leagues since 1924, and the last time any major league player has hit over .400 for a season. Williams's on-base percentage of .553 and slugging percentage of .735 that season are both also the highest single-season averages in Red Sox history. The .553 OBP stood as a major league record until it was broken by Barry Bonds in 2002 and his .735 slugging percentage was highest mark in the major leagues between 1932 and 1994. His OPS of 1.287 that year, a Red Sox record, was the highest in the major leagues between 1923 and 2001. Williams led the league with 135 runs scored and 37 home runs, and he finished third with 335 total bases, the most home runs, runs scored, and total bases by a Red Sox player since Jimmie Foxx's in 1938.^[67] Williams placed second in MVP voting, with Joe DiMaggio winning with 291 votes to 254 votes^[68] on the strength of his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak and large number of RBIs.^[65]

On December 7, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing the United States into World War II a day later.^[69][70]

1942 and Baseball during the War[link]

In January 1942, Williams was drafted into the military, being put into Class 1-A. A friend of Williams suggested that Williams see the advisor of the Governor's Selective Service Appeal Agent, since Williams was the sole support of his mother, arguing that Williams should not have been placed in Class 1-A, and said Williams should be reclassified to Class 3-A.^[69] The attorney took the case to the Appeals Board and the board rejected the case. Angry, the attorney took the case to the Presidential Board. Williams was reclassified to 3-A ten days later.^[71] Afterwards, the public reaction was extremely negative.^[72] Quaker Oats stopped sponsoring Williams, and Williams, who previously had eaten them "all the time", never had "eaten one since".^[71]

Despite the trouble with the draft board, Williams had a new salary of $30,000 in 1942.^[71] In the season, Williams won the Triple Crown,^[65] with a .356 batting average, 36 home runs, and 137 RBIs.^[39] On May 21, Williams also hit his 100th career home run.^[73] He was the third Red Sox player to hit 100 home runs with the team, following his teammates Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin.^[74] Despite winning the Triple Crown, Williams came in second in the MVP voting to Joe Gordon of the Yankees. Williams felt that he should have gotten a "little more consideration" because of him winning the Triple Crown, and he thought that "the reason I didn't get more consideration was because of the trouble I had with the draft [boards]".^[65]

After going into the U.S. Marine Corps as an aviator at the end of 1942, Williams also played on the baseball team in Chapel Hill, North Carolina along with his Red Sox teammate Johnny Pesky in pre-flight training, after eight weeks in Amherst, Massachusetts and the Civilian Pilot Training Course.^[75] While on the baseball team, Williams was sent back to Fenway Park on July 13, 1943 to play on an All-Star team managed by Babe Ruth. The newspapers reported that Babe Ruth said when finally meeting Williams, "Hiya, kid. You remind me a lot of myself. I love to hit. You're one of the most natural ballplayers I've ever seen. And if my record is broken, I hope you're the one to do it".^[76] Williams later said he was "flabbergasted" by the incident, as "after all, it was Babe Ruth".^[76] In the game, Williams hit a 425-foot home run to help give the American League All-Stars a 9-8 win.^[77]

On August 18, 1945, twelve days after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Williams was sent to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While in Pearl Harbor, Williams played baseball in the Army League. Also in that league were Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, and Stan Musial. The Service World Series with the Army versus the Navy attracted crowds of 40,000 for each game. The players said it was even better than the actual World Series being played between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs that year.^[78] Williams was discharged by the Marine Corps in January 1946, in time to begin preparations for the upcoming pro baseball season.^[79][80]

1946–1947[link]

Joining the Red Sox again in 1946, Williams signed a $37,500 contract.^[81] On July 14, after Williams hit three home runs and eight RBIs in the first game of a doubleheader, Lou Boudreau, inspired by Williams' consistent pull hitting to right field, created what would later be known as the Boudreau shift (also Williams shift) against Williams, having only one player on the left side of second base (the left fielder). Ignoring the shift, Williams walked twice and grounded out to second base.^[82] Also during 1946, the All-Star Game was held in Fenway Park. In the game, Williams homered in the fourth inning against Kirby Higbe, singled in a run in the fifth inning, singled in the seventh inning, and hit a three-run home run against Rip Sewell's notorious "eephus pitch" in the eighth inning^[83] to help the American League win 12 - 0.^[84]

For the 1946 baseball season, Williams hit .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs,^[39] helping the Red Sox win the pennant on September 13, hitting the only inside-the-park home run in his Major League career in a 1-0 win against Cleveland.^[85] Williams ran away as the winner in the MVP voting.^[86] During an exhibition game in Fenway Park against an All-Star team during early October, Williams was hit on the elbow by a curveball by the Washington Senators' pitcher Mickey Haefner. Williams was immediately taken out of the game, and X-rays of his arm showed no damage, but his arm was "swelled up like a boiled egg", according to Williams.^[87] Williams could not swing a bat again until four days later, one day before the World Series, when he reported the arm as "sore".^[87] During the series, Williams batted .200, going 5-for-25 with no home runs and just one RBI. The Red Sox lost in seven games,^[88] with Williams going 0-for-4 in the last game.^[89] Fifty years later when asked what one thing he would have done different in his life, Williams replied, "I'd have done better in the '46 World Series. God, I would".^[87] The 1946 World Series was the only World Series Williams ever appeared in.^[90]