What could possibly go wrong?
I don’t really care for either, so I’m voting for not watching either one, but hey, it’s still news.
Sarah Palin will guest host the Today show Thursday morning morning in the same timeslot that Katie Couric will guest-host Good Morning America. Contrary to popular belief, the result of such a collision is not of apocalyptic proportions, but it could be close.
In the age of time shifting and PVR, true fans of a likely media spectacle can watch both, but I think in terms of the original show ratings, Palin will take the cake. Conservatives–who generally don’t watch morning television–will tune in to support their girl; liberals will tune into Palin in hopes of seeing a trainwreck start from the first minute.
According to Entertainment Weekly:
Under normal circumstances, this head-on competition between two such charismatic and formidable figures is the stuff producers pray to the ratings gods for. Add to that the contentious relationship between the news anchor and the conservative political star, and now you have a full-on media event. Below, refresh your memory of Couric and Palin’s first encounter, then tell us which woman you’ll be watching.
Of course, most Americans are well aware of the tense circumstances under which then-Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Katie Couric first met, during Palin’s awkward, embarrassing interview with Couric during the 2008 election campaign, when Palin was running as Sen. John McCain’s running mate.
Sarah Palin appeared to have been caught off guard when Couric asked her which newspapers she read and Palin was hard-pressed to name a single one. Following the debacle were spoofs on Saturday Night Live and frequent primetime news replays of the interview. (Couric seemed to fare better from the run-in, winning the Walter Cronkite Award for Journalism Excellence and the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for the interview.)
