The former 'Today' co-anchor plays a game with Jennifer Lopez and Hoda Kotb, and weeps when her sons make surprise appearances.
- Sep 9, 2014
AceShowbiz - Meredith Vieira debuted her new syndicated daytime talk show, "The Meredith Vieira Show", on Monday, September 8. The former co-host on "The View" told her audience that she returned to daytime television because "I missed you. I did." She explained, "Daytime television has this unique ability to reach people on a personal level... It's a privilege and I don't take it for granted."
She was joined by her husband Richard Cohen and daughter Lily in the first episode, jokingly saying that Lily's "now officially my favorite child because you're the one who showed up." She said her sons, Ben and Gabriel, could not make it, but they surprised her as they showed up after her husband and her daughter introduced a video which revealed her bad habits, embarrassing traits and that she loves surprises.
"I'm gonna have a heart attack. THIS is what it takes to get my family together. Thank you syndication!" she said while weeping.
Vieira later made the audience laugh when she played a name-that-tune game called "Car-aoke" with guests Jennifer Lopez and Hoda Kotb. She and Kotb took turns singing pop tunes which J.Lo had to figure out. At one point, the "American Idol" judge complained, "I know the words - but the melody's so bad!"
She gave away HP laptops to the audience, who responded to it with screams of joy. The former "Today" co-anchor also welcomed girls with physical challenges, who performed a dance. She later helped make the girls' dream to perform at Lincoln Center come true. "You don't have to dream about it any more!" she said. "Big Thank you to New York City Ballet to have helped these incredible girls for helping realize their dream."
