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Today (American TV program)
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===Pauley to Norville=== In 1989, [[Deborah Norville]] (then anchor of the network's early-morning news program at the time, ''[[NBC News at Sunrise]]'') replaced [[John Palmer (TV journalist)|John Palmer]] at the ''Today'' newsdesk, at which point 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 her 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 among young women, the demographic most coveted by morning shows.<ref>{{cite news |title=Newcomer Deborah Norville Stirs the Latest Tempest in the Today Show's Coffee Cup |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20121367,00.html |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=October 9, 1989}}</ref> During this period, ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' featured a sketch 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. In October 1989, it was announced that 13-year veteran Pauley would leave ''Today'' at the end of the year.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tale Of 2 Women: The Tempest At 'Today' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/10/13/tale-of-2-women-2/ |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=October 13, 1989}}</ref> 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 the network hoped the negative press generated by Norville's increased presence on the program would end. However, this turned out not to be the case. 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=TV News, Women and Deborah Norville : Her ascension on the 'Today' show revives the Beauty Factor issue in broadcast news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-26-ca-472-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=November 26, 1989}}</ref> The 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. [[Nielsen 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'').
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