MSNBC anchor Willie Geist–who just completed two weeks of live Olympics coverage from London–could probably use a little rest. Yesterday Geist anchored his 5:30 am show “Way Too Early,” followed by “Morning Joe” where he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod. In the 10 AM hour he walked over to the “Today” studio for a segment with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.

I assume he crawled under a desk somewhere to get some sleep, because 12 hours later, during the 10PM hour, he had a segment on “Rock Center,” which included a live studio segment with Brian Williams. Just a few hours later this morning he was filling in for Matt Lauer on “Today,” before making one more trip to the show’s fourth hour to talk to Kotb and Gifford.

That is appearances or anchor duties on six different shows in just over 24 hours. Not too shabby.

The New York Daily News splashed NBC “Today” anchors Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on its front page this morning, featuring a story about the pair prominently on page three. The story claims that NBC was not pleased with Guthrie’s performance last week on “Today,” and is flying in Kotb to help bolster the show as a result. It also claims that the decision to send Kotb was made last Thursday, and that she was supposed to be on vacation this week.

But “they’re just shoehorning her into the show to help bring it alive,” the source added. “They called Hoda on Thursday begging her to go to London because they said it wasn’t working like they thought.”

There is just one little problem with the story: Kotb was always supposed to be contributing to NBC’s Olympics coverage in London. Kotb and her fourth-hour co-host Kathie Lee Gifford even talked the upcoming trip on “Today” almost two weeks ago. You can watch the video below.

Update: An NBC News spokesperson tells me:

“It is well-known that Hoda was traveling to London to participate in the TODAY show’s Olympic coverage because we announced it on our show three weeks ago. She planned to spend a few days in London covering fun Olympic stories, and she talked about it on the show several times. In fact, we started a well-publicized Facebook campaign on July 9 asking viewers for suggestions on what types of stories she should do at the Games.  Hoda will be in London through this Thursday.”

As references, on July 9, Facebook fans of the fourth hour could vote on what Kotb should do when she goes to the Olympics.

They announced the contest–and the fact that Kotb would be going–on July 10. Video of that is after the jump:

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Aretha Franklin says she’d be a good judge on “American Idol,” despite what Kathie Lee Gifford thinks.

On Tuesday’s FHOT, Gifford suggested Franklin is too old to judge the FOX singing competition.

“If they are looking for a younger demographic, there are a lot of kids out there (who) actually don’t know who Aretha Franklin is. It’s sad, but they don’t,” Gifford said.

In an email sent to CNN’s Roland Martin, the Queen of Soul demanded a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and research.

While I enjoy Kathie Lee and Hoda daily, her assessment is totally wrong! I’m surprised Kathie Lee did not research my worldwide celebrity audience! She’s usually right on top of things with a great sense of humor, but she’s totally wrong this time. She should research me before she speaks about me. I’m sure she thought she was right; still enjoy Hoda and Kathie Lee!

So this morning Kathie Lee apologized and clarified, “There is nobody in the world like her. My point was there is a whole generation of kids, some kids don’t know who Barbara Streisand is, who Frank Sinatra is…”

“She’s still mad at you,” added Hoda Kotb.

The lesson here: next time Kathie Lee, “You better THINK!”

There was a very curious moment on the fourth hour of “Today” this morning, during a segment which saw Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford discussing competition among friends when a job becomes available. In an unscripted moment, Gifford talked about being happy for Kotb when she was up for a job recently…

WATCH:

Rachel Sklar caught the comment, and posted about it at Change the Ratio:

HODA: What if you’re in a business, and there’s one job that comes open, and you and your friend are both -

KATHIE LEE: Well that has recently happened around here and I was extremely happy for you!

Two of the morning shows have acknowledged Anderson Cooper‘s gay acknowledgment.

“CBS This Morning’s” Erica Hill, a friend of Cooper’s from her days at CNN, discussed his coming out with country music artist Chely Wright, who revealed two years ago that she’s gay. Video after the jump.

ABC’s overnight show “World News Now,” which Cooper once anchored, gave it a mention as did the pre-GMA show, “America This Morning.” “Good Morning America” didn’t.

On NBC’s “Today,” Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford talked about it on the 4th hour. “He is a sweet guy,” said Gifford. “We just wish everybody to be happy.”

It also was the subject earlier on “Today’s Professionals.” The panelists, Star Jones, Donny Deutsch and Dr. Nancy Snyderman, all seemed to take the cynical route, arguing that Cooper made the announcement for some sort of ratings gain. They seemed to be unaware that his daytime talk show is on hiatus, and that Cooper is in Africa on assignment, not hosting his CNN program.

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NBC News threw a party last night, celebrating the 20th anniversary of its primetime newsmagazine “Dateline.”

While the mood was celebratory, it was hard to escape the elephant in the room. In an address to guests at the event, senior EP David Corvo paid tribute to a number of former “Dateline” staffers, including former anchor Ann Curry who bid farewell to the “Today” show earlier in the day.

“Ann had her own sweet, persistent way of coming into my office, day after day, trying to push us to do certain types of stories that we weren’t doing,” Corvo said. “Her legacy probably on the show more than anything else is ‘America Now,’ which has gotten a lot of awards, was fun to produce and made a difference in some people’s lives, which is what Ann is dedicated to.”

Dateline EP Liz Cole likened the party to a “family reunion,” and it did feel that way. TVNewser spotted Hoda Kotb (who at one point danced in the DJ booth), correspondents Chris Hansen, and Keith Morrison, original anchor Jane Pauley (but not Stone Phillips) and former “Dateline” correspondent and current Fox News anchor Jon Scott. The event, held at Catch in New York’s Meatpacking District, was the second 20th anniversary party for the series in less than a year (see our report from the first one, here). Former NBC News president and “Dateline” EP Neal Shapiro was there, as was current NBC News chief Steve Capus, who praised the program:

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THR‘s Marisa Guthrie reports that Ann Curry will likely remain at NBC News in a “substantial” role if and when she moves off of the morning program.

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter reports that Savannah Guthrie is no longer just the favorite to replace Curry, she has been offered the gig formally.

In a suspicious article (given what we know now about Curry and Guthrie), Radar Online reports that Regis Philbin could be tapped to replace Hoda Kotb if Kotb gets promoted to a new gig at the NBC morning show. Philbin filled in for Kotb last week, rejoining his old TV co-host Kathie Lee Gifford.

Who should replace Ann Curry if she does end up leaving “Today.” The New York Post‘s Linda Stasi argues that it should be the co-anchor of the fourth hour of the program Hoda Kotb.

Kotb is a female Matt Lauer — smart, funny and a riveting TV presence. Both are anchors you’d want when it comes time to announce the end of the world — and, failing that, fry meatballs with the chef du jour on a slow news day.

As it happens, Kotb spoke to a classroom full of high school student-journalists Thursday. The ever-diligent students asked Kotb about the Curry rumors, though the anchor gracefully sidestepped the question.

“In life, you don’t really know what’s coming up,” Kotb said at Loyola University in New Orleans. “I’m actually joyful where I am.”

Despite the leaks last night about NBC’s intention to move Ann Curry off of the “Today” anchor’s desk, it was business as usual this morning on the program… at least on-air.

Ann read the pre-credit headlines, and after welcoming viewers to the program, she and Matt Lauer talked about the east coast heatwave. “As we welcome you to the studio this morning, all we wanted to say was ‘ick,’ it is so sticky out there,” Lauer said.

According to Brian Stelter however, the show had a contingency plan in place, just in case Curry decided not to show up: Hoda Kotb was in the studio early, ready to fill-in if needed.

NBC has not picked a replacement for Ms. Curry on “Today,” so any move to fill her seat, even temporarily, would surely be scrutinized by people inside and outside NBC for signs of the network’s plans. By picking Ms. Kotb to fill in on Wednesday, the producers of “Today” may have been trying to protect Savannah Guthrie (the woman most often mentioned as a replacement) from possible backlash from Ms. Curry’s fans.

Later on, Ann, Matt, Natalie Morales and Al Roker sat on the couch to talk about Lauer’s unexpected cameo in the upcoming Justin Bieber album. It was a typical segment for “Today,” relying heavily on chemistry between the anchors, though yesterday’s news still cast a shadow over it.

Meanwhile as of 9:30 AM ET, the homepage of Today.com had an… unusual… theme running through the pictures selected to highlight the day’s top stories, see if you can spot it:

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Before there was “Live! with Kelly,” there was “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.”

On Wednesday, for the first time in 12 years, Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford will be co-hosts once again, as Philbin fills in for Hoda Kotb during the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today.”

“He is in rare form,” Gifford said this morning. “We are just going to let him show up and let the sparks fly.”

“He is going to be out of control,” Kotb added.

Gifford and Philbin have made TV appearances together since they parted ways on their syndicated talk show, though they have not hosted together on TV since 2000.