What Is Career Suicide?

Admittedly, morning shows are not my thing. I am not a morning person and the last thing I want to see at that hour are people who are abnormally chipper. Plus, the shows don't often give me the information I really want. It may sound strange, but at 7 AM the best way to clean my carpets is not fresh on my mind. Back in the day they might have provided some kind of service, but from the clips I catch now it is four minutes of news (most of which happened yesterday) and then a long interview with a star of some show on the same network pimping their premiere, which I will also not want to watch. If I watch anything in the morning it is either "SportsCenter", "Morning Drive" on the Golf Channel or the local news and even that is just for the weather. I have begun to feel like morning shows are fading in the same way late-night talk shows are losing their relevance. What's even weirder is that they are also the same in that the people who work in television are the last one to see this and continue to treat these jobs as if they are the end-goal for every kid who ever picked up a microphone.

Last week rumors surfaced that Jay Leno is again on his way out of "The Tonight Show" and that Jimmy Fallon will replace him, which led to all sorts of people talking about who will get Fallon's current job as host of the "The Late Show". Oh, you mean who will get to host a show which starts after midnight on a third-place network? Yeah, let's all fight over that one. Similarly, after a long run at the top of the morning-show ratings the "Today" program has begun to slip down in the last couple of years. They've tried swapping out co-hosts and adding different segments, but nothing has slowed the slide. Since they have run out of other things to change there is talk long-time host Matt Lauer is on his way out, even though he just signed a massive extension about a year ago. (For the first time Lauer has also started to catch a little heat as the main antagonist for the way co-host Ann Curry was quickly dumped. No idea if it is deserved or not, but where there is smoke there is usually fire.) It's not that big of a deal - everyone in TV gets fired eventually. But what I can't understand is why people seem anxious to fill his spot. Yes, you too can get up at 3 AM for the chance to talk to Gary Busey once he gets fired from "The Apprentice" again. Thanks, but you can keep that job.

But, don't feel bad for Lauer, because reports are that he is already in line for a new gig - host of "Jeopardy." This is surprising for a couple of reasons. First, I thought Alex Trebek was going to do that job until he dropped. Secondly, I thought game show host was what you did when you couldn't get anything else. If Lauer really is getting pushed out the door at NBC you would think he would have plenty of opportunities before even thinking about hosting a game show. He may not get the hard-hitting news job that Katie Couric was given when she first left "Today" (and given how her ratings were, that may be for the best), but Lauer shouldn't be that far down the list of openings just yet. I would expected him to have the chance to host his own show on one of the 24-hour cable networks or at least a softball interview show. If that failed he would have gone to another one of the 24-hour networks working strictly as a reporter and if that job was also a flop then and only then do you sink to game show host. I guess I am just surprised to see him fall to the third option straight away.

What's even stranger is that Anderson Cooper is said to be his main competition. What the hell is going on here? These are two well-established journalists and they want to host a game show? Sure, if you are going to host a game show "Jeopardy" is certainly a more respectable choice than, say, "Who's Still Standing?" Also, I will grant you that the hours on a game show are much better since you probably tape two episodes a day, which translates to 3 days a week (Lauer would be able to sleep in for a change) and the stress level is greatly reduced. Still, the general rule of thumb is that game shows are for people just starting out or desperate to hang on, which neither of these guys are. I will grant you that game shows have come a long way, but reportedly Lauer is getting tens of millions as the host of the "Today" program - I hardly think "Jeopardy" is offering that kind of cash. Besides, both of these guys have something you can't buy in TV - good reputations. Why would you want to throw that away? Then again, after years of interviewing people and having no idea what kind of lies they are getting ready to tell you, it would be kind of nice to have all the answers.