Although Ann Curry tearfully ended her 15-year run with Today in June, she needn’t worry about her future in television — so says the woman whom Curry replaced, Meredith Vieira.

“Ann will be fine,” Vieira, 58, told Celebuzz Monday while promoting the upcoming season of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.

“Ann’s fantastic. Ann is such a gifted journalist …” she said. “The thing about television that people forget is you occupy these positions for a certain amount of time and then you move on to whatever is next.”

“Ann is brilliant. She does such great work,” Vieira continued, when asked if she had any advice for Curry during her transition out of Today. “She’s starting out with a unit of her own, with her own staff, and I guarantee you’ll see a lot of Ann, for sure.

“She doesn’t need my help, and my advice. I’m gonna have dinner with her in the next couple of days. I haven’t seen her in awhile. I look forward to that. She’s a good egg.”

Curry officially became co-anchor of the NBC morning news program in June 2011 after Vieira left for personal reasons.

During her run, ratings for Today slipped significantly, to the point where the top-rated morning news program was overtaken by rival Good Morning America for the first time in over a decade.

Shortly after, on June 28, Curry announced her departure, effective immediately, for a new role with NBC News. Watch it below:

Vieira joined Today in 2006 after Katie Couric left to become the anchor of CBS Evening News. She continues to do work with NBC, which most recently included coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire premieres its eleventh season on Sept. 3.

For more from our interview with Vieira, check back later in the week to see what she had to say about what’s in store for Millionaire and whether or not Matt Lauer should be worried about Ryan Seacrest.

Well, this is unexpected: American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez is developing an hour-long show for ABC Family about lesbians. The untitled project will portray a lesbian couple with kids who decide to bring a teenager into their family. [THR]

Who’s moving in with Karen on Smash?

Someone has to help Karen (Katharine McPhee) pay the bills on NBC’s Smash, right? Now that Dev (Raza Jaffrey) is out of the picture — as in he isn’t returning next season — the musical show has cast Broadway actress Krysta Rodriguez as Karen’s new roomie. Is there room in one apartment for two musical theatre actresses? Never. This could be really good. [EW]

Smash handed out a promotion to series regular to Leslie Odom Jr., as well. Fans will remember him as the dancer-turned-Tom’s (Christian Borle) boyfriend on the NBC musical show. Cheers, Lamar! [Deadline]

NBC’s Up All Night has found Reagan’s (Christina Applegate) brother – and it didn’t have to look far. Luka Jones, who played Joe on the same network’s canceled comedy, Best Friends Forever, joins as a series regular. [Deadline]

The ratings are in and NBC may be happy about its decision to replace Ann Curry on Today. Apparently, all the speculation of her leaving didn’t give the show a boost last week as it tied with ABC rival, Good Morning America. We’re not sure if Curry’s replacement, Savannah Guthrie, should be doing cartwheels either. GMA beat Today’s ratings last Friday – her first day on the job. [TVGuide.com]

Warner Bros. has announced its lineup for Extra at Comic Con, its free outdoor stage at San Diego Comic-Con with more than 30 hours of programming Thursday–Friday. Kevin Smith and Kevin Bacon’s band, The Bacon Brothers, will headline. Additionally, castmembers from The Big Bang Theory, Childrens Hospital, Fringe, Nikita, Person of Interest and The Vampire Diaries will stop by for live interviews. Visit the WB at Comic Con site for the full rundown. [WB]

TODAY show viewers tuned in Friday morning to find Savannah Guthrie “filling in” as co-host for Ann Curry.

Guthrie, 40, has often substituted for the former co-host. So, it would seem that Guthrie’s appearance was just like any other day — except it wasn’t. On Thursday’s show, Curry, 55, tearfully announced her departure. And Guthrie had already been considered the heir apparent to the gig.

So, with very little fanfare and no official announcement on the switch (until later in the day), Guthrie assumed her new post as TODAY’s co-host and fans took to Twitter to sound off on the switch.

Here’s a sampling of what viewers are saying on Twitter:

@nitadee: “So Savannah Guthrie’s in on The Today Show, eh? No shade, but I think that’ll guarantee my household will rock on with its GMA/CBS splice.”

@JonathanCedano: “I think I need 2 give #gma a try. I can only deal with Savannah Guthrie’s total absence of upper lip for so long. I miss Ann #today”

@TomKolovosTKO: “NBC, in an almost surreal turn, behaves as if Curry’s tearful and abrupt departure on Thursday never happened.”

@BillAFlynn: “Gee, what a surprise and disappointment! Savannah Guthrie Named Co-Host of Today. Look for ratings to drop behind Good Morning America.

@mandala1017: “Savannah Guthrie is not Today co-anchor. She does not connect with the viewer. Is it too much to ask for another Katie Couric?

@JulieGMonti: “Ann Curry/Savannah Guthrie is Jane Pauley/Deborah Norville all over…maybe a younger, kinder version of Matt Lauer would increase ratings.”

@kerino: “I knew it! Congrats @SavannahGuthrie!!”

@lokay: “Seeing Savannah Guthrie w/ Matt Lauer on @todayshow is like dad showing up with his new girlfriend before the divorce papers were signed.”

@nataliebubb: “Seeing Lauer’s easy, natural rapport with Savannah Guthrie only makes his lack of ease with Ann Curry that much more apparent.”

@RachlBSexRiot: “Why exactly do people think Savannah Guthrie is better than Ann Curry? I really don’t get it.”

@jansdailydish: “I hated to see ann curry forced out, watched savannah Guthrie this morning, meh…”

@BoysofSummer15: “I wasn’t the only one to see this Savannah Guthrie promotion coming 6 months ago was I? She’s on their practically everyday anyway.”

@redleader57: “Well, that took hardly any time at all. Must’ve been a grueling search.”

Additional reporting by Catherine Greis.

Did NBC make the right decision? Sound off in the comments section below.

It clearly isn’t the biggest surprise that Savannah Guthrie is replacing recently ousted Ann Curry for the co-hosting gig on NBC’s TODAY as it has been assumed by the media for days. Nevertheless, NBC News officially made the announcement on Friday afternoon.

How did Guthrie get the gig?

“In just a few short years, Savannah has become a standout member of the news division as well as the ultimate team player,” NBC News President Steve Capus says. ”She’s anchored for Brian on NBC Nightly News, moderated for David on Meet the Press, co-hosted the 9 AM hour of TODAY, reported for Rock Center and Dateline, and provided legal insights in our Supreme Court Special Reports – and that was all within the last week!”

Savannah Guthrie’s road to ‘today’: check out her impressive resume

8 Photos »

“She’s got an undeniable range,” he continues. “And she’s earned the trust of the news community, her colleagues and our viewers alike. I couldn’t be happier for Savannah and the entire TODAY team.”

The 40-year-old journalist has substituted for Curry before and took the vacated seat Friday morning with very little fanfare. A choked up Curry had tearfully announced the day before that she would no longer serve as TODAY’s co-host.

Guthrie has served as the co-host for TODAY’s third hour (alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker) since last year when Curry took over for Meredith Vieira. She’s also served as the show’s chief legal analyst and will continue in the role.

What do you think of Guthrie’s promotion? Sound off in the comments section, below.

Savannah Guthrie took over Ann Curry‘s TODAY show chair on Friday, following the former co-host’s on-air announcement a day prior stating she would be leaving the NBC show after 15 years of service on program.

Guthrie, 40, began the show at the anchor table with Matt Lauer on her left and Al Roker next to him. This isn’t the TV personality’s first time hosting, Guthrie has anchored the third hour of TODAY, and has filled in for Curry in the past.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a formal announcement about Guthrie taking over for Curry is not expected, but she was officially offered the job last week.

Curry, 55, bid a tearful farewell to the show on Thursday, telling viewers, “This is not easy to say, but today is going to be my last morning as a regular co-host of TODAY.”

We will be seeing the whole TODAY show team together again for London’s 2012 Summer Olympics, with even Meredith Vieira, Curry’s TODAY predecessor, co-hosting the Opening Ceremonies with Lauer and Bob Costas. Curry will travel to London for the Games as well.

In case you missed Curry’s emotional farewell yesterday, watch it below:

After one year as the much-scrutinized co-host on NBC’s TODAY show, a choked up Ann Curry announced that Thursday would be her last day in the post.

“This is not easy to say, but today is going to be my last morning as a regular co-host of TODAY,” she revealed.

“I am so grateful,” Curry, 55, said of her experience on the show. “Every time I wake up, I will be missing you.”

The seasoned journalist opted to forego a speech that would earn the NBC publicity department’s stamp of approval. With statements like “they threw fancy titles at me” to get her to take a reassignment, she made it clear leaving the show wasn’t her idea.

What’s the fallout for NBC? Find out how the media views Curry’s ousting.

Over the past year, ABC’s Good Morning America was steadily closing the ratings gap between it and TODAY. Then in April, it finally broke the NBC staple’s 15-year ratings lead. After that, the spotlight shone on Curry. She had replaced Meredith Vieira as co-host last year and there were plenty of reports that her chemistry with Matt Lauer wasn’t good.

And while the media and their sources can be blamed for pushing the blame game in recent weeks, that doesn’t change the obvious: NBC had already pinned the ratings loss on Curry.

“The mishandling of Curry brings to mind NBC’s about-face on Conan O’Brien, who was given the job of Tonight Show host only to have the network reinstate Jay Leno when Conan’s ratings went south,” L.A. Times’ Company Town reporter Joe Flint writes.

Flint isn’t the only one who believes Curry’s departure brings to mind NBC’s late night debacle. The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman has been sounding off on the speculation all week and says, “The departure from the TODAY show of Curry, a 15-year veteran of NBC, may not be as bad a debacle [as O’Brien’s], but it’s hardly been elegant.”

With Curry having taken the apparent fall for the ratings loss, Waxman says that Lauer and whomever replaces Curry – according to THR, it’s TODAY’s third hour co-host Savannah Guthrie – as well as NBC better hope the ratings slide doesn’t continue. Who would take the blame then?

“Television observers — including plenty of passionate commenters on TheWrap and elsewhere – insist that Curry was only a small part of [the] TODAY show’s problems,” writes Waxman. “And either way, the network has once again managed to wring a lose-lose out of a delicate management situation.”

The Hollywood Reporter’s chief TV critic, Tim Goodman, finds NBC’s treatment not only reminiscent of its bout with O’Brien, but also standard operating procedure for the network at this point.

“NBC dumping Ann Curry from TODAY seemed like both calculated assassination and bizarrely ill-timed roll of the dice,” he writes. “It also seemed, well, like NBC. Can’t this network do anything right? We’re a long way past ‘this is starting to get embarrassing’ and nudging up against ‘this is starting to get pathological.’ ”

Curry will stay on with NBC as TODAY’s anchor-at-large and as NBC News’ national/international correspondent.

How do you feel about how NBC ousted Curry from TODAY? Sound off in the comments section below.

Ann Curry is not the only one in Hollywood to be paid big bucks for leaving a TV show.

The former TODAY co-host reportedly walked out with a $10 million payout from NBC following her last broadcast this Thursday, but her severance package is only a blip compared to some of Hollywood’s biggest contract payouts. For example, Charlie Sheen negotiated a six-figure sum when he was famously fired from CBS’ Two and a Half Men last year.

Who else in TV has been dealt a golden handshake and cashed in big for leaving their gig? Click through the gallery to see some of television’s largest payouts.

Though Curry is $10 million richer with her TODAY contract payout, she will remain with the network as TODAY’s anchor-at-large and a national and international correspondent for NBC News.

Curry, who replaced Meredith Vieira last year, was plagued with reports of a lack of chemistry with co-host Matt Lauer and the belief by some that her journalistic talents were better suited for the field. Then, ABC’s Good Morning America finally broke TODAY’s 16-year ratings winning streak in April and fingers began to point at Curry.

Curry argued that the ratings loss wasn’t primarily her fault.

“I know I am not to blame for the ratings worries,” she said on Wednesday. “And my bosses have said to me there are many factors involved. There is no doubt that the rating wars have become meaner and less focused on our responsibilities as journalists.”

Though NBC has yet to officially announce Curry’s replacement, reports say TODAY’s third-hour host, Savannah Guthrie, is the frontrunner for the job.

Savannah Guthrie: From White House Correspondent to ‘TODAY’

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In a tearful segment, anchor Ann Curry confirmed on-air Thursday morning that she is leaving the TODAY show after a 15-year run.

“This is not easy to say, but today is going to be my last morning as a regular co-host of Today,” she revealed.

“I am so grateful,” Curry, 55, said of her experience on the show. “Every time I wake up, I will be missing you.”

“You are the real TODAY show family,” she said, of the audience watching at home.

“I have loved you and I have wanted to give you the world — and I still do.”

Curry — who made the announcement near the third-hour mark, alongside Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Natalie Morales — also expressed regrets that she wasn’t able to continue her duties on Today.

“For all of you who saw me as a ground-breaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line. But, man, I did try!” she said, through tears.

As reported earlier this morning by Celebuzz, Curry confirmed Thursday’s announcement on Wednesday, saying, “It’s going to be a bit of a tough day.”

“I’m going to have to tell our viewers. That’s what makes me more emotional than anything. I don’t want to leave them. I love them. And I will really miss them,” she said.

Following her exit, Curry will remain with the network as Today’s anchor-at large. She will also serve as NBC News’ National/International Correspondent, and “produce network specials and pieces for NBC Nightly News, Dateline, Rock Center— and Today — and she’ll occasionally fill in as anchor on Nightly News and elsewhere,” according to USA Today.

Curry, who first joined Today in March 1997, took over as co-anchor in 2011 after Meredith Vieria chose to leave the program.

Ratings subsequently dropped; in April, Good Morning America overtook Today as the top-rated morning news program for the first time in 16 years.

No official replacement for Curry has been announced; however, according to reports, Today‘s third-hour host, Savannah Guthrie, is the frontrunner.

After much speculation that NBC was plotting Ann Curry’s exit from the Today show, the journalist says she will announce her departure on Thursday’s episode.

“[It’s] going to be a bit of a tough day,” Curry, 55, tells USA Today. “I’m going to have to tell our viewers. That’s what makes me more emotional than anything. I don’t want to leave them. I love them. And I will really miss them.”

What was behind Curry’s ousting?

Curry replaced Meredith Vieira as Today’s co-host last year. Her short tenure was plagued with reports of a lack of chemistry with co-host Matt Lauer and the suggestion that her journalistic skills are better suited for reporting in the field.

Then, ABC’s GMA finally broke Today’s 16-year ratings winning streak in April and Curry seemed to take some of the blame. Though, she argues that the ratings loss wasn’t primarily her fault.

“I know I am not to blame for the ratings worries,” Curry says. “And my bosses have said to me there are many factors involved. There is no doubt that the rating wars have become meaner and less focused on our responsibilities as journalists.”

Curry acknowledges that there were definite “kinks” that needed to be worked out in her role as co-host and feels she wasn’t given enough time to do that by the network.

Nevertheless, she walks away from the morning show with a pretty good deal. Curry has signed a multi-year contract with NBC to stay on as Today’s anchor-at-large and NBC News national/international correspondent. The new post includes managing a seven-person team covering international news, various specials and she’ll occasionally fill in as anchor for Nightly News and other broadcasts.

While Hoda Kotb has been rumored to be in line to replace Curry, reports say that Today’s third hour host, Savannah Guthrie, is the frontrunner for the post.

What do you think of Curry’s impending departure from Today? Sound off in the comments section below.

Natalie Morales may be the next Today show anchor to leave the top-rated morning show.

According to the New York Post’s Page Six, Morales, who’s been with the show since 2006, isn’t pleased that she may not be chosen to succeed Ann Curry.

“If Natalie’s passed over for the job, she’s going to leave next,” a source told the publication.

Curry may be leaving the NBC morning show as early as the end of the week, report several news outlets.

A rep for NBC Universal shot down the claims that Morales was unhappy in her position, calling the report “totally untrue.”

Curry may not be on Today for long, but it’s believed that she will stay on with NBC.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is working on a “substantial” role for the reporter on its NBC News team.

As reported earlier this week, NBC is expected to pay Curry the remainder of her $10 million contract and replace her with Savannah Guthrie, who co-hosts the 9 a.m. hour of Today. Hoda Kotb, of Hoda and Kathie Lee fame, has also reportedly been considered as a replacement.

What do you think of these possible TODAY show transitions? Who do you want to replace Curry and/or Morales? Let us know, below.