yesterday was my first visit to the today show and i already look forward to going back! it is always amazing to see the behind the scenes of television…all of the people working on the show, the sets, the cameras, the makeup artists all around, the crazy amounts of makeup the makeup artists put on you… and what we saw that morning was such a chill set with nice people all around. i am sure there are moments of stress, how could there not be when creating a four hour news and entertainment show with sets inside and out in the middle of new york city? but there was no stress in the air today. the news anchors are wandering from place to place, getting ready for various interviews, easily going from a normal conversation to a seamless on air interview in a split second. i suppose it is what they do for a living, but i was still very impressed. my assistant, jen, was able to find another use for her new favorite ipad toy and capture the spot with a bit of behind the scene additional footage. she caught me laughing just before we went live as al made a couple of star wars references (the way to my heart) and some chow down just after of some of the braised swiss chard and veal shanks.  thanks to al roker, who i met a few years ago on his morning show… he’s always fun and sweet.  as well as thanks to natalie and everyone else on set. they made it easy not to get nervous that a lot of people were drinking their morning coffee and watching.