Elder gays - Tell me about Jane Pauley vs Deborah Norville.
It's been almost 30 years since then-30-something year old Jane Pauley was deemed "too old" for Today and was unceremoniously dropped from the program. Jane was replaced with the "sexier" Deborah Norville, who herself was out of the job less than 2 years later. Has history redeemed Jane? Were Jane and Deborah just unwitting pawns in a much larger game?
Elder gays, tell me about how this all went down in 1989.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 27 | March 10, 2018 2:27 AM
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[quote]tell me about how this all went down in 1989.
You’ve pretty much already summed the whole thing up.
[quote]Has history redeemed Jane?
Not sure Jane Pauley needed “redemption” from anything, but both women got a raw deal and both look better today through the lens of history. Norville was reviled at the time but all she was guilty of was accepting career advancement. She didn’t push anyone aside herself.
[quote]Were Jane and Deborah just unwitting pawns in a much longer game?
WTF do you think???
by Anonymous | reply 1 | March 8, 2018 5:42 PM
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Had everything but the wolves snappin at their rears.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | March 8, 2018 5:44 PM
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They both look good today.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | March 8, 2018 5:46 PM
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Deborah Norville had pretty drastic plastic surgery and does trashy tv, and Paulette is a respected veteran. So it all worked out for Pauley. Today show seems like a vipers pit though. First Gumbel then Lauer, both overrated Uber assholes.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | March 8, 2018 5:49 PM
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^^Pauley not Paulette. Apple autocorrect is the worst!
by Anonymous | reply 5 | March 8, 2018 5:50 PM
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Wasn’t it Gumble who shoved Pauley out in favor of Norville? Then he dumped the latter when it was clear she was in over her head.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | March 8, 2018 5:52 PM
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In retrospect, the whole situation worked out in the best possible way for Pauley, she garnered so much good will with her departure and Norville really had no chance to succeed because of the bad PR.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | March 8, 2018 5:54 PM
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What I was always unclear about was how involved Norville was with Pauley's departure. If she just jumped at an opportunity I feel bad she was never given a chance. It's also telling that Guthrie didn't get the shit Norville got when she replaced Curry.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | March 8, 2018 6:00 PM
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They should have shoved Katie Couric out sooner. She was awful.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | March 8, 2018 6:04 PM
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It was an ugly thing. However, it has since been revealed that Jane Pauley was undiagnosed/unmedicated bipolar, and had spent time in a psych ward during her tenure. So there may have been difficult behavior behind and off set that no one knew about that contributed to her dismissal. I've met Jane socially a few times and she is a lovely woman. Interesting, interested, articulate, and funny. She is surprisingly petite, as well.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | March 8, 2018 6:06 PM
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Jane seemed like she was pregnant the entire time she was on the Today show
by Anonymous | reply 11 | March 8, 2018 6:08 PM
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That's because she has a perpetual glow, r11.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | March 8, 2018 6:11 PM
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Gumbel was best friends with Lauer and taught him everything he knew.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | March 8, 2018 6:58 PM
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Jane Pauly is hosting CBS Sunday Morning these days.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | March 8, 2018 7:09 PM
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Pauley vs Norville - I think Ryan Murphy just found Season 3 of Feud
by Anonymous | reply 15 | March 8, 2018 7:12 PM
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Deborah Norville - she supped from a poisoned chalice.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | March 8, 2018 7:13 PM
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No one was happy with Jane Pauley being pushed out.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | March 8, 2018 7:35 PM
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Why was age 37 formerly considered very old for an anchor, but today it would be considered very young? It's hard to believe Jane was only 25 when she started co-anchoring the Today show and by 37 they thought she was geriatric.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | March 9, 2018 12:18 AM
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And now they are all naked or at least cleavage and sleeveless.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | March 9, 2018 12:25 AM
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Did anyone here ever have a run in with Jane in real life?
by Anonymous | reply 20 | March 9, 2018 4:49 PM
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Jane Pauley does very well without a cohost (ala CBS Sunday Morning). Probably best that she moved on from Today, but the whole thing was handled rather horribly at the time. Jane handled it very well considering she was shoved out of a plum job while she was at the top of her game.
I don’t recall any issues between the 2 women at the time. It seemed pretty clear that neither of them had anything to do with it.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | March 9, 2018 6:17 PM
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The press feasted on the story and very much played up the All About Eve angle which did Norville zero favors. They were indeed just pawns but never turned on each other publicly which was admirable. The Today Show took a major hit after Pauley left and it took the charisma of Katie to lure back viewers. It would make a great movie. Think I, Tonya for morning news. Let’s cast it.
Jane - ?
Deborah - ?
Bryant - ?
Evil Today producer - ?
by Anonymous | reply 22 | March 9, 2018 7:56 PM
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Norville has rheumatoid arthritis. Not sure if that had an effect on her career.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 10, 2018 12:05 AM
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Who can forget Bryant's infamous "Today" show memo that was publicly leaked?
He was so hot back in the day. And his looks didn't fade as bad as Lauer's did.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 10, 2018 12:15 AM
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Is that really True R13. Those two we're/are best friends?
by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 10, 2018 1:25 AM
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Norville was Pauley's 'fill-in' when Pauley left for maternity leave. Next thing Pauley knew, she was out of a job when her maternity leave ended, as Norville was moved in as her permanent replacement.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | March 10, 2018 2:21 AM
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Paulette ended up with a prime time hosting gig that had great ratings as I recall. I can't remember the name of it, but we watched it every week. She really ended up in the catbird seat with the whole All about Eve thing going for her.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 10, 2018 2:27 AM
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