Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley Reflect On 'Chaos At NBC' Back In The Day

Former 'Today' Hosts Reflect On 'Chaos' At NBC

Apparently, it wasn't always smooth sailing for former "Today" show co-hosts Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley.

The pair, who began hosting together in 1976, recently spoke about their early transition to the network, describing it as being thrown out to sea with little guidance.

"There was chaos at NBC," Brokaw recalled during an interview at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. "I had been the White House Correspondent -- I go from covering Nixon resigning into doing morning television."

Pauley added that she herself arrived at NBC "not that long out of college."

"My thought was, having 13-week contracts... that growing old on television was not something I would need to be worried about... I felt like I was living minute-to-minute," she said.

Pauley ended up remaining at "Today" until 1989. Brokaw remembered what it was like to sit beside Pauley on one of "only three networks" at the time.

"We were put in this life raft and sent to sea to kind of make our way. And the fact that we did make our way and that we remained friends is really pretty remarkable," he said.

After Brokaw left "Today" to co-anchor "NBC Nightly News," Bryant Gumbel joined Pauley to co-host the show for the next seven years. Gumbel and Pauley reunited on NBC in December on the "Today" set alongside Matt Lauer.

(h/t: TV Newser)

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