The Today Show gang was back together after their long holiday off, and fans were excited to see them again.
Everyone looked fresh, relaxed, and ready to handle the enormous task of delivering the news to the nation.
Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, and Craig Melvin sat down with Dr. Henry Gates Today on the show, and things did not go well for one of the hosts.
Dr. Gates spoke to Today about his show, Finding Your Roots. It is on tonight, and Dr. Gates is celebrating its tenth season.
His show takes written genealogical records and couples them with DNA testing to find the ancestorial history of famous people.
Sheinelle asked the doctor if he had any dream guests he would like on the show and immediately indicated that someone on Today would be his first choice.
Craig and Sheinelle would love Al to do this for their guest, Dr. Henry Gates
Everyone’s eyes immediately fell on Al Roker as Dr. Gates expressed his wish.
Dr. Gates called Al his dream guest by replying to Sheinelle’s question, “Let me see…Al Roker.”
Craig yelled, “Ooohhh!” as soon as he heard Al’s name.
Al shrank into his chair and looked immediately uncomfortable during the exchange.
As previously reported on Monsters and Critics, Al has had problems with Craig and has yelled at him before. Al kept his cool while grimacing during the segment.
Craig confidently said, “We are going to make this happen,” while Sheinelle noticed Al was unhappy. She said, “He’s over there hiding.”
Dr. Gates said he had asked Al to be on his show before, even though he begged Al.
While Craig continued, “I can’t wait until this one sits at the table,” Dr. Gates asked Al if this was a commitment.
Al mentioned they would talk about it, but he needed to speak to his wife and siblings before committing to anything.
Today and The View fans noticed Al was feeling pressured
The entire segment clip that made Al uncomfortable can be seen on the Today YouTube account page.
The doctor was on The View today, speaking about his show immediately after his segment with Al, Sheinelle, and Craig.
Dr. Gates and his visits on The View and Today were mentioned on X, formerly known as Twitter.
While one fan mentioned that they would love for “Professor Gates to fill in the empty branches of my family tree. #TheView,” another noticed how Al felt being put into the corner that way during a live interview.
This fan said, “Al was not happy about the pressure…” This fan also noticed that Al seemed to shrink into his stool while he explained that he needed to think about his siblings before he agreed.
While Al shares his life almost daily on social media accounts, some things need to remain private, especially if it would make his family more comfortable.
Today airs weekday mornings on NBC.