Norville and Pauley spoke with us prior to Melvin being announced as Kotb’s replacement, but they likely wouldn’t be surprised that 1989’s succession drama didn’t repeat itself in 2024.
“I don’t think something like that would happen now for a variety of reasons,” Norville says. “But honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. The struggles are what make you strong, and I truly do live each day in gratitude—even that very difficult chapter in my life.”
Good times
Before the difficult times set in, both journalists recall their shared chapter at Today getting off to a smooth start. Pauley had been part of the morning show since 1976, steadily growing into a role that she admitted to feeling too young for at first.
“When I started on Today, I was so utterly self-conscious about my age that I led with it,” she confesses. “I said, ‘I’m kind of ridiculously youthful and I don’t know how I got here—maybe you’re wondering that, too.’”
Norville says that she followed in Pauley’s footsteps… literally. After getting her start at a CBS affiliate in Georgia, she landed a reporting gig at Chicago’s NBC-owned station—the same place that launched Pauley on her Today trajectory.
“I remember signing my contract, and the news director asked, ‘How old are you anyway?’ she recalls with a laugh. “I said, ‘I’m 23, but I’ve been working in television since I was 18.’ He shook his head, picked up his pen and said, ‘I think that’s how old Jane was when she started here.’”
Four years later Norville found herself at NBC News anchoring the early morning show NBC News at Sunrise and occasionally filling in on Today when Pauley would shoot her a message on their interoffice computer system.
“I’d be writing copy for Sunrise, and if Jane’s alarm went off and she felt like garbage, she’d [message] me saying: ‘Aside from the headache and throwing up part, could you be me today?’” Norville says now. “We had a really nice working relationship and a professional friendship.”
Pauley expresses similar sentiments about Norville from their time together. “Deborah’s very, very talented,” she remarks. “And she was noticed because she was capable and ambitious. She had every reason to think that she had a bright future ahead of her—as I regarded her as having myself.”
