Tuesday’s CBS Mornings marked 12 years for Gayle King as a co-host of CBS’s morning shows, first CBS This Morning and now CBS Mornings. Given how the third-place show centers around King and subservient co-hosts who worship her very presence, it was no surprise it was came up multiple times on the show with a lengthy video of her celebrity friends and accolades of how its an “honor” to sit next to a “consummate professional.”
As NewsBusters has highlighted on a near-constant basis, it’s comical to think of her as a journalist given her status as both a Democratic donor and Obama family friend who’s vactioned with them (and saw no problem with it).
King couldn’t even get past the opening welcome before wishing herself “happy anniversary.” Following the “Eye Opener,” co-host Tony Dokoupil made sure to point out to viewers that King had on her yellow dress she wore on her first day at CBS and for every anniversary since. So, of course, both he and co-host Nate Burleson had to congratulate her.
Featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers even teased his What to Watch segment with a “happy anniversary” to King, adding the “[d]ress looks just as good as it did day one.”
Fast-forward to the second hour and they devoted an entire five-minute-and-48-second segment to her anniversary.
“Today is January 9 and we are walking on sunshine because we got one more reason to celebrate the one and only Gayle King. Today, January 9, anniversary number 12 here at CBS News,” Dokoupil began with Walkin’ on Sunshine playing in the background.
Gushing her yellow dress is “quickly becoming vintage,” King retold why she wore it and has since, but that talk shifted when Duthiers brought out cupcakes before a video of past interview subjects/celebrity pals to congratulate her (click “expand”):
KING: I know I wore it the first day because I knew I wanted to wear yellow on my first day because you know it’s my favorite color and then I said yeah I’m going to wait and see if I’m still here next year and go wear it again. Twelve years later, here we are.
DOKOUPIL: We are here, 12 years and counting.
KING: Still psyched to be sitting here.
DOKOUPIL: So we’re going to celebrate you with some cupcakes and ––
KING: My favorite thing, I like anything with icing. Thank you, Vlad.
DUTHIERS: The table is ready.
KING: Thank you, Vlad.
DOKOUPIL: — thank you very much, can we get a chair out here for Vlad?
DUTHIERS: Look at the coloring.
KING: Thank you.
DOKOUPIL: A word first from some fans.
BURLESON: Gayle, Would you like me to feed it to you?
KING: No, no.
DUTHIERS: Gayle went straight for the frosting.
DOKOUPIL: I mean, you can go for the whole thing.
DUTHIERS: She went straight for the frosting.
Charles and Cassie Kelly went first, thanking King for helping them share our story and for sharing the stories of so many. They were followed by Billy Crystal, who said “[i]t’s so great to be part of your legacy on television.”
Barbra Streisand, actor Sebastian Maniscalco, and Serena Williams came next with Maniscalco swooning about her as both “a super talent” and “juggernaut in the entertainment business.”
It wouldn’t be a King lovefest without an appearance from her best friend who’s most responsible for her career, Oprah Winfrey. For her part, Winfrey said she knew that, when King accepted the job at CBS, “I knew” she’d “rise” “[b]ecause nobody loves news and culture more than you do.”
Robert DeNiro, Angela Bassett, Ed Sheeran, and then a second Crystal appearance finally signaled the merciful end of the video and more babbling between the co-hosts with King the tributes were “a reminder that how, how blessed and how grateful I am that we get to do this every morning” as “I do think it’s one of the best jobs in TV.”
Burleson made sure to suck up, saying what make the job great isn’t “us, though,” but “you”.
Duthiers agreed, saying “it’s about you” and adding “it’s our honor” to work with King.
Dokoupil added his two cents, calling this “one of the greatest jobs in the world” and “sitting next to you adds to that and a huge honor.”
“You are a consummate professional and a great teammate and we’re so happy you’re here,” he added while Duthiers said King being their coworker makes them “the blessed” ones.
To see the relevant transcript from January 9 (courtesy of Nexis), click here.
