"Today" show co-host Meredith Vieira said "Oh s--t" Friday while in a simulator demonstrating the dangers of texting while driving.
In an interesting segment about Distractology 101, a mobile classroom and driving simulator developed by Arabella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation to teach teenagers the risks associated with being behind the wheel of a car while using a cell phone, sending a text message, or even eating a hamburger, Vieira acted as a guinea pig.
Unfortunately, she ended up getting into an accident, and said what likely many around the country weren't expecting to hear at that hour of the morning (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):
Mr. JOHN DONOHUE, DISTRACTOLOGY 101: All right, we're ready in just second.
ANN CURRY, CO-HOST: And you had your son do this.
Mr. DONOHUE: I did. He came through it...
MEREDITH VIEIRA, CO-HOST: Well, that seems important for kids to do this, yeah.
Mr. DONOHUE: He was 17 years old and driving for just five months and he crashed twice, to make you feel better.
VIEIRA: Oh, OK.
Mr. DONOHUE: So here we go, get your speed up. And the thing is that you don't have to turn the wheel too hard to get a reaction.
VIEIRA: OK.
Mr. DONOHUE: So it's a very sensitive wheel. Much like your--the wheel in your car.
CURRY: You're doing great.
Mr. DONOHUE: All right, once you get it up a ways then we'll have you--OK, now assume that your text has just rung. You're reaching over to pick it up and you need to read the text message out loud.
VIEIRA: "Meredith,"--oh, jeez--"you shouldn't be"--oh shit, stop! Jeez.
CURRY: OK, now we need to bleep that out.
VIEIRA: (Unintelligible)
Mr. DONOHUE: That was very realistic.
CURRY: Because we--but that's probably--that's exactly. So you've created a real re-enactment.
VIEIRA: Oh! Oh, sugar!
CURRY: But--oh, sugar is...(unintelligible).
Mr. DONOHUE: That's right. That was very realistic, Meredith. We could really use you as a--one of our teachers.
VIEIRA: Oh.
CURRY: But that's--but that's actually the real point. John, thank you so much.
Mr. DONOHUE: All right.
CURRY: I think this has really taught us...
VIEIRA: I should have been wearing a diaper.
Or a muzzle.
Sadly, this wasn't the only S-bomb dropped on live television this week. On Monday, CNN founder Ted Turner made a similar faux pas on the Fox Business Network (at 3:35):
Exit question: are we getting to the point in our nation's history when vulgarity has become so common-place that people just can't control their tongues anymore?
*****Update: NewsBusters' Ken Shepherd points out that later on in the show, Vieira joked about her faux pas claiming that she said "ship" (30 seconds in) --
