‘Today’ Features All-Replacement Lineup as Hosts Travel to Ireland for Special Episodes

Things looked a little different on the earlier hours of Today‘s Thursday, October 15, episode.

The entirety of the NBC morning show’s main hosting lineup was absent on Thursday. “Welcome back to Today on this Thursday morning. We’re so glad you’re waking up with us,” Weekend Today‘s Laura Jarrett stated at the top of the 8 a.m. ET hour. “I’m Laura Jarrett alongside Hallie Jackson, holding down the desk here in Studio 1A while the whole gang puts the final touches on the can’t-miss Today in Ireland extravaganza. All four hours coming to you live from the Emerald Isle tomorrow. It’s gonna be a great show.”

Jackson added, “Do you know what’s so fun about that, too? They’re gonna have their own, like, Irish Plaza out there. All these people that are able to come and see the show in Ireland, it’s so exciting.”

Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Carson Daly, Jenna Bush Hager, Sheinelle Jones, and Dylan Dreyer have all traveled across the pond ahead of the show’s special Ireland episodes on Friday, October 16. All four hours of the morning show will air live from Sheen Falls Lodge in County Kerry, and the visit is sponsored by Tourism Ireland.

Weekend Today‘s Joe Fryer stepped in for Daly on Thursday, while NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins handled weather reporting duties for Roker. The third hour of Today and Today With Jenna & Sheinelle aired prerecorded episodes.

During the show’s 7 a.m. ET hour, the fill-in hosts caught up with Roker, Dreyer, and Melvin live in County Kerry. “We are having a great time. We’re here at this sheep farm. … Craig did a little sheep shearing,” Roker shared. Melvin joked, “I did, and it went about as well as you might expect.”

Roker teased that viewers will see his visit to a family-run dairy farm, while Dreyer showed off her skills with a sheepdog herding whistle. “I’m gonna herd my children when it’s time for dinner,” she quipped.

Melvin went on to state, “Take a look at this backdrop. I mean, this is just some of what folks will see tomorrow when we come to you live from Ireland for four hours. But, I mean, it’s like a postcard here everywhere you turn.”

Before Monday’s episode, Dreyer shared photos from the cast’s flight to Ireland via her Instagram Story. “My seatmate to Ireland!” she captioned a plane selfie she snapped with Jones.

She followed up with a funny photo of Bush Hager caught off guard on the flight, wearing a face mask. “This was my other option,” Dreyer jokingly wrote alongside the snap.

Bush Hager reposted the photo via her own Instagram Story, writing, “Middle of the flight scaries! Courtesy of @dylandreyernbc.”

Today, Weekdays, 7 am/6c, NBC