There was an unexpected shake-up on Thursday’s episode of the TODAY Show, as the Third Hour aired a pre-recorded segment due to the absence of three regular hosts. Craig Melvin typically hosts the final installment alongside Dylan Dreyer, Al Roker, and Sheinelle Jones. However, the NBC anchor was flying solo in the latest episode, with all three regular co-hosts missing from the show. During the first hour of TODAY, Savannah Guthrie acknowledged the absence and introduced meteorologist Angie Lassman, who filled in for Al with the weather report. “Check the weather, we say good morning to Weekend TODAY’s Angie Lassman last minute,” she said. “Al’s on assignment, Dylan’s on assignment. They all went to Tulsa without you [Craig] for the Third Hour.”

“They did,” replied Craig. The TODAY host playfully hinted that Savannah might be his favorite, revealing he chose to stay and co-host with her instead of heading to Tulsa with the rest of the team. “I wanted to stay with you,” he admitted. “Aw,” reacted Savannah and Angie in unison. As the Third Hour began, Craig was seen with his usual co-hosts, but a ‘pre-recorded’ tag on the screen confirmed the segment had been filmed in advance.

Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer sat in TODAY studio© NBC
The Third Hour was pre recorded

At the start of the segment, the group reflected on the difficulty of keeping plans, with Dylan revealing that coordinating their schedules for the radio show has been a challenge. “That’s a standing date, but it is hard, shoots come up,” said Dylan. “It’s like the Seinfeld, anyone can take the reservation, it’s keeping the reservation,” added Al. “But I like that every third Thursday we meet for a tea,” said Sheinelle. However, Craig didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the idea. “Yeah, I like that idea,” he replied, hesitantly. “You were about to say we shouldn’t,” said Sheinelle, laughing.

Dylan Dreyer in red top and Craig Melvin in navy suit on TODAY© NBC
Dylan revealed that Craig always cancels on her

Dylan went on to call out her co-star for repeatedly canceling plans whenever she tried to spend time with him outside of work. “We were supposed to golf together,” she said to Craig. “I knew it was coming up” replied Craig. “We had four Friday’s booked,” revealed Dylan. However, Craig was determined to set the record straight. “You rescheduled once and then I had a shoot, someone died, I had to cover someone’s death,” he said. “I don’t think so,” answered Dylan.

Back in September, Craig spoke exclusively to HELLO! about the steep learning curve that comes with stepping into the role of a major daytime co-host. “It’s just a lot. There’s a lot about the job that you don’t really understand or appreciate until you have the job,” he shared. “Like there are luncheons or meetings or Q&A sessions with different groups and you’re like, ‘Why is this on the calendar? Like why do we do this?’”