Today Show not as easy as it looks

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, April 29, 2007

The more than 30 minutes of video inside Boeing’s Everett factory that viewers of NBC’s The Today Show saw Monday took months of planning.

NBC first contacted Boeing in January, said Boeing spokeswoman Debbie Heathers. The Everett-based Heathers traveled to New York to meet with producers of the show as well as host Matt Lauer in late January.

Crews from the show visited Everett several times over the past few months, filming at the factory as well as other Boeing sites in the Puget Sound region.

A rehearsal on Saturday lasted more than 8 hours. Lauer arrived Sunday afternoon, heading first to the flight simulator before coming up to Everett.

Shooting of the “Where in the world is Matt Lauer?” scenes isn’t quite as laid back as it might seem on television. In between shots, Lauer frequently rehearsed his next commentary — that is, when he wasn’t being whisked from spot to spot inside the factory.

I didn’t envy Lauer when the lift he stood in near the tail section started moving. Although it looked fairly smooth on television, it appeared pretty quick and rough in person.