Megyn Kelly’s debut week on ‘Today’ went viral for all the wrong reasons — here are the five moments no one could unsee.NH

You ever have a first week of work where seemingly everything went wrong? Well, now you have something in common with Megyn Kelly.

The former Fox News anchor, who bolted to NBC News back in January for a reported $17 million, made her debut on the venerable Today show on Monday, hosting an all-new hour titled Megyn Kelly Today. But after the numerous stumbles Kelly suffered during her premiere week, NBC might want to considering retitling it Megyn Kelly: Is Today Over Yet?

Some of those gaffes were Kelly’s fault, and some were out of her control entirely. But they all added up to a colossally disappointing first week for NBC’s shiny new hire. (To be fair, the ratings were decent — nearly 3 million viewers tuned in to see Kelly’s Monday debut — but she’s still trailing her main rival, ABC’s Live With Kelly and Ryan, in the key daytime demo.)

Let’s take a quick look back at Kelly’s week from hell, with five awkward Today moments that went viral for all the wrong reasons:

1. Calls homosexuality “the gay thing” during a Will & Grace interview, annoys Debra Messing

Part of Kelly’s new job is promoting NBC shows, so of course she welcomed the reunited cast of Will & Grace to her show this week. But she seemed less than comfortable with “the gay thing” when bringing out superfan Russell Turner to meet the cast — and we say that because she (puzzlingly) told Turner she really thinks “the gay thing is gonna work out great” for him. (She also asked Turner if he “became gay” because of Will — which was supposed to be a joke, we think?) Debra Messing later went on Instagram and said she regretted going on and was “dismayed” by Kelly’s comments. And this was only Monday! We’re off to a great start!

2. Asks Jane Fonda about plastic surgery, gets the death stare

Not content with alienating the LGBT community with her comments on Monday, Kelly proceeded to alienate a Hollywood legend on Wednesday, ruining an interview with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda by asking Fonda about her plastic surgery. It’s actually pretty great TV: As soon as she brings it up, Fonda’s eyes flash with rage — giving birth to a billion Twitter GIFs — and the terrifying death stare she affixes on Kelly makes the outmatched host stumble over her words. Fonda’s dumbfounded response: “We really want to talk about that now?”

3. Gets way too excited talking about murder

Tone is always a tricky thing in daytime, and Kelly hasn’t really mastered the art of the graceful segue just yet. The proof: This Daily Show compilation of clips from Kelly’s first week, where she has to transition from jovial breakfast-time banter to hard-hitting stories about murder… and yeah, she’s finding out that it’s a lot harder than it looks.

4. Camera guy wanders into the shot, mutters an on-air obscenity

This is less an example of Kelly’s futility and more a sign that this week was just flat-out cursed. During Kelly’s otherwise unremarkable interview with soccer star Carli Lloyd on Thursday, one of her cameramen blocks the shot and — even worse — says “S–t” on camera, for all of daytime to hear.

5. Blames her first-week woes on “the media” (of course)

So how did Kelly wrap up her garbage fire of a first week? By making a snide remark about “the media response” to her debut — you mean the media posting video of what you said and did, Megyn? — and thanking her viewers for their continued support. Well… it can’t get any worse, right?

Grade Megyn Kelly’s Today show premiere week via the following poll, then hit the comments to flesh out your thoughts.

The Neighborhood’s Last Laughs: What’s Ahead In Season 8 Before The CBS Comedy’s Series Finale

Monty Brinton/CBS

CBS on Monday welcomed audiences back to The Neighborhood for its eighth and final season — and life on the block looks a little different.

Calvin and Tina are adjusting to their newly empty nest — even though, technically, they’ve been empty-nesters since Season 3 — now that Malcolm has put down roots in Venice and Courtney has officially moved in with Marty; Gemma’s facing her own adjustment now that Grover has graduated from Walcott Academy; and AI-enthusiast Dave has managed to train machines to replace him at the V.A. — launching a multi-episode arc for Calvin’s BFF.

“We’re tormenting that poor guy like a piñata,” co-showrunner Bill Martin says of Dave’s Season 8 storyline. “He gets into pickling… he’s gotta find things to do with his time.”

The Neighborhood is leaning into transitions

The same could be said for Gemma, who’s confronting her own existential shake-up. “As luck would have it, Hank Greenspan is high-school age, which worked well for the show because it’s time [Grover] finally graduates from Gemma’s school and goes to a [high] school,” Martin explains. “So now Gemma — in addition to going, ‘I’ve had my baby under my wing K through 8’ — is suddenly asking herself, ‘Why am I really doing this?’ It’s kind of a natural crisis point for her.”

Co-showrunner Mike Schiff tells TVLine that the writers are leaning into these transitions, and relishing the rare opportunity to craft a true ending for what has become one of CBS’ longest-running sitcoms.

“We can finally head toward a climax that we don’t have to write our way past,” Schiff explains. “It’s nice to be able to just get there.”

Along the way, expect to see some familiar faces — like The Big Bang Theory’s John Ross Bowie, who put in one last appearance as Dave’s (former) boss Gregory in Monday’s season opener, and Angelique Cabral, who was introduced last season as Malcolm’s literary agent Lisa. Martin and Schiff also say they’d love to see Tina and Dave’s parents again — played respectively by Glynn Turman, and Kevin Pollak and Marilu Henner — but the focus in Season 8 will ultimately be on the core ensemble.

Schiff’s ‘Gold Standard’ of finales

“We want a victory lap that feels intimate, not bloated,” Schiff says. And though they haven’t put pen to paper yet, they’re already thinking ahead to the series finale — which, as of now, will be a standard, half-hour episode.

“Finales often go wrong when they get too big,” he continues. “To me, the gold standard is The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which was just a half hour where everybody gets fired, they all sing ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,’ and we cry, and she turns off the lights. That’s the kind of emotional resonance we want.”

Adds Martin: “We just want people to remember, ‘Oh, this is why we enjoyed this ride.'”

So tell us: What are you hoping to see before CBS moves out of The Neighborhood? Grade the final season premiere via the following poll, then leave a comment and let us know.

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