Special guests, including Simone Biles and Oprah Winfrey, offered tributes to the longtime host, capping off a week that “Today” had called a “Hoda-bration!”
The morning had already been packed with tributes when the “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie looked at her longtime colleague, Hoda Kotb, and teased another surprise.
“Well, listen, we have one final guest this hour who really wanted to wish you well on your next adventure,” Ms. Guthrie said.
Kermit the Frog then popped above the couch and began serenading Ms. Kotb with “Rainbow Connection,” a song that she apparently sings to her two young daughters every evening.
“Oh, my God,” Ms. Kotb mouthed, as she held her girls on the “Today” couch and wiped away tears.
During much of the 8 a.m. hour of NBC’s “Today” on Friday, all of the big stories on a very chaotic news day — the Los Angeles fires, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s sentencing in a New York court, the Supreme Court TikTok hearing — were put on pause.
Instead, the show turned into an extended celebration of Ms. Kotb, who was anchoring “Today” for the final time. In September, Ms. Kotb, in a surprise announcement, said she would step down from the job, one of the most prominent in television, after being part of the show for 17 years. She said at the time that her recent 60th birthday had prompted her to want more time with her children. NBC announced in November that a “Today” fixture, Craig Melvin, would replace her.
