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Meredith Vieira doesn't like it when Ewoks grab her backside.
"Don't touch my butt," she scolded as the frisky, troll-like creatures put a minor hitch in the otherwise impressive Today show Halloween on the Plaza that went back in time to Star Wars circa 1977.
Vieira was dressed as Princess Leia, Matt Lauer as Luke Skywalker, Al Roker as Han Solo, Natalie Morales as Padmé Amidala and Kathy Lee Gifford as C-3PO. Ann Curry breathed new life into Darth Vader, while Hoda Kotb was "Yoda, I am."
The lucky morning talkers were able to score props and costumes from Lucasfilm, and the authenticity of the setup was, as Curry said, "cool."
Of course, the early risers played up the theme, kicking off the segment with a video complete with scrolling text.
"On the morning of Hallow's Eve, far, far away from Studio 1A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza," it read. "It is a day of celebration in this country, children prepare for an evening of costumes, candy and community. Pint sized witches and wizards frolic with little ghouls, ghosts and goblins in anticipation of the beloved trick or treat tradition. But it is a dark time for one weatherman. Wrapped up in his own pleasant dreams, he has lost track of time—and the hour grows late…"
Cut to a dream sequence with a Roker hologram chatting with Vader, who reminds him he has somewhere to be. Then, with a little movie magic, the weatherman runs onto the plaza, where the whole gang is waiting.
Well, everyone except for Luke Skywalker, who's still stuck in his spaceship for an extended reveal.
"We didn't quite time the hatch correctly," Lauer explained, laughing.
"I've always fantasized about you as a blonde," Roker interrupted.
Speaking of fantasies, the ladies of The View were rather fantastical as a quintet of lady vampires, even without a Cullen in the bunch.
Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg opted to play it on the safe side as Vampira and an unnamed old bloodsucker. Sherri Shepherd donned a bikini top and some incredible contacts as the Queen of the Damned or, as she called it, "a broke-down version of Aaliyah."
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, never one to avoid an issue, served as Countess Chocula, wearing a cereal box around her face.
"I'm pissed off as well because the women have no rep on cereal boxes," she declared from her soap, er, cereal box. "So I'm tired of Tony the Tiger and Snap, Crackle and Pop and all the boys' club that's going on. So I'm bringing a woman back on the box!"
Barbara Walters was easily the most terrifying as "Fangtasia."
"I am from True Blood, I am also the bar on True Blood, where humans come to mingle and they all hit on me," she croaked. "I used to be a human newscaster, but then I did a story on someone who didn't like me and she bit me, and now, now I am goth."
She kept her long, black fingernails close to her face as she spoke for the majority of the morning.
We'll say it—she's never looked crazier. On Halloween, at least, that's a good thing.
On a lighter note, Rachael Ray attempted to play it sweet as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Ellen DeGeneres was the cover girl on an issue of O magazine.
"I was smart when I picked this out, because a lot of costumes you need the makeup, the wig and the funny shoes," DeGeneres says, "and all I'm wearing under here is slacks and a smile."
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