Willie Geist Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of 'Sunday TODAY'

NBCUniversal's proud to celebrate a major milestone for Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist as the show marks its 10th anniversary. To commemorate the moment, Willie hosted a special Sunday Sitdown LIVE event featuring an in‑person conversation with Ryan Reynolds.

What do you remember about launching Sunday TODAY in 2016, and did you have any sense then of what it would grow into?

I remember it well. I'd been hosting different versions of TODAY for about six years, and hosting our political show Morning Joe on MSNBC for nearly 10. That first iteration of Sunday TODAY was an attempt to combine the two shows. So we opened with a roundtable panel that included Wes Moore, who later became the Governor of Maryland. He's come a long way.

I remember being simultaneously excited about the possibility of getting a blank canvas of my own with the iconic TODAY brand and well-aware it would take some time to get it where we wanted it to be and for the loyal TODAY audience to digest something new.

Our first guest was Leslie Odom, who was playing Aaron Burr at the height then of the hysteria around Hamilton on Broadway. He forever will be one of our Founding Fathers.

We exhaled at the end of the show, evaluated what worked and what didn't, I hugged my wife and young children who came to the studio and we began to prepare for the next of what --- we never could have dreamed — would be 10 years of the show. 

Over the past decade, the “Sunday Sitdown” has evolved from a segment into a podcast and now live events. When did you realize it had become something bigger than a traditional TV interview?

It's interesting because Sunday TODAY was born before podcasts were everywhere. We were one of the few places where you could get a relaxed, long-form interview with a big star. Even then, we edited down our one-hour interview to 8 minutes for TV, so it made sense to post all of it as a podcast. Otherwise 52 minutes never saw the light of day.

I always think getting Bill Murray to do the show was a big turning point. Once he gave it his stamp of validation, the door opened for a parade of big-name guests. That Sunday Sitdown has been the tentpole of the show from the beginning. When people say, "Who do you have this week?" I always know what they mean.

You’ve sat down with so many influential and fascinating people over the years. Is there one interview that stands out as especially meaningful or memorable to you — and why?

I get this question a lot and it's so difficult to answer because of the incredible list of guests we've been lucky to attract. We've had Presidents, CEOs, Academy Award winners, music icons, and the biggest stars on television — how do you choose?

I will say that driving around Beverly Hills in a classic convertible with Al Pacino riding shotgun was an out-of-body experience. Imagine pulling up to a red light, looking over and AL PACINO (!) is sitting next to you. What was supposed to be a quick ride around the block for the cameras    turned into a 45-minute tour with AL PACINO (!) as my GPS.

The tone of Sunday TODAY feels distinct — thoughtful, personal, and a little unhurried. How have you worked to protect that voice while still keeping the show fresh and relevant over ten years?

Thanks for saying that. It's something I'm very mindful of because Sundays are different. Sundays are slow. Sundays are sacred. I have the luxury of knowing people are not rushing out of the house for school or work with the show on in the background. As we've seen from our Mug Shots, they are in their pajamas and slippers holding a mug of coffee and watching our show at a Sunday pace. That means the tone of our show can match that. Longer interviews, deeper stories, and a more casual vibe. 

I never want to waste an instant of that audience's time with frivolity or click-chasing. My philosophy always has been to respect the audience by just making a quality show every single week. Our wonderful viewers have rewarded us for that over these 10 years.

As you celebrate this milestone with a live audience and guests like Ryan Reynolds, what are you most proud of when you look at what Sunday TODAY has become?

I'm proud of our team. Most of which inherited me and this entirely new idea 10 years ago and maybe weren't sure what to make  of the whole thing. But they took the leap of faith with me and made the show better at every turn. All of that work has paid off with continued growth in ratings (defying broadcast TV gravity in that way) and in where people can find us. As you say, the Sunday  Sitdown LIVE events have been a blast and a great chance to see our audience face-to-face. 

I'm also proud of our bet that quality would win the day. That chasing the latest trend is fool's good. For 10 years, our audience has affirmed that working hard and sweating every detail to make a great, premium show every week is the way. It's not easy, but nothing that lasts a decade ever is. On to the next one....

About TODAY Show and NBCU News Group