Tuning In to TV: ‘Glee’ characters to visit world of Archie comics

“This was a little unexpected, as we all know, but I just want to say that I’m so proud and honored to be in a place occupied by so many women I admire,” Ms. Guthrie said. She named all her predecessors from Ann Curry to Jane Pauley. After saying she hoped she didn’t miss anyone, Mr. Lauer replied that “you’ll hear if you did.”

Ms. Guthrie has co-hosted the four-hour “Today” show’s 9 a.m. hour for the past year, but the 7 to 9 a.m. stretch with Mr. Lauer is the main event, where it directly competes with morning news shows on ABC and CBS.

She replaces Ms. Curry, who was in the job for a year. This spring, ABC’s newly aggressive “Good Morning America” ended “Today’s” streak of winning ratings that stretched back to 1995, and the programs have traded victories ever since. For the last week of June, the shows finished in a dead heat among viewers in Nielsen’s measurement. Prestige and a lot of advertising revenue flow from being No. 1.

NBC plainly hopes for a better showing on Ms. Guthrie’s “official” debut than her unofficial one. Before a vacation, she co-anchored with Mr. Lauer on June 29, one day after Ms. Curry’s tearful exit, and the Nielsen company said “GMA” crushed “Today” in the ratings that day by 670,000 viewers.

NBC also wants to give viewers and her colleagues a chance to get used to Ms. Guthrie in the new role before “Today” heads to London later this month for special broadcasts during the Olympics.

Sheen’s ‘Anger Management’ sees steep drop in viewers

Following the back-to-back premiere outings for Charlie Sheen’s “Anger Management” on June 28, the FX comedy settled into its regular time slot of 9:30 p.m. on Thursday — dropping more than 2 million viewers in the process.

Among total viewers, the third episode of “Anger Management” dropped just north of 41 percent from the June 28 episode in the same time period, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It brought in 3.37 million viewers after pulling 5.74 million in the same half-hour on June 28.

The actor’s “Two and Half Men” follow-up had nearly the same dip among adults age 18 to 49. Thursday’s episode earned 1.71 million viewers in the target demographic, down from the premiere week’s hauls of 2.89 million (9:30 p.m.) and 2.65 million (9 p.m.).

Although these numbers are the first indicators as to whether “Anger Management” might secure the 90-episode renewal at stake, per the arrangement with distributor Debmar-Mercury, it won’t be until the end of this 10-episode run that FX can determine if the series meets its undisclosed ratings threshold. (The heavily promoted premiere episodes will not play a role in the math.)

Kardashian sister gives birth to baby girl, Penelope

Kourtney Kardashian has given birth to a girl and she’s naming her Penelope.

According to the Associated Press, the reality TV star told E! News that her second child with boyfriend Scott Disick was born early Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Her full name is Penelope Scotland Disick.

Miss Kardashian said she and the new baby were “resting comfortably.”

She and Mr. Disick have a 2-year-old son named Mason. Both of her pregnancies were highly publicized.

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