ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: In your book, you’re asking people with 5-year plans to rip them up!
AL ROKER:There was no pandemic when I was writing this book.
We need to be more agile.
Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Who did you see and what were they doing?
Today we have a brand new, state-of-the-art commissary that is absolutely gorgeous.
You could see just about anyone there.
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I saw Tom Brokaw getting lunch there, and folks fromSaturday Night Livelike Dana Carvey andJon Lovettworking on scripts.
I remember seeing Billy Crystal there and he’d say, “Hey, Al!”
I remember the first time he did that thinking, “Oh my God.
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That’s Billy Crystal and he knows who I am.”
Being in that commissary was where I realized that I was at NBC.
I am working at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
A kid from Queens I am here.
Even somebody likeJohnny Carsonused to joke about the NBC commissary.
He would say it’s the only place you’re able to still eat dirt… cheap.
And while we’re away during the pandemic, it’s one of the things I miss the most.
There’s just something really special about that building this Art Deco temple where we broadcast out of.
Even the floors are a work of art.
I never get tired of walking in there.
You often reflect on young Al Roker throughout the book.
What would he think of you today?
I think he would be really surprised!
You never know where it’s going to lead.
If I had said no, I don’t know where I’d be today.
You Look So Much Better in Personis available topurchase now.
