The 'Today' Show Crew's Greatest Halloween Costumes

From the best of the '90s to a royal wedding almost as good as Will and Kate's, look back at the cast's over-the-top outfits

01 of 18

1997

1997
Dave Allocca/Time Life Pictures/Getty

In the early days of Today's Halloween celebrations, the staff's costumes were a bit more 'eh' than 'awesome.' For Halloween 1997, the gang went DIY: Katie Couric got all dolled up as screen legend Mae West, Al Roker and Matt Lauer went as Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble and Ann Curry channeled her inner Cleopatra.

The festivities will look slightly different in 2018, as Lauer was fired from Today in December 2017 following sexual misconduct allegations. Megyn Kelly, who had been hosting the third hour of Today, is also on her way out of the network.

02 of 18

2000

2000
NBC

But what a difference three years makes! Roker as Diddy and Lauer as Jennifer Lopez in that infamous down-to-there Versace Grammys dress really upped the ante on pop culture costumes to come.

03 of 18

2005

2005
Albert Ferreira/Reuters/Corbis

Marilyn Monroe – er, Couric – was safe sandwiched between Batman (Lauer) and Robin (Roker) the year Batman Begins hit theaters.

04 of 18

2006

2006
Sara Jaye Weiss/INF

It was girls vs. guys in 2006 as the divas – Cher (Curry), Bette Midler (Meredith Vieira) and Madonna (Natalie Morales) – faced off against Lauer's Captain Jack Sparrow and Roker's Davy Jones of Pirates of the Caribbean.

05 of 18

2007

2007
Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

The cast paid homage to TV's most spook-tacular family, The Munsters, in 2007: Lauer and Vieira were Herman and Lily Munster, Roker was Grandpa, Morales was son Eddie and Hoda Kotb was their "normal" niece, Marilyn. Contributor Tiki Barber went wild as the fictional family's pet, Spot.

06 of 18

2008

THE TODAY SHOW
Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

"Fairytales" was the theme as Vieira, Lauer, Curry and Roker – dressed up in as Pinocchio, Humpty Dumpty, Cinderella and the Gingerbread Man – joined Kathie Lee Gifford, Kotb and Amy Robach as the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. We just hope everyone had a happily ever after!

07 of 18

2009

THE TODAY SHOW CAST
Janet Mayer/Splash News Online

The Force was with the Today show cast and their costume department in 2009 when Lauer dressed as Luke Skywalker, Roker as Han Solo, Vieira as Princess Leia, Curry as Darth Vader, Kotb as Yoda, Gifford as C-3PO and Morales as Queen Padmé Amidala.

08 of 18

2010

2010
Richard Drew/AP

Close pals Gifford and Kotb paid homage to TV's original best friends, Lucy and Ethel – and I Love Lucy's memorable grape-stomping scene.

09 of 18

2011

2011
Peter Kramer/NBC; Erik Pendzich / Rex

The Today hosts were pretty spot-on when they recreated the royal wedding with Lauer and Curry as Prince William and Princess Kate, Savannah Guthrie as Prince Charles, Roker as Prince Harry, Vieira as Queen Elizabeth and Gifford and Kotb in the roles of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie (sorry, Camilla!).

10 of 18

2013

2013
Dennis Van Tine/Abaca USA

Playing #ThrowbackThursday TV stars paid off for the Today crew when they were visited by CHiPs cop Erik Estrada (imitated by Carson Daly) and Baywatch's Carmen Electra (Lauer dressed like her – again in drag). Rounding out the cast of small-screen favorites: Roker as Mr. T, Gifford and Kotb as Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble, Morales and Guthrie and Laverne and Shirley and Willie Geist as Baywatch's Mitch Buchannon (a.k.a. The Hoff).

11 of 18

2014

2014
Erik Pendzich/REX USA

The gang didn't have to go far to find their costumes that year – just over to the wardrobe department of Saturday Night Live, where they pulled looks from the show's iconic sketches. Geist and Tamron Hall brought cheer as the Spartan cheerleaders; Morales did saucy schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher (with Peter Alexander as a forlorn priest); Lauer was the androgynous star of "It's Pat!"; Gifford and Kotb were Wayne and Garth (excellent!); Roker and Lester Holt donned Blues Brothers' garb; and Guthrie, Vieira and Jenna Bush Hager recreated the not-so-stylish "Mom Jeans" digital short.

12 of 18

2015

2015
Today Show

Good grief! In honor of The Peanuts Movie's impending release, the team dressed up as all the fan favorites, with Lauer as Lucy and Roker as Charlie Brown. Once again, Meredith Vieira made a surprise return (as Pig-Pen!) and the gang did a cute dance to the hummable theme, "Linus & Lucy."

13 of 18

2016

halloween
Today Show/Instagram

Nostalgia was alive and well for the cast, who dressed as '90s icons including (from left) Demi Moore, Pulp Fiction's Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega, Steve Urkel, Regis and Kathie Lee (with a surprise Regis Philbin appearance!), Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Seinfeld. (A bonus: Charlie the puppy went as a Beanie Baby.)

14 of 18

2017

today-show-halloween

Country's finest joined the Today cast dressed as, well, country's finest, for a mega-concert on the show's Rockefeller Center stage. Reba McEntire introduced "legend's night," which included Carson Daly as mullet-rocking Billy Ray Cyrus, Kathie Lee Gifford as Miley Cyrus, Al Roker as Willie Nelson, Megyn Kelly as Shania Twain (in a corset!) and Hoda Kotb rocked a better Blake Shelton than Blake Shelton himself, who showed up for a surprise performance. "Every shred of my dignity is gone," quipped Kelly, before being surprised by the real Shania Twain on stage. But perhaps the cream of the crop was Savannah Guthrie as Kenny Rogers and Matt Lauer as Dolly Parton, who performed a duet of "Islands in the Stream."

15 of 18

2018

'Today' TV show, New York, USA - 31 Oct 2018
Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Today went totally '80s for Halloween 2018, with the entire crew dressing up as movie characters like Doc (Al Roker) and Marty McFly (Dylan Dreyer) from Back to the Future as well as Ferris Bueller (Willie Geist), plus music stars like Cyndi Lauper (Savannah Guthrie) and Madonna (Kathie Lee Gifford). Hilariously, Good Morning America had the same idea, with the staff dressing up as beloved TV characters.

16 of 18

2019

The TODAY gang goes all out for its Halloween 2019 theme, Everybody Dance TODAY, dressing up as the most famous dancers from TV and movies. See Craig Melvin and Al Roker as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Carlton; and Peter Alexander as Kevin Bacon in “Footloose”; Dylan Dreyer mimicking Elaine’s memorably awkward moves from “Seinfeld”; Willie Geist and Jenna Bush Hager doing some “Dirty Dancing”; Sheinelle Jones as Janet Jackson in her “Rhythm Nation” phase; Hoda Kotb as Danny in “Saturday Night Live,” and Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly as Sandy and Denny from “Grease”!
NBC News’ TODAY

The anchors pulled out all the stops to celebrate the spooky holiday with their dance-themed epic costumes.

Al Roker and Craig Melvin went as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air's Carlton and Will, respectively, Hoda Kotb as Tony from Saturday Night Fever, Dylan Dreyer as Seinfeld's Elaine, Savannah Guthrie as Sandy and Carson Daly as Danny from Grease, Sheinelle Jones as Janet Jackson, and Peter Alexander as Kevin Bacon's character in Footloose.

Jenna Bush Hager, who was on maternity leave, even stopped by, dressed as Baby from beloved romantic comedy Dirty Dancing — with help from Willie Geist as Johnny.

17 of 18

2020

today show crew
Tyler Essary/NBC via Getty

With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping theaters closed, the Today cast brought Broadway to viewers with their epic stage costumes. Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones dressed as Chicago's Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart; Craig Melvin and Al Roker were Hamilton's Alexander Hamilton and King George; Jenna Bush Hager portrayed Grizabella from Cats; and Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie united as beloved characters Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked.

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2021

Halloween Show On "Today"
John Lamparski/Getty Images

Ahead of Halloween on Sunday, the NBC morning news show hosts embraced the holiday spirit with a group costume inspired by the Super Bowl of the NFL.

Hoda Kotb stepped out first as Carrie Underwood, lip-syncing the lyrics to NBC's Sunday Night Football theme song.

Willie Geist and Carson Daly were next as Tampa Bay Buccaneers duo Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, both wearing a handful of real Super Bowl rings.

Craig Melvin came out as Patrick Mahomes, prefaced with a video of a young Mahomes fan cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback.

The NFL theme continued with Al Roker as The Weeknd. The weatherman mimicked the singer's epic Halftime Show performance from Super Bowl LV.

Sheinelle Jones went a similar route with her Bruno Mars costume as she emulated his Super Bowl XLVIII production.

Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager wrapped up the segment as Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and performed a brief routine alongside members of the famed dance crew.

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