Ryan Seacrest will soon take over the world

Did you witness this week’s little back and forth with Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today and American Idol host (et al) Ryan Seacrest? I don’t know about you, but I gleaned a whole lot of subterfuge during their little chat.

And I don’t care what my little buddy “Seacrust” says: There’s more to his answers than simple camaraderie with Lauer cut curtly.

There’s a gleam in Ryan’s eye. There’s undercurrent in his responses. Lauer tried and tried to draw out meaningful clues to Seacrust’s intentions, but was parried at every turn. You don’t get to that lofty place Seacrust occupies without knowing a few moves, so to speak. It doesn’t mean you need to wield those moves with in-your-face flair and pizzazz — you have to exercise a little controlled and careful discernment. And Seacrust has got that discernment nailed.

Still, it was fun to see Lauer squirm, wasn’t it?

“What kind of conversations have you had with NBC about joining Today show?” Lauer queried.

“Oh … didn’t they tell you?” the sly fox responded. And later, turning the tables and “taking over” for Matt in a brilliant play, he stated: “I see you doing this for as long as you want to … so the question is: ‘How long will you be on the Today show?”

That’s good. Really good.

So it got me to thinking: What else could my little buddy Seacrust do?

• Revamp, restructure and realign Oprah’s network?
• Go back and fix Heroes? Or Awake? Or Two And A Half Men?
• Have a sit down with Tim Burton to make certain he doesn’t screw things up?
• Arrange our exit strategy from Afghanistan?

The possibilities are endless.

Here’s the deal: At some point, we’re all going to wake up one morning and smilin’ Ryan Seacrest — mega host, successful producer /  executive producer, big-time radio personality, spokesperson, deal maker and empire mogul — just may be ruling the world. Or a big chunk of it.

After all: He’s got Matt Lauer all antsy. He’s got a foothold on more than we’ll ever know. And he’s good at it.

“But Michael …” you might want to ask me “… how can a radio and television host who tried to high-five a blind Scott MacIntyre possibly think he’s got what it takes to rule the world? Don’t you remember that little embarrassing incident?”

Of course I do. And my answer to that is: It makes no difference, folks … it’s just a matter of time.

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Apr 05, 2012 @ 18:15 EST5EDT