Seth Meyers Shocks With Matt Lauer Joke at NBC Upfronts

Seth Meyers scored the rare advertiser groan-and-laugh during NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation on Monday. The joke came after Meyers introduced Amy Poehler and Michael Schur’s upcoming Peacock comedy.

“‘Dig’ follows four women who work at an archeological dig in Greece who uncover a long-buried secret. Well, if it’s a long-buried secret at NBC, I’m guessing it’s Matt Lauer,” Meyers said before adding. “I’ve been told to wrap it up there.”

Lauer was the co-anchor for “Today” starting in 1997. His contract was then terminated in 2017 after NBC received a detailed complaint from one of Lauer’s colleagues about inappropriate sexual behavior.

Meyers started off his bit by offering to AirDrop the “Wicked: For Good” trailer to anyone who wanted it and for blatantly begging for money, which are truly what the upfronts are all about.

“I’m Seth Meyers, or for the right price, Tostitos Presents: Seth Meyers. I host the 12:30 slot. I’m open to anything,” Meyers said on Monday morning. “If I could sell the naming rights to my kids, I would. Verizon would be a great name for my seven-year-old considering how often I scream at him, ‘Can you hear me now?’ My daughter’s name? Maybe it’s Adelaide. Maybe it’s Maybelline. Maybe it’s Ford F-150. I’m not picky. You guys, everything is for sale. For example, the second part of ‘Wicked’ is set to premiere later this year. And I’m just saying for the right price, she could fly a Swiffer.”

However, the bulk of Meyers’ routine was devoted to mocking Versant, the recently announced name of Comcast and NBCUniversal’s new spinoff company. The venture will include programming from USA Network, Oxygen True Crime, E! and Syfy and will be run by CEO Mark Lazarus.

“Remember to ask your doctor if Versant is right for you,” Meyers joked. “When I heard the company was called Versant, I thought it’s official. There are no good names left. Imagine being jealous that someone beat you to Tubi.”

The late night host also had a couple of digs in store for his parent company. After noting that NBC will be 100 years old next year, Meyers quipped “that’s something you can sell the 18-to-49 demo on, right?” He then joked that NBC “hasn’t really been funny since the first season,” a nod to a common criticism about “Saturday Night Live.”

Meyers was one of two comedians to perform during NBCUniversal’s upfronts. But whereas Seth MacFarlane’s song and dance number mostly focused on mocking the company’s competition, Meyers’ performance was more of a good old-fashioned roast of his parent company.

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