Al Roker Returns to 'Today' for First Weather Report After Knee Surgery: 'We're Putting It to Use'
The longtime weatherman went under the knife to repair his left knee on May 9
Al Roker returned to the Today show on Tuesday, for his first show since undergoing knee surgery.
The longtime weatherman — who has been a staple on the NBC morning program since 1996 — was back in front of the weather board, reporting on the national temperatures as usual.
"Look who's here! Mr. Roker, we are so happy to have you back in our studio," Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie said at the top of the show before joking, "You've got a brand knew knee! Does it still have that new knee smell?"
"I don't want to go there," teased Roker, dressed in a light tan suit. "We're putting it to use. ... It's all good, all good."
"We're so happy to have you back, Al," added co-anchor Hoda Kotb.
Al is back with us this morning! ???? pic.twitter.com/D6eyRgCazL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 30, 2023
"Good to see ya, good to see ya," said Roker.
Related: Al Roker Surprises His ‘Today' Colleagues Live with Early Return After Knee Surgery
Roker, 68, went under the knife to repair his left knee on May 9.
"This one is a little more complicated because it's what they call a revision; it was a replacement of a replacement, so they had to take stuff out, put stuff in, so it was a bit of a bear," Roker explained on May 15, while giving an update on his health in a virtual appearance on Today. "So we've just been kind of hanging out. Chilling out, not doing anything — which I know, a lot of people find hard to believe, but in fact, that is the case."
At the time, Roker said he still had some work to do before returning to Today, including "three days a week of physical rehab that'll go on for a few months."
"I still don't know, I'm hoping, maybe sometime in the next two weeks to be back," Roker said. "We'll just play it by ear every day. ... I know I'm not going to come back before I have to."
His wife, Deborah Roberts, spoke more about Roker’s condition on Instagram on May 21, where she told her followers that Roker is "doing pretty well but moving a little slowly."
"It makes it slow going, it makes it a little tougher," she added. "It was a harder surgery, so it's a little bit harder to snap back from but he's doing pretty well, moving a little slowly."
The journalist also commented on Roker's return to Today, adding, "Al is chomping at the bit to try to get back to work, but the doctor just wants him to take it slowly so that he can continue to heal well."
This was Roker's second knee replacement surgery. The first was in April 2022, while the second had to be delayed when Roker was hospitalized due to blood clots in his leg and lungs.
He was out of work for two months following the health scare, before returning to Today in early January. "Look, I had two complicating things," Roker said then. "I had blood clots, which they think came up after I had COVID in September. And then I had this internal bleeding going on, I lost half my blood. They were trying to figure out where it was."
Roker was being treated at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Through surgery, his medical team discovered he had two bleeding ulcers. Doctors resectioned his colon, took out his gallbladder and operated on his duodenum, part of the small intestine.
"I went into for one operation, I got four free," joked Roker. "So I got that going for me."
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Meanwhile, Monday wasn't the first time Roker has been around his Today colleagues since his knee operation. Not only did he make a surprise appearance on May 25's 3rd Hour of Today — to drop in on his co-hosts Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer — but he also gathered with the full Today family later that day for a photoshoot.
"Talk about just what the doctor ordered," Roker wrote on Instagram, captioning a Reel of pictures from the event that also featured Willie Geist, Jenna Bush Hager, Kristen Welker, Peter Alexander and Carson Daly. "Seeing my Today pals...for a fun shoot today was soooo much fun."
Roker has been Today's premiere weather anchor since 1996, and previously made appearances as a substitute weathercaster from 1990 to 1995, filling in for the late Willard Scott before his semiretirement.
"We are family," he added in hashtag, also including the 1979 Sister Sledge song in his post.
Today airs weekdays begging at 7 a.m. ET on NBC.
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