>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. i don't know. >> oh. have yourself a merry little christmas >> this is a good version. oh, no! >> all right. i won't. >> no, it is beautiful and you know what i will say something that you don't hear me saying everyday to a kathie lee song --

>> this is my favorite. christmas >> listen to your pipes. listen to those pipes. what? oh, dance? good. from now on our troubles will be miles away >> i'm ready for the dip. >> wow! >> wow! frank! frank has got some moves. >> yes. thank you, thank you. >> that was awesome. >> all righty, it is boozeday tuesday, december 15th, and only ten days left until christmas. >> that is just the start of the show.

>> no. no. >> tina fey. >> and her movie "sisters" opens up in three days, and we will share some laughs with her. >> and we are decking or teching the halls -- >> look at that sweater. is that a fire. >> is it ugly sweater day? >> i have a fire in my belly. >> don't burn yourself, steve. >> i'm hot. >> he's going to show us how to make the perfect cocktail every time. using his gadgets. he is mr. gadget. and sugar ray's mark mcgrath is here, and they call themselves the merrymakers, and so we will have a little performance later to put you in the holiday spirit. >> yes. >> we started a little earlier last night with the new year's celebration. >> we whooped it up, kathie lee and i. we're doing a new year's special for nbc, and look at our party pals. >> this is the third time, right, hode? >> this is more raucous than the others. >> we're not mellowing.

we're turning up the volume. and andy cohen has a special and then carson. >> and it is a toast to 2015. well, we made a toast today to willard scott after 65 years at nbc, and he is our uncle willard. he is. he retired today. and he started out as an nbc page just like regis did, but look, he was in 1950. >> wow. he is one of the people who just seem to represent america. when you saw him, you felt that everything would be okay. >> he is a completely joyful man. >> yes. he's done 40,000 birthday announcements. here's a little look at what matt had to say. >> on a personal note, we want to say, willard, thank you for caring for all of us, and the first one who has welcomed all of us to the show in our first days and also for being there with a hug or the pat on the back when times were good or

so willard, every time we are have seen each other over the past 20 years plus, we have always greeted each other with a hug and a kiss. while i am not there today, as i raise the glass to you, i want to ask al to be my surrogate hugger and kisser and say it is with a huge hug and kiss that we a all say, willard, thank you and god bless you. >> here, here. >> and don't you love that? >> and matt has the perfect tone. >> and al, too. al said that willard is like a second dad to him, and it just shows how close they are. >> and everybody has a willard story around here, but mine goes back the furthest? >> i think it might what is yours? >> when i was 10 years old, i had raised $10.52 for muscular dystrophy and the kid who won the most got to go into washington, d.c., to give the money to captain tug. captain tug was willard scott. and i sat on willard scott, his lap, when i was 10 years old, baby. and it is a memory, and that's the good news. the bad news is that now that willard has retired, hoda, i am

here at "today" show. live strong, willard. >> i hope he enjoys that florida. >> this is fun, they did an unveiling, they renamed our perfect. >> perfect. >> and if you were up until 10:00 last night, and a lot of people were, we aired the live in new york city adele concert. it is the first concert in four years and the first time audience. her sing. >> and she opened up with the song "hello" which everybody loved. and then she sang some of her older hits like "someone like you" and she asked the crowd to sing along. let's see. and i'm so mad i'm getting old

it was just like a movie it was just like a song when we were young >> she sang that "when we were young" and got the sanding o. check out her reaction. just watch. oh. >> there was some love in that room. >> i am so relieved. that is so her. much. and i know i've been quiet, i surprise you. >> oh, that is so sweet. >> i did stay up to see quite a bit of it, and you had been there and you raved and you haven't stopped. she is the real deal. >> and the thing that you love about it is that they could not show everything in the special obviously, but there was a beautiful moment where there was

by the way, the fans got, like, the first 30 rows. it wasn't the high-rollers. and one kid, it was his birthday, and she was like is it your birthday? should we sing? and so the entire radio city sang to the kid, and i remember thinking, how cool is that. when she left the stage she ran to the elevator and you know when you run to the elevator and you can't control it, because it is all over? this is what happened in the elevator. anyway, she was just sobbing, and the guy is trying to close the door. no, i'm only kidding. [ laughter ] >> all right. night. we still don't know who has won they are, and we want to know what you think, and here we are. from team blake, emily ann roberts and barrett baber, and

from team gwen, austin. if i never get to see the eiffel tower at night i wish that we could go back in time and i'd be the one that you thought that you'd find follow every rainbow till you tell me knees i'm so tired of being lonely need >> isn't it amazing how the world never runs out of incredible talent.

so, of those? >> of those four, they were all magnificent and i was moved by -- by the girl and jordan. >> emily ann and jordan. >> if you had to pick between emily ann who is blake's guy, and jordan, the guy with the glasses, who would you pick? >> i would go with emily ann. >> i am going with jordan smith, and they are all credible and i love the song that barrett sang thomas rhett song. >> who told you about that? >> cassidy told cody and cody told me, then cody took all credit because cassidy had not told him. >> welcome to my world. >> the winner will be with us on thursday. >> all star wars all over the world, but the premier was in hollywood last night. >> yeah. they shut down three blocks of hollywood boulevard. just to get an idea of what that means, when they do the oscars they shut down one block. so they shut down three. twitter lit up early.

two thumbs up. and glenn witt from the "l.a. times" tweeted this is the "star wars" movie that you were looking for. and one said rest easy, the force awakening is 100% "star wars" and something new. so we will get to meet the stars. >> yeah, they will be stars as >> crazy to the think they are unknowns today. carrie fisher looked like she was having a crazy time on the red carpet. >> she didn't bring gary with her dog. >> the dog with the tongue. >> hard to forget. >> and look at gordon left who dressed up like yoda. >> i heard a rumor that yoda is not in that and somebody told me. and sophia vergara and joe mangniello. they debuted for the first time on the red carpet. >> she did the cinnabons.

>> she did it in the right place. place. >> lieu pete a e lupita in the sparkly dress. >> and she is one of those cgi people. >> and how about chewbacca? >> he is there with the light saber cane. this is the girl that you need to know. here she is, gorgeous. and you'll say who is that? ready? daisy redley. >> she plays the character of ray. this is her first major film. as of tomorrow, everybody will know her. >> and it is expected to be the biggest grossing movie of all, all time. >> and "sisters" is also opening the movie with tina fey and amy poehler. so there's some buzzfeed quiz, and it asking you who are you more like? tina or amy? and you answer a bunch of questions and some of them are weird and some of them are pick a historical era that you would live in, et cetera, et cetera. should we go through?

>> and so pretend that we are playing. >> no. don't do that, just listen to our answers. all right. so, who are we more like? drum roll, please. >> we are both amy! which means we're both 100% comfortable with who we are, and never afraid to follow our heart, we enjoy being the center of attention, and people are drawn to our infectious laugh and wicked sense of humor, and we make other people feel better just being around us. >> wow. >> i don't think we're that great, but that's nice. >> if you're tina, you are a person, and a natural >> i want to be tina. >> but we are both amy. buzzfeed happens to be a partner of nbc universal, that's why we always talk about it. [ laughter ] >> and now, the ladies who strike comedy gold together, tina fey and amy poehler in

but first, tina is going to to

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breathe right she has won eight emmy awards and two golden globes and new york times best selling author and mother of two. >> we are talking about comedian actress, writer producer, tina fey. >> she is always one half of the amy poehler, and they are

they are not ladies. they play siblings who are not happy that their family is selling their childhood home, so they decide to throw an epic last party when her parents decide to sell their childhood home, and you can't have an epic party without an outfit. >> what do you think? >> that is looking amazing on you. >> i have never met a braila before? >> there are like three. >> oh, so you are trending. god bless. there's a lot of under teet, but i think i'm getting away with it. >> i think it's working. >> there she is, first time miss faye has come the party with these girls. >> what took you so long? >> well, i was at home watching and getting people ready for school, and thank you for having me though. >> how old are the kids though? >> 10 and 4. >> are they all right? >> they are good. they are good. >> and so you are switching it around this time, and you are playing the wild and crazy one. >> yes. >> and amy plays the good girl, but in reality, you are both

>> in reality we are both good girls, all the women in comedy i know where wr like good girls ere like good girls, good students, and mildly rebellion, and very good the at comedy. >> and their parents would be horrified. >> yes, i love the concept of this movie that you are very, your parents are selling the childhood home, and including things. >> and our parents are james brolin and diane weiss are our parents, and they say to come get your junk out of the house, and we are selling the house. i was kind of planning on moving back into the parents house at 43, so i'm upset with that. so we decide to have just one more party in the house. and it is like a big high school house party, but everybody is like 45 years old. >> behaving badly. script. >> no, our friend paula pell who used to write all of the hits at

and sherry were the cheerleaders, and all of the justin and jimmy are like omeletville, and all of that, person, and this is the first screen play with her name wholly on it. >> and were you able to ad-lib? >> well, we know each other so well, and paula wrote the script which is really funny, and she would sit at the director's monitor, while we were shooting, she would write new jokes on post-it notes. so the director, jason moore, would give us new jokes. >> that is fun. >> yeah. because you have maya rudolph there who knows what she is doing. >> yes. >> and so would you like to play a game? >> yes. >> it is how well you know your comedy movies. okay. ready. kath, you do the first one. name the movie, this very famous put the candle back. >> okay. put the candle back! >> and from what movie is this quote, a relationship is like a forward or it dice and i think

shark. >> "annie hall." >> you were going along with the exact words. >> how many times have you seen these movies? >> a lot. >> what affliction did the cowboy in "blazing saddles" suffer from at the camp site? headaches, psoriasis or gas? >> it has to be gas. that nana takes the wig off when she has had too much to drink. >> "mean girls." i wrote that movie. >> that is something that i won't ever say. >> and in what movie is a can of cooking spray used for off-label purposes? >> a can of cooking spray. >> bridesmaids, baby mama or blazing trails? >> "baby mama." >> yes.

>> we wish you a great holiday and great opening, because you're opposite "star wars." >> a lay-up. >> and so people will find you. >> and hopefully the "star wars" is sold out and you can come see "sisters" with your popcorn and ticket. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> and now, coming up, we will have some new gadgets. >> is he here? >> yes. he's here. e country never stop. so neither does the u.s. army. we train. adapt. and get smarter. every soldier. every unit. every day. not to keep up with change; but to drive it. nobody knows what problems tomorrow will bring. but we do know who will solve them. hey buddy, let's get these dayquil liquid gels and go. but these liquid gels are new. mucinex fast max. it's the same difference.

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it is time for brain teaser tuesday where we put your minds to work with a fun riddle courtesy of buzz feed. >> here it is. you leave home, make three left turns and return home. where where you find two men wearing masks. who are they? >> oh. please.

you let us know when you figure it out and we will have the answer after the break. >> and gifts and gadgets that hit the right note for the holidays. when we show you how to make the perfect christmas cookie. >> perfect? the perfect one. so how ya doing? enough pressure in here for ya? ugh. my sinuses are killing me. yeah...just wait 'til we hit ten thousand feet. i'm gonna take mucinex too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're new liquid gels. and you're coming with me... wait, what?! you realize i have gold status? do i still get the miles? new mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this. i take pictures of sunrises, but with my back pain i couldn't sleep and get up in time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back.

ugh! heartburn! no one burns on my watch! try alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. they work fast and don't taste chalky. mmm...amazing. alka-seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. >> guess what, everybody? it's boozeday tuesday, and before we broke -- >> we broke for the break.

you leave home and make three left turns and return home with where you find two men wearing masks, who are they? we asked. >> do you know? >> no clue. >> the answer is the catcher and the umpire. home base. >> oh, very sneaky. all right. >> in just ten days santa will squeeze down chimneys around the world, and with all of those presents to deliver, he sure does work up an appetite. >> so from the founders of baked here in new york city, we have matt lewis and rinaldo pito. >> sounds very good to order. >> it's a mouthful. >> how are you guys? >> today, we we want to make the linzer cookies. >> are those german? >> yes, it is like a raspberry cookie. >> and we will eat them. >> we like that. >> it's a simple recipe. i have toasted almonds here, and some sugar here. >> about a half cup.

>> you're going to pulse. >> see if i can get this right. >> not looking good. >> fake pulse. >> it's very -- let's pretend. >> okay. >> pretend we pulsed. >> then? >> we go to the butter, sugar. we have butter, sugar already in. we are take the dry ingredients. >> and what are those dry ingredients? >> cocoa powder, and baking soda, and to that we will add some almond extract. >> he found it! >> keep pulsing, i figured it out. >> keep pulsing, and i'm mixing, and what is different about the recipe is that it has a little bit of the cocoa powder in it, so it is a darker cookie, and so we want to get this to a coarse sand level. >> this is amazing. >> did you practice this before? >> yes, we did, but not on this particular machine, though. any way. we are now going to be

and the almond mixture. >> why? >> otherwise it's out of the bowl. you will get more almond flower on yourself. >> and so alternate. mix. we have the dough coming together like this. >> okay. >> chill this dough for an hour or more. you can even freeze it up for a and then we have rolled it out or somebody did. did you roll this out? >> no, it is santa's elves. >> yes, aka bianca. >> and you can make the cookie cutters any size or shape, and what you want to do if you want to help out is to go for it like that. >> okay. come on, kathie lee. >> and now, the center there. >> oh. >> perfect. >> and you put it in the the middle? >> right in the middle. >> like a christmas tree. >> i am doing a heart. >> la, la, la. >> and pull it out. >> and now, look, you have a couple of cookies. >> look at that hody. >> perfect. >> as usual. >> and then what do you do?

>> we'll pop these guys in the oven, 350 degrees for eight to >> okay. >> rotate halfway. >> and if you want, you can always bake the scraps. >> of course, do that, too. little baby heart. the little tree. >> how do you feel about putting the jam on that side of the cookie. >> not that. here, you like do things neat. this is a blueberry jam. put that on the bottom side of the cookie. >> bottom side. >> oh, my gosh. that's perfect. >> the more the merrier. >> those look great. >> then what. >> powdered sugar to the top. >> and sandwich that baby up. >> sandwich it up. >> perfect. >> and hoda cracked it in two places. >> no, i didn't! >> you did. >> it is fine. it is fine. you see, fine. >> beautiful. >> it is beautiful. >> it is a true hoda cookie. >> and what are the other ones? >> chocolate cream cookies. classic american christmas

little bit of lemon sugar on it. which is delish. >> you know what i like about that? it is not too sweet, and it is very, very good. >> that is delicious. >> wait. what is this again? >> it is the chocolate crinkle. >> oh, that is so good. >> it is for the holidays. >> this would work. >> mm-hmm. >> right? >> and you can find the recipes on today.com/food. >> you guys, those are excellent. >> thanks for having us. >> get ready for -- >> a little more sugar. >> mark mcgrath and the band of merrymakers will perform for us. >> right after this. >> i didn't try this one. oh no... (under his breath) hey man! hey peter. (unenthusiastic) oh... ha ha ha! joanne? is that you? you don't look a day over jingle jingle. if you're peter pan, you stay young forever. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance,

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>> the citi concert series on citi. are about to get you in the spirit with some music from the band of merrymakers. >> the band is made up of a rotating group of a-list classics. >> and they are out with the debut album called "welcome to our christmas party." >> here to sing their new song "musty christmas" is the band of music merrymakers, with the band leader, mark mcgrath. take it guys! whoa oh oh oh it's the greatest holiday goodwill and peace on earth,

stuffing stockings with candy canes, and old friends are back in town and the ones at home are like nothing has changed so hurry up santa stop that sleigh it is only merry in your heart and you'll be merrier than you thought when the day is made of wishes it must be christmas whoa whoa oh oh it must be christmas whoa oh oh oh colored lights are all aglow last-minute shopping lists you barely make the mall

wrapped in paper ties and bows secret crushes hope they kiss be a bough of mistletoe we will make angels in the snow when there is only merry in your heart and you're feeling nicer than you are and when the day is made of wishes it must be christmas oh ooh ooh ooh it must be christmas oh ho ho ho it must be christmas

and remembering those less fortunate than you i wish that i could be the someone who makes someone's dreams come true ooh ooh yeah yeah when there's only merry in your heart and you're feelinnicer than you are when the day is made of wishes it must be christmas ooh it must be christmas baby oh oh oh oh it must be christmas whoa oh oh it must be christmas oh oh oh oh

my friends oh whoa ooh >> all right. the band of merrymakers. >> they were awesome. >> gifts and gadget force big kids. >> and steve greenberg is going to check all of the boxes on the christmas wish list. >> we love that steve. >> look at him. >> who likes life more than steve greenberg?

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and now some holiday toys for big girls and boys with our gadget guy, steve greenberg. >> he is the author of "gadget nation." he's about to tech the halls. >> i never get over it. that's so clever. >> first you walked in, it's a big day for us because willard retired today, and you pulled out the phone, and there is a photo of you. how old were you in this

doing the "today show with jane pauley and bryant gumbel" and he ripped off the toupee and pointed to my head. he was such a nice guy. >> we love your sweater. we pointed that out at the beginning. >> fire in the belly. >> is that a warm sweater. >> hot fashion is how i like to think of it. this is by the folks at buy costume. and the folks from hammacher and schlemmer. this is a mistletoe drone and high-tech romance, and so if it flies. well, you know, it fly perfectly in rehearsal. let's believe it's working. fly over here and you have to give me a kiss. >> and now, that is the mistletoe from hammacher and schlemmer. about $70. >> okay. >> and these are piano gloves. >> these are cute. >> putting them on here. >> what are you doing? >> you don't need a peian. >> no you have the white keys,

move my finger good. >> crazy. >> kids would love that. >> that is neat. >> something like that. >> that's cool. >> and i should take some lessons with the piano. and this is from the folks at amazon.com, and it is $26, so it is reasonably priced, and you have it turned on and it makes tons of noise. if the gloves don't fit you -- well moving on. and these are the toys that any parent who has kids, you know that the little screws in the bottom of the toys are impossible, and you never have a screwdriver, and this is the toy driver. you put it right in there and you can take it right out. $10. >> okay. >> and this is for all of the breaks at the christmas time and it is called the bond-it. it is amazing, and you put a little drop here, and you just

seconds and one, two, three, four. and there is imitations out there. this is the original. invented by a dentist. >> for bonding teeth. >> you can fix your cables with it even a pipe. this little thing here, his leg was missing. the bell. you can replace all that stuff simple. >> and you can fix everything but a broken heart. >> and here we go. >> so this is the drone. so it is still here. and okay. everybody. kiss. this is called perfect drink, this is really cool. it's a scale that is synced up to your ipad, and you want to make a cosmo. >> look. look. look. >> it tells me when to stop with the vodka. and i overpour t tells me. >> it is cocktails for dummies. >> yes, this is it. >> and that is the perfect cocktail.

>> this is so cute. >> and if you don't have enough, it will just tell you how to adjust all of the other things accordingly. it will also look at stuff in your refrigerator or liquor cabinet -- >> okay. >> add some ice. as i drop ice everywhere. >> does it tell you how much? >> it times it for you. it times how long you should shake it and pour it. and take the drink, ladies. >> we will run out of time. >> and we have wraps right here, and they are warm are from the folks at hammacher. right over there. >> mm-hmm. >> and here is this. the cushions you are sitting on are called m cushions. they have massaging. >> oh. >> oh, nighty night. >> hody is so happy right now. >> it's designer looking but you can also sit back --

>> for your feet, your lower back. >> the drone! >> isn't that cool? >> i am not leaving. i love the blankie and the massage. >> and really, what you need is really a perfect drink. >> and the drone works. >> that is the only place i don't mind drones, in the house. >> thank you. >> and this is what i call celebrating the holidays. >> thank you, steve. >> happy holidays. >> and a novel gift for some deserving kids. >> first this is "today" on nbc. >> oh, the drone is stuck, again! where is it? stuck on the wall. (beat begins) (the beat drops again) strangelove strange highs and strange lows strange love that's how my love goes strangelove will you give it to me? gucci guilty the fragrances for him and for her. i take pictures of sunrises, but with my back pain i couldn't sleep

then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. it's the final countdown! the final countdown! if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico.

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we are in the final stretch of the 22nd annual toy drive and so proud to report that we sent

toys and gifts to children so far. thanks to all of who contributed. >> that's right. thank you very much. and here with a generous donation of books for children of all ages is mary cullinane. what are you giving? >> we are giving, as we have in the past, almost 10,000 books. from a literacy perspective it's important that we get kids early on to access to good material, good books and make them avid readers. >> this is an old standard, big favorite. the christmas tugboat story of rockefeller center. >> and polar express. >> thank you for everything. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> you have until next tuesday, december 22nd to o klgandhoda.com to donate. >> and tomorrow, we will have

specl things. >> have a great boozeday