joel mchale is shooting a christmas movie. it involves his crotch being set on fire.is screen test for the scene he nonchalantly walks backwards, pants on fire, looking down at that blaze. all in a day's work. >> i feel like the pat to put it out could have been scarier. >> i'm sure there's some insulation somehow, some place. >> there's got to be. >> this is your "first look" on msnbc. way too early starts right now. >>> i think what was the "game change"er in the minds of american people saying enough is enough is what happened to those beautiful babies up in sandy hook. look, joe, this is one of the cases where the public is so far ahead of the elected officials. i mean, so far ahead. you saw it in immigration, marriage issues, you're seeing it now. the public has moved to a different place. >> vice president joe biden at our roundtable yesterday.

while back in the states, comedian joel mchale set his own pants ablaze.n astounding escape for this guy in hawaii, fishing from his kayak, he nearly became the food. finally a family in mali made the biggest mistake after being asked to care for a camel belonging to french president hollande. >> when they were told they were supposed to feed the camel, they instead thought they were supposed to eat the camel. >> take your pick. >> i know. well, i have to tell you, i think the shark attack was my favorite. like sitting on a kayak. can you imagine being out in the middle of the water and having a tiger shark just jump behind you? >> no. the fact that he was filming it was kind of unique anyways. that was kind of crazy. the dog ferret story. >> that one's got me. how can you -- >> it's like a ferret you threw in the dryer and you bleached it. >> thanks, bill. >> here's what's coming up on the "today" show. a look at the rising cost of prescription drugs and driving force behind it. now keep on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more.

easy mac, big mac, mac attack, heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack, bringing it back to billy joel, joel mchalek shoop, bringing it back to salt n pepa, "push it," pull it, bop it, twist it, oliver twist, please sir, have some more- gan freeman, bringing it back to march of the penguins and madagascar-ly rae jep-sons of anar-key lime pie, pythagorean theorem, a squared plus b squared equals c squared, c.c. sabathia, new york yankees, yankee doodle, labradoodle, labrador, dora the explorer, bringing it back to ferdinand magellan, "are you gellin?" bringing it back to dr. scholl's, "what's up, doc?" doc severinsen, the leader of "the tonight show" band with johnny carson, carson to leno, leno to conan, conan to fallon, "late night with jimmy fallon," how you like me now? [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: that was pretty good. that was not bad! bad. bad to the bone, bone thugs-n-harmony, eharmony, dot com, rom com, comic con, contra, bringing it back to the contra code, up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, select, start, "start me up" by the rolling stones -- [ mick jagger voice ] h

i had quite an evening -- because i tweeted the pick chair and within moments joel mchale the actor andy about 30 minutes later she retweeted it. >> bill: oh. >> i got a direct message from her. >> bill: you did? >> yes i did. >> bill: very nice. >> yeah it got out there. >> bill: we'll get the pulitzer prize for peter ogburn. >> yes and we can safely say that peter went viral on friday night. >> i was trending in canada. >> al michaels had one too many over the weekend he was arrested and charged with a dui. he was pulled over friday night in santa monica california and spent five hours behind bars to sober up. >> bill: dummy. >> i'll say this, i have cold called a lot of people to come on and be guest, and i cold called al michaels one time in the hotel room. meanest sob i have ever dealt with. but now that we know he drinks -- >> bill: that's it. you should have said -- you come in the show and i'll buy you a drink afterwards. >> exactly. >> bill: yes indeed we talk about a lot of aspects of the events in boston last week and one thing we haven't touched on yet, and wanted to get you

joel mccale is shooting a christmas movie in atlanta that involves his crotch being set on fire in a screen test for the scene. we see mchale nonchalantly dancing around while his pants are ablaze. all in a day's work, i don't know. >> what's more exciting, and then the fire gets put out? >> it doesn't seem to bother him at all. >> must be an extra layer beneath his jeans. >>> this comes to us from wwbt in richmond, virginia. it's time to ride in style. 32-year-old melissa barr has endured surgery, cheaply know and radiation since diagnosed with brain cancer. as a celebratory treat, her husband arranged to escort her to the final treatment session. the car company liked that so much, they're now offering that for any patient heading to the last appointment. >> it's awesome that the limo company picked up on how sweet her husband was. and said this is wonderful for everyone. it was touching to see him do that. >> it's a win-win situation for everybody. i'm dara brown and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. >>> the lead story this morning in the "new york times" obama budget opens