With his Today show weather gig, a PBS travel series (Going Places), an MSNBC game show (Remember This?), and his own website (you guessed it -- www.roker.com), 42-year-old Al Roker is threatening to take away James Brown's title as the hardest-working man in show business. Although, unlike the Godfather of Soul, Roker points out, ''I will not wear spandex.'' Still, Roker found time in his busy schedule to sit down to lunch at a Manhattan sushi restaurant (final tally: $75.38) and discuss his brilliant careers:
What drives you to work so hard?
It comes from my dad. He started out as a bus driver in New York City, became a chief dispatcher, and when he retired six years ago he was one of the heads of labor relations for the Transit Authority. He worked very hard, and that's how you get ahead. And let's face it, I'm not gonna get by on my looks.
Are you part of a weatherman fraternity with CBS This Morning's Mark McEwen and Good Morning America's Spencer Christian?
Mark is my evil twin. No, I like Mark and Spencer a lot. It's interesting that on the three morning shows, up until this year, you had three African-American guys doing weather. And until Spencer had the hair transplants, three follicle-ly challenged African-American guys.
You've guested on Seinfeld, The Single Guy, and NewsRadio. What's the secret of your acting success?
The trick is to keep any acting bit to no more than 10 seconds. For 10 seconds, I'm Tom Cruise -- show me the money! More than 10 seconds, there's a steep drop-off.
Your wife, Deborah Roberts, is an ABC correspondent. Is there any network rivalry between you?
A couple of weeks ago she was doing Good Morning America, so I said, ''This is great -- we get up at the same time, have a cup of coffee together, and then I can crush you like a bug!'' She didn't find that very humorous, so I didn't bring it up again.
Do you have any role models as a game-show host?
I always admired Gene Rayburn. Watching him do Match Game, I thought, God, what a talent. And I loved Richard Dawson the first time he did Family Feud.
Do you kiss all the contestants like Dawson used to?
No, I wear a full-body condom.
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