CLEVELAND — He's back!
Al Roker of NBC's TODAY joined us Friday afternoon at WKYC Studios in Cleveland during 3News at 5 with Jay Crawford and Christi Paul. Roker, who worked in Cleveland at WKYC for five years early in his career, has previously said Northeast Ohio "is literally my second home."
Roker is back in town for the 40th anniversary celebration of the classic holiday film, "A Christmas Story." Specifically, he will serve as the moderator for the "Behind the Camera Panel event" tonight at 7 at the Cleveland Public Auditorium. Fans of "A Christmas Story" will hear behind-the-scenes stories directly from the cast, including Peter Billingsley, who played "Ralphie."
Al started his reunion tour through WKYC Studios at a familiar spot: weather. He came on set with Payton Domschke to help her finish her weather forecast.
Al and Leon Bibb watched Leon's look back at the making of "A Christmas Story" in 1983 from some archived video we recently discovered. The duo looked back at those fun times from 40 years ago and reflected on WKYC's 75th anniversary.
You can watch Leon's piece on "A Christmas Story" below.
Finally, Al and Leon sat down with Stephanie Haney to reminisce about their time together at 3News:
Here's what you need to know about the “Behind the Camera: A Christmas Story Official 40th Anniversary" festivities:
Schedule of events:
Friday, Nov. 10
- Cast Expo: 1:30 pm - 6:00 pm in Public Auditorium
- Behind the Camera Panel: 7:00 pm in the Music Hall
Saturday, Nov. 11
- The Cleveland Christmas Run: 8:30 am
- Cast Expo: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday, Nov. 12
Cast Expo: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
The following cast members are expected to be in attendance during the reunion weekend:
- Peter Billingsley
- Zack Ward
- Scott Schwartz
- R.D. Robb
- Yano Anaya
- Ian Petrella
- Tedde Moore
- Patty Lafontain
- Drew Hocevar
The three-day reunion is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to Cleveland coming from across all 50 states.