Review: 'A Toast To 2024!'

I'm not sure if there is a genre of television known as "Mom TV," but if there is, the Mom TV choice for New Year's Eve would be the soulless two-hour clip show known as A Toast To 2024!

Hosted by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, I suspect the special doesn't mention New Year's Eve in the title because it was likely recorded sometime in October. Kotb and Hager are hosting from a room they assure me is in New York City, although based on the sterile decorations and restrained crowd of people standing around tables, I'm guessing it was recorded at 30 Rock during everyone's lunch hour.

While NBC promises the duo will "celebrate the year's best moments," what that seems to mean in reality is that the two women do a little very lightweight banter, then throw to some vaguely familiar name doing a pre-recorded segment that looks back on some pop culture or news event. So comedian and actor Loni Love takes a look at celebrity romances (and split-ups). And even better, various people weigh in with their own thoughts. So if you've ever dreamed of hearing an anchor from the streaming news service NBC Now weigh in on Taylor Swift, you'll love this segment.

And since it's 2024, it's a necessity to do a "what's with the phrases these kids say today" segment, a version of which I think was originally rolled out on NBC by Steve Allen in 1958. There are a bunch of increasingly more cringey clips of random NBC universe personalities trying to decipher some hot new Gen Alpha word. And if you think that nothing can horrify you anymore, try watching a clip of Dateline's Josh Mankiewitz and Keith Morrison attempt define the word "rizz."And if nothing else, Carson Kressley illustrates once again that there is no subject he cannot turn into a vaguely creepy sexual reference. 

Then it's time for Tik-Tok, with segments on kids asking their parents to dance on camera like they did in the 1980s. Or making fun of their parents for not understanding technology. All of which makes me suspect producers were aiming for the "retired and just booked another vacation to Branson" demo that is so prized by advertisers.

I could keep going on, but you get the point. And this went on for two hours. Hey, did you know animals are cute? They sure are and these videos prove it! Look what Michael Buble has to say about penguins!

I honestly don't know who the audience is for this. Except for maybe lonely widowed grandmothers and the family members of the people appearing in the special. I'm not sure if the kids are still referring to things as "lame," but if they don't, this special is a good way to show them what the term means. 

I understand the average age of people watching broadcast television is exceptionally old, especially on nights such as New Year's Eve. But A Toast To 2024! is so out of touch with current pop culture that even card-carrying AARP members will watch it and think "Geez, I'm not THIS old!"

Yikes.

A Toast To 2024! aired Tuesday, December 31st, 2024 on NBC.