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Next she'll call Today Extra...This Morning...

To be fair, that rebrand/refresh/whatever the hell they wanna call it has been on and off for a while before final deciding to do it now.

The set looks inferior to previous one, no surprise since the old set looked great, clean and simple (for a US network). I guess they want a warmer feel, same as Daybreak.

Still haven't seen the desk area.

We really are two nations divided by a common... No hang on - we're two nations divided by taste...

No linked identities between the sets, faux living rooms, dated interior design etc. I really don't get some US set design at all.

The parquet floored "window" set looks to be the best - and I guess that's one of the most important. The rest really aren't good. This is not re-inventing the plaza experience is it?

I'm assuming the three red chairs are an off-camera green-room/waiting area ?

Deborah Turness described at as their luxury NY apartment with a window on the world. Suppose if you look at each individual area then it makes a little bit more sense then the whole thing together, and remember that all sets have been designed so they can work for News (7-7.30, 7.30-9) Today's take (9-10) and KLG and Hoda (10-11).

If that was my apartment I'd be hiring a new interior designer... It looks like someone went on a shopping spree in the nastier sections of the John Lewis furniture department (in fact that might be doing John Lewis a dis-service)

I'm never convinced by TV sofas in contrived TV shapes that aim to look like a real sofa. Because they don't look like a real sofa. They just look odd. The curved red sofa falls into that category.

And those photos instantly tell you they aren't convinced by the set. The minute you see scatter cushions on a TV sofa, you know that an Exec or something isn't in love with the sofa design. And the minute you see vases of flowers on a set, you know they don't like it and think it needs to be softened. The more cushions and the more flowers you see - the less convinced people are about the set (whether they know it or not)

The three red chairs area is their 'Orange Room', basically their social media center. Although that railing looks like a real safety one, meaning that this is probably installed at the bottom of the staircase.

That really does look like a guest holding area - it even has an office suspended ceiling (lower than ideal for lighting - and in fact with no obvious lighting)...

You can even see the mains socket for the plasma...

That's what I thought until I saw the preview on the show.

Be interesting to see it all on camera and with warm bodies in it. Not really looking like a major breathrough in television studio design to me at the moment. But sets don't define a show either - if the content is good and it is presented well, then the set is pretty much immaterial.

Is it designed to look like an apartment entirely furnished with manky 70s furniture from a charity shop? It looks bloody awful - the last photo especially.

Suspect it is all very high-end (and impeccably finished) - but it feels like they are falling between two stools.

They want it to look high-end and upmarket - hence the luxury apartment feel. But they also want it to appeal to Mr and Mrs Midwest average-earner - hence it is more homely and country-club than any high-end apartment would really be?

Interesting that people are comparing it to This Morning - I was thinking the same, but how much better This Morning looks.

The scatter cushions and flowers are definitely a sign that they aren't happy though - whether they know it or not!