GMA triumphs in Halloween morning show costume war: Prince George and George Clooney lead GMA's celebrity impersonations

show ad

New footage reveals how Midnight Rider camerawoman was left stranded on bridge and killed by oncoming train in chaotic scenes 'after being told to film on tracks without permission'
Did Utah parents poison themselves and their children in murder-suicide plot? Relatives say they've found letter written by one of the dead children which reveals plan
It's the end of Daylight Saving USA! Don't forget to switch your clocks back one hour at 2am
Thanksgiving revolt! More stores deciding NOT to open on Thursday and wait for Friday sales..except for big chains like Macy's and Kohl's
Melissa Joan Hart's stepfather and fellow actor Leslie Gilliams arrested for public brawling on Halloween in Florida
EXCLUSIVE: 'I have lost the love of my life': Widow of father-of-two pilot killed in Virgin Galactic test flight left devastated as Branson defends project and vows to 'finish what he started'
We watched pilot hurtling to earth: Horrific details of crash emerge as Branson defends doomed rocket, vowing: I'll be on first tourist flight
Virgin Galactic crash was inevitable as the rocket was 'crude and unreliable', claims Richard Branson's biographer
Ticket holders set to travel on Virgin spaceship show their support for Richard Branson and his program as CEO says he will refund $250,000 tickets after tragic explosion
How Virgin Galactic space program has been plagued by fuel problems that killed three engineers in 2007 ahead of fatal explosion at 45,000ft
Pilot who parachuted out of exploding Virgin Galactic spaceship is 'alert' in hospital with shoulder injury and 'talking with doctors and family'
Waves hitting cars on Chicago highway and SNOW in the Sierra Nevada: Winter storm wreaks havoc across the U.S. as the clocks go back Sunday morning
New York Mets co-owner denies sacking club's first ever female vice president for being pregnant and single
Déjà vu for cruise ship as it gets stranded in Norway for the second time this year (and the pier where it was to moor is agonisingly in sight)
Taking creepy to new heights: New app lets you Facebook stalk your fellow passengers before boarding a plane
Would you feed your baby a strict alkaline diet? Growing numbers of parents are feeding their children a diet of nuts, seeds and vegetables
Bentley's lucky escape! Ebola sufferer Nina Pham is reunited with her pet spaniel after the dog was held for 21 days in quarantine amid fears he'd have to be put down
Ebola nurse does NOT have to stay in quarantine: Judge lifts restrictions - as it's claimed her ROOMMATE in Africa was treated for the deadly virus
Ebola in Portland? Woman hospitalised with high fever after returning from Liberia to Oregon
The Ebola age divide: Fatality rate in over 45s is 94% with under 25s having the best chance of survival
Canada bans visas for residents of nations where there has been an outbreak of Ebola
This year's theme: Sex! Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Heidi Klum led the pack of celebrities who heated up Halloween with risque costumes ... but Iggy Azalea won out by shutting down 'bully' Snoop Dog
Revealed: Details of Eric Frein's bizarre handwritten note recounting his escape from police after 'shooting a trooper dead' as pictures emerge of filthy hangar hideout
Three teenage girls trick-or-treating are killed by speeding hit-and-run driver in California

Good Morning America triumphed in its battle of the morning show costume war with Lara Spencer putting on a hilarious performance as Prince George
GMA host George Stephanopoulos put on some sunglasses and transformed into George Clooney in Times Square on Friday morning - his second stint as Clooney after wearing his Gravity astronaut costume last yea
The anchors over at Today paid tribute to their late-night network friends at Saturday Night Live
GMA team wore costumes from movies Frozen and Malificent - made by parent company Disney - and also promoted network buddy Dancing With The Stars
New moms Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager dressed up as the ladies from the Mom's Jeans commercial - made famous by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey - with a surprise appearance from Meredith Vieira

By Chris Spargo and Louise Boyle for MailOnline

Published: 07:41 EST, 31 October 2014 | Updated: 14:24 EST, 31 October 2014

View
comments

Prince George brought a touch of regal glamour to GMA's Halloween spectacular on Friday morning amid a star-studded line-up which also featured glamorous newlyweds George Clooney and Amal, Elsa from Frozen and Ariana Grande.

GMA reigned supreme in the battle of the morning show costumes with Lara Spencer putting on a hilarious performance as the British royals' most adorable member - complete with English accent, golden carriage and mini-crown - while Amy Robach was suitably terrifying as Angelina Jolie's Maleficent and Robin Roberts dazzled as snow queen Elsa from Frozen.

The anchors over at Today paid tribute to their late-night network friends at Saturday Night Live by dressing up as iconic characters from the legendary sketch show - and then performing some of their classic skits.

Scroll down for video

Lara Spencer stole the show on GMA on Friday morning when she dressed up as Prince George (center) for their Halloween spectacular while Robin Roberts transformed into Elsa from Frozen, Ginger Zee was Ariana Grande, Amy Robach was Maleficent and George Stephanopoulos and wife Ali Wentworth came as George Clooney and new wife Amal

King of the costume war: Prince George - played by Lara Spencer - said his first ever words on GMA this morning from the comfort of a golden stroller rolled in by two Buckingham Palace guards

Getting the royal treatment: GMA host Lara Spencer was a hit with the crowds as she was wheeled on to the stage in her Prince George outfit

The gang's all here: The anchors of Today show off their SNL Halloween looks (left to right) Natalie Morales (Mary Katherine Gallagher) and 'Father' Peter Alexander; Willie Geist and Tamron Hall (Spartan cheerleaders); Al Roker and Lester Holt (Blues Brothers); Julia Sweeney and Matt Lauer (Pat); Jenna Bush Hager, Savannah Guthrie and Meredith Viera (Mom jeans); Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford (Wayne and Garth)

New moms Savannah Guthrie (center) and Jenna Bush Hager (left) dressed up as the ladies from the Mom's Jeans commercial, made famous by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, with a surprise appearance from Meredith Vieira (right)

Matt Lauer dressed in drag - sort of - as the androgynous Pat, a character made famous by Julia Sweeney. Even better, Sweeney was on the plaza with Lauer for a quick little skit. Sadly, unlike previous years, viewers were not treated to the sight of Lauer's legs

Playing it cool: George Clooney - played by host George Stephanopoulos and his wife Ali Wentworth - smiled as he and his new bride Amal sailed onto the set in a Venetian gondola following their romantic Italian wedding

Newlyweds George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin (aka George Stephanopoulos and wife Ali Wentworth) grinned as they relived their Venice wedding on the show on Friday morning along with Robin Roberts as Elsa from Disney hit movie, Frozen

Robin looked delighted to be a Disney heroine (pictured left) while weather presenter Ginger Zee rocked it as Ariana Grande (pictured right)

Willie Geist and Tamron Hall were very spirited Spartan cheerleaders, complete with a cheer and some carefully choreographed moves (left) while Matt Lauer sadly hid away his legs this year and appeared as Pat, the androgynous beauty first played by Julia Sweeney, who was also on hand to do a little skit with the news anchor (right)

Hidden talent: Ginger, better known for sharing the weather forecast, showed off her dancing skills and pouting as she sashayed her way on to the stage as pop starlet Ariana Grande

Terrifying: Amy Robach glared down the camera lens as she took on the role of Angelina Jolie's character in the movie Maleficent - a movie made by GMA's parent company Disney

GMA pairs up with DWTS for Halloween special

Halloween has long been the biggest day of the year over on Today, with the morning show team devoting much time and energy to their costumes.

This year was no different as the anchors got to show off their comedic chops as classic characters from the long-running NBC favorite SNL.

Even better, the costume department was able to just run upstairs at 30 Rock and grab the same costumes and wigs worn by many of the performers from the actual skits, which provided for some striking likenesses between the actors and anchors.

Kicking things off 'live from New York' was actual SNL player Kennan Thompson, doing a cold-open appropriate for morning viewers as he delivered the weather as Al Roker.

From there, the Saturday Night Live credits got reworked, introducing the Today team in a manner just like the SNL cast, as they hailed cabs, hopped on the subway, and, in the case of Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, guzzled wine.

Then came the skits.

The newest kids on the block, Willie Geist and Tamron Hall, gave Today's take on the very spirited Spartan cheerleaders, complete with a cheer and some carefully choreographed moves to the 90s dance classic that is C + C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)."

Cheri Oteri and Will Ferrell they were not, but the two certainly had their moves down. And boy were they spirited.

Speaking of spirited, Natalie Morales proved to have endless energy as she bounded out after Willie and Tamron as the very theatrical and dramatic Mary Katherine Gallagher.

Pop queen: Earlier in the Halloween show, the hosts dressed up as other famous faces - here, Robin takes on Beyonce

Superpower: In the segment, which saw the hosts auditioning for Dancing with the Stars, Ginger Zee played Mystique from X-Men

Joined by a dapper looking Peter Alexander, forced into the thankless role of playing the largely silent priest, Morales jumped, stretch and patted her pits just like Molly Shannon first did when she debuted the crazy catholic school girl almost 20 years ago.

GHOSTS OF HALLOWEEN PAST: HOW COSTUMES ON THE MORNING SHOWS MEASURED UP THROUGH THE YEARS

For two decades, America's biggest morning shows - Today and GMA - have gone head to head in the Halloween costume stakes going from the scary to the crazy to the downright bizarre.

Today always keeps presenters to a theme which this year was the comic stars of network bedfellow, Saturday Night Live.

In 2013, the show hit a winner with the 'vintage TV' looks - from Al Roker as Mr T to Kathy and Hody as Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble. The champion, however, was Matt Lauer looking frighteningly good in Pamela Anderson's red swimsuit for Baywatch.

In 2012, the show took as break as New York City battled to recover from the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

The year before in 2011, the Royal Wedding was on everyone's minds - and the news team didn't disappoint. Ann and Natalie looked regal as Kate and Pippa Middleton while Matt Lauer was charming as Prince William.

GMA go for a more diverse approach but focus on the year's hottest topics which this year included George Clooney's wedding to Amal Alamuddin, the adorable Prince George and hit Disney movie, Frozen.

In 2013, Lara Spencer bravely went as Miley Cyrus (complete with Wrecking Ball), Robin Roberts rocked Olivia Pope's look from TV show Scandal and Josh Elliot was THE Anchorman - Ron Burgundy.

GMA also canceled its Halloween plans due to Sandy in 2012.

The morning show's resident sommeliers, Gifford and Kotb stepped up to the plate next, and proved to be pretty impressive actors as they delivered a remarkably good performance as basement dwelling Queen aficionados Garth and Wayne from Wayne's World.

And in her torn jeans and black wig, Gifford almost looked identical to the original Garth, Mike Myers.

Al Roker and Lester Holt followed the ladies, and while they didn't get to do much acting they did get to belt out a tune as they dressed up, and sang, like The Blues Brothers, the R&B duo created by Dan Akyrod and the late John Belushi.

Even better, Akyrod sent in a video giving the duo his blessing.

Then, for what seemed to be the finale, Matt Lauer came out as Pat, the androgynous beauty first played by Julia Sweeney, who was also on hand to do a little skit with Lauer.

This marks a long running tradition of Lauer doing drag on Halloween, having previously dressed up as Pam Anderson, Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton.

The show had one big surprise however, and ended on a very, very high note, when new moms Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager pulled up at the end of the segment in a van and got out to reveal the final costumes of the day - the ladies from the Mom Jeans commercial.

The commercial, which first premiered on SNL back in 2003 during the show's Mother's Day episode, was written by Tina Fey, and starred Fey, Ammy Poehler, Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph showing off a new style of jeans that features pleats and a 9-inch zipper.

Hager and Guthrie, who were wearing the wigs from the original sketch, were joined by another mom too to round out their group - Meredith Vieira.

The three even filmed their own version of the commercial.

Later on her own talk show, Vieira then also appeared as Clooney's new wife, Amal Alamuddin, clearly set to be a hit costume in 2014.

Over at ABC, George Stephanopoulos appeared to have simply pulled on a pair of sunglasses to give his best 'gorgeous George' Clooney impression. His new bride Amal was played by the TV host's real-life wife, actress Ali Wentworth.

Clooney appears to be Stephanopoulos's go-to man for a costume idea, as the news anchor appeared in 2013 as the actor's astronaut character from movie Gravity.

Robin Roberts dazzled as Disney snow queen Elsa from Frozen along with her friendly snowman Olaf. Weather presenter Ginger Zee showed off some impressive prancing and pouting as pop starlet Ariana Grande.

Amy Robach was bewitching as Angelina Jolie's character in a cross-promotion for another Disney movie, Maleficent. Robach later tweeted: 'Thank you to my amazing team for the transformation.'

Hosting the entire event was correspondent Cameron Mathison as Frankenstein.

Along with a little cross-promotion for a few movies from parent company Disney, GMA also championed ABC reality series, Dancing With The Stars.

Rough start: Amy Robach danced to Michael Jackson's Thriller dressed as a zombie character from the Walking Dead

Branching out: Co-host Lara Spencer bobbed around bizarrely as the character, Groot, from the film Guardians of the Galaxy to dance for the judges - but they weren't too impressed

The morning-show hosts performed mock-auditions in full costume for the dance show's cast including dancers Derek Hough and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Robin Roberts looked fierce as Beyonce in an outfit from the star's On The Run tour with husband Jay-Z and showed off some impressive dance moves.

Ginger Zee writhed around as Mystique from X-Men and Amy Robach gave her best interpretation of the Thriller dance as a character from The Walking Dead. Lara Spencer bobbed around bizarrely as the character, Groot, from the film Guardians of the Galaxy.

Both shows tweeted early on Friday morning to tease viewers about their big costume reveals.

GMA tweeted: 'We have an incredible amount of surprises for you this morning. Do not miss anything!'

Today posted: 'Today on TODAY...Happy Halloween! What will the anchors dress up as? Stay tuned!'

Today Show hosts channel SNL characters for Halloween

It's Pat: Matt Lauer (above) dressed up as the lovably androgynous Pat, and even got a visit from the lady who created the character, Julia Sweeney (above)

Wine's world: The Pinot loving ladies from the show's fourth house, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb (above), proved to be pretty excellent drag kings, dressing up as Garth and Wayne, the basement dwelling rockers first played by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey

The perfect cheer: Willie Geist and Tamron Hall (above) showed off their dance moves as The Spartans, the spirited duo first played by Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri

Dancing in the street: Savannah really got into the spirit of her character, making her exit by exiting out of a minivan (left) as the new mom got into the spirit with her 'appropriate dress sense'

Mom's here: Jenna Bush Hager, Savannah Guthrie and Meredith Viera (above) showed off their derrieres as the ladies from the Mom jeans commercial, originally played by funny ladies Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph

Superstar: Natalie Morales (above) got her Catholic school girl on as the very theatrical Mary Katherine Gallagher, a character made famous by Molly Shannon

Rock on: The normally refined Kathie Lee bore a remarkable resemblance to Mike Myers in her wig and ripped jeans

Jumping for joy: Dennis Haskins made a surprise, and confusing, appearance, playing Mr. Belding, the character made famous in Saved by the Bell

They got rhythm: Lester Holt and Al Roker (above) showed off some dapper suits and some sweet singing by impersonating The Blues Brothers, the duo made famous by the late John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd

Sadly, Matt Lauer did not give viewers a show of his legs as he has in past years. The anchor stole the show dressed as Baywatch's Pamela Anderson in 2013 - ensuring that Today came out on top as the networks battled for the best Halloween costumes.

His hilarious costume - complete with her iconic red swimsuit and flowing blonde mane - came in stark contrast to George Stephanopoulos' full astronaut gear from 'Gravity' on GMA.

While GMA opted for an awards-style show with the hosts dressed as celebrities in 2013, Today chose TV characters from classic 80s shows, including the Flintstones and The A-Team.

GMA also nailed the costumes in 2013 (pictured from left), Josh Elliot as Anchorman Ron Burgundy, Robin Roberts as Olivia Pope in ABC show Scandal, Sam Champion channels Game Of Thrones, Lara Spencer as Miley Cyrus and George Stephanopoulos once again went for Clooney - this time the actor's hit space movie, Gravity

The 'Fantastic Friends' on Fox on Friday, from left, Steve Doocy as Captain America, Kimberly Guilfoyle as Wonder Woman, Tucker Carlson as The Incredible Hulk and Maria Molina as Bat Girl

Meredith Vieira also dressed up as Amal Alamuddin (aka the new Mrs Clooney) for her own talk show on Friday

'Amal' (aka Meredith Vieira) brought along George Clooney for a cozy moment on the couch this morning to celebrate Halloween with viewers

Everyone's involved: Even the production team got in the Halloween spirit on the Today show, dressing up as Conheads in the control room

Cameramen on the Today show also got in the spirit of Halloween with some creepy costumes on Friday morning

A werewolf stopped by Times Square this morning to get involved in the Halloween festiviities

Frightening flashbacks: Matt Lauer shows off his previous Halloween costumes in drag as J-Lo (far left), Paris Hilton (center) and Pamela Anderson in 2013 (right)