Television: Reaching for the Rafters

Her return was ballyhooed more fervently than Gorbachev's comeback from the Crimea, but KATIE COURIC proved herself up to the hype. When the perky co-host of NBC'S Today show resumed her place on the couch Monday after a well- publicized two-month maternity leave, she did it all. Doubled forward with interest, like the most attentive date you've ever had, she quizzed Katharine Hepburn about her early days as an actress. Eyes narrowing ever so slightly in concern, she probed Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney about whether the U.S. still needs the B-2 bomber. Zoning out helpfully, she lobbed puffballs ("Did you ever dream you'd be so successful?") at radio deejays Mark and Brian, stars of a new NBC series. And, of course, she brought baby pictures. After years of experimentation, network television may have finally developed the perfect morning-show host: smart but unassuming, cute but not plastic, the girl next door with a grin that reaches for the rafters. What's more, she gets along with both Bryant and Willard. Who was that Jane person anyway? -- R.Z.