OnTV: Al Roker gears up for the Thanksgiving Day parade

But the fun part is watching the excited kids, said the "Today" weatherman and features reporter. He recalled watching his daughter Courtney, now 16, watch the balloons of cartoon characters.

"When Snoopy went by, her mouth was wide open," he said. "I was watching her more than I was watching the parade."

Roker, 49, a Queens, N.Y., native, is joining "Today" anchors Katie Couric and Matt Lauer for their annual stint as hosts for the New York City parade. It airs from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday on NBC.

The parade is part of Thanksgiving Day programming that varies from an "E! True Hollywood Story" marathon to a Harry Connick Jr. special and a competition among 3,000 dogs.

Roker described covering the parade as a relatively calm experience. "It's not like one of the balloons will say, 'I've had it. I'm leaving,' " he said.

If something does goes wrong with a balloon character, NBC has backup tapes of it from the previous year, but the network only has had to rely on them a couple of times, Roker said.

It takes 70 to 80 handlers to pull each of the giant balloons, which this year includes cartoon characters Jimmy Neutron, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Pikachu of "Pokemon," as well as Uncle Sam. The parade's floats will feature themes such as Angelina Ballerina, Teddy Bear's Workshop and "A Christmas Carol."

In addition to the big balloons, the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade is reviving a tradition from the 1930s: People will walk in the parade with big helium balloon heads on top of their own heads, and the characters for those include the Marx Brothers.

Celebrities in this year's parade include stars of NBC's "American Dreams," "Happy Family" and "Days of Our Lives" as well as "American Idol" singers Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, Judy Collins and the cast of "Sesame Street."

Roker recalled growing up watching the parade.

"My mom would bring out a big bowl of nuts ... By the time it was over, people would start dropping by. By 2 o'clock, it was time to eat. Dinner would be first, followed by football."

It sounds like a pretty typical Thanksgiving ... except for the smoke. Roker explained that happened when he and others distracted his mother while she was making a sweet potato pie with marshmallows, which burned. "It was never really a holiday at our house without the smoke detector going off."

This year's Thanksgiving programs include Harry Connick Jr. performing in "Harry for the Holidays" at 10 p.m. on NBC.

Holiday marathons include "The West Wing" on NBC-owned Bravo; "Planet's Funniest Animals" on Animal Planet; "2003 World Series of Poker" on ESPN; "The E! True Hollywood Story" on the E! network; "Even Stevens" on the Disney Channel; and "Jesus of Nazareth" on the History Channel.

In addition, "Dog Show: The National," featuring more than 3,000 canines in Philadelphia, will be televised at noon on NBC.

Thanksgiving is just the start of the TV holiday season, with more specials and holiday-themed movies coming. In addition to Thursday's parade, Roker will join "Today" news anchor Ann Curry to cover the annual lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, NBC's New York City headquarters. Airing at 8 p.m. Dec. 3 on NBC, the one-hour special will feature a mix of holiday songs and current hits.