You weren't dreaming this morning if you put on TODAY and saw Meredith sitting next to Matt. She was really -- and unexpectedly -- there in her usual seat.
She was supposed to be on her way to do a series of reports from China for the show next week, but while sitting at the airport yesterday morning, she learned that she was not permitted to travel.
So what happened? Before I tell you, I'll give you some choices in our allDAY pop quiz:
Meredith was not permitted to travel to China, because:
a) Her nickname, TuTu LaRue, loosely translates as "American athletes will crush the Chinese at the Olympics."
b) She has never seen an episode of "The Wire."
c) She thinks that the world's most famous Chairman Mao is TODAY Senior Producer Mary Alice O'Rourke.
d) Her visa expired in 2007.
Answer: While the first three are certainly offenses worthy of banning someone from international travel, the fourth answer is the only one that the Chinese authorities care about (but that's just because "The Wire" hasn't been released in Mandarin, Cantonese or any other Chinese dialect yet).
Have no fear, though: Meredith is expected to have a new visa by the end of the week. WATCH VIDEO