NEW YORK - Al Roker will be back at "Today" in time for Thanksgiving.
The iconic morning show host told his co-hosts Tuesday that he'll be back at NBC studios next week after undergoing surgery to remove his prostate after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
Roker, a staple of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, said he'll be back on the air Monday and will be front and center for Thursday's broadcast of the parade.
"We're not out of the woods but for a first start, this is terrific," Roker told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb live on air.
The 66-year-old Queens native announced on Nov. 6 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which he said Tuesday had shown up in a routine exam. He went under the knife last week at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan and had his prostate removed.
"The prognosis at this point in time, based on how the surgery went and based on his pathology report, everything looks very favorable," the hospital's Dr. Vincent Laudone told "Today."
"Al has no evidence of any cancer but we will continue to monitor him for several years."
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Thanksgiving parade will be geared toward TV audiences, without the usual millions of fans lining the streets of Manhattan. Instead, Macy's famous giant balloons will all gather in the Herald Square area for the broadcast.
The parade begins at 8 a.m. on NBC.