Matt Lauer, Howard Stern Hug and Kiss on Today Show

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/10/2012 at 08:30 AM EDT

It was a sight you don't see every day: Howard Stern, sitting on Matt Lauer's lap with his arms around the Today host, and pressing his lips against Matt's cheek.

For his part, Lauer was smiling ear to ear.

It all started at the end of an interview Thursday in which Stern mostly discussed his role as a judge on the new season of NBC's America's Got Talent, which debuts Monday. After also analyzing his contract disagreement with Sirius Radio, Stern started to say something personal as Lauer tried to wrap up the segment.



"You know, you look good," Stern told him. "I'm honored to be on the Today show. I never get to be on the Today show. Matt and I are personal friends. We sit at my house, we drink wine, and we evaluate the show. We're in a competition with [ABC's rival] Good Morning America. We have to win."

"Okay," interjected a fidgety Lauer. "We have to go."

That's when Stern left his chair, planted himself in Lauer's lap and showed the love. "Come here, you dog, you. C'mon, baby," he said.

After the commercial break, Stern was still on the sofa as an insistent Lauer clarified, "We do not discuss the Today show."

Stern declared, "We have to beat the pants off Good Morning America," and mentioned that he preferred the heavier-looking Al Roker, before "someone put a pin in him."