Kathie Lee Gifford's return to television as a host on the fourth hour of NBC's "Today" show was welcomed with both cheers and doubts by the critics.

New York Times' Alessandra Stanley wrote that, "For many women Ms. Gifford is the embodiment of female fortitude with a frivolous streak — and that is actually what the fourth hour of Today is all about."

During Tuesday's show, Gifford, who co-hosts the final part of the show (10-11 a.m.) with Hoda Kotb, thanked everyone for the warm welcome she received on her first day of work. For the most part, reactions to Gifford's beaming return after leaving Regis Philbin's side eight years ago, have been positive.

"Gifford and co-host Hoda Kotb chatted like two people who had just met, which is pretty much what they are...there was no mistaking that the Kathie Lee who returned is the same one who left her long gig with Regis Philbin in 2000. She was beaming as brightly as her yellow slicker, while she and Kotb sat at outdoors ignoring the chilly gray day around them," Daily News wrote.

However, Gifford failed to meet everyone's expectations with her pleasant and friendly presence, which seemed a little off at times.

Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote that the show was "bland, vapid and innocuous fluff, no substance whatever," like "The View for dummies" and a "windy, dithery mess with virtually no portents of improvements to come." He summed it up thusly: "The thought of dropping in on [Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb] again to see what they're up to — either today, tomorrow or as long as the Earth continues to twirl — is not a pleasant one."