Palin was the much-hyped guest co-host on NBC’s “Today,” going head-to-head against former “Today” anchor Katie Couric, who this week is subbing on “Good Morning America” at her current workplace, ABC.

Greeting Palin, host Matt Lauer joked that as part of the “Today” team, she was briefly including herself in the “lamestream media” she often rails about.

But Couric, who had a bruising 2008 interview with the then-Republican vice presidential candidate, went unmentioned.

If Couric is a veteran in the morning-show world, Palin, who currently is a contributor to Fox News Channel, displayed natural poise as part of the “Today” crew.

Addressing the question whether Ashton Kutcher has the acting skill to portray Apple mastermind Steve Jobs in an upcoming biopic, Palin said, “Do any of you here have experience with people being paid a lot of money to pretend like they’re you?“

She was talking about the recent HBO film “Game Change,” in which Julianne Moore portrayed her in the 2008 campaign.

“I didn’t see the movie,” the former Alaska governor hastily noted, “and I wouldn’t waste my time seeing the movie.”

Before stepping in as a guest co-host, Palin sat down with Lauer in the show’s first hour in a more familiar role: talking about conservative politics.

Though she didn’t sound too excited about the prospect of Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential candidate, she insisted that anyone is better than Barack Obama in the White House.

“I would warn voters to never put their faith wholly in an individual politician,” she said, “because a politician will disappoint you. But have faith in what that politician stands for, what their record represents.”

When Lauer asked her why voters should put Obama out of office when recent signs suggest things are improving under his economic policies, Palin replied, “They aren’t getting better fast enough.”

Palin’s appearance is part of a nonstop campaign waged by “Today” to protect its 15-year winning streak over “GMA,” a fight intensifying as the audience margin between the two rivals steadily erodes.

Palin’s booking appeared to be a counterpunch after ABC announced Couric’s weeklong morning show return on ABC.

In hyping Palin’s appearance, NBC promised she would “reveal a different side” than viewers have seen before.

But she acknowledged that her 2008 campaign association with a TV leading lady besides Couric still holds strong nearly four years later: Palin said a woman had stopped her outside NBC earlier and asked where she was headed.

“’I said 30 Rock,’ and she said, ‘Oh, honey, come here! I told you: Tina Fey is here!’“