The news anchor whose "rookie mistake" cost him his job within the first few seconds of his first newscast got a second chance this morning from the parent company of his former boss, North Dakota NBC affiliate KFYR.

"I didn't even know I said it on camera until my news director walked in on the third break," A.J. Clemente told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie on this morning's Today Show, recalling the first two words out of his mouth at the very start of the broadcast: Fucking shit.

Fucking shit, indeed: Clemente was fired the very next day.

"I fully expected that they would fire me," he said during what was, for all intents and purposes, his exit interview. "I even called my news director after and apologized again. No animosity at all."

Clemente may be way down, but he's far from out.

"I'm looking forward, moving forward," he told Lauer and Guthrie. "You got to have a tough skin in this business, and it's good to laugh at yourself."

And it seems like Clemente might make a career out of doing just that: After his visit to the Today Show, Clemente stopped by both Morning Joe and Live with Kelly and Michael where he got to hang out with both Jon Hamm and Snoop Lion.

Even his former (one-time) co-anchor Van Tieu is certain Clemente will be all set. "Just saw your @todayshow seg @ClementeAJ," she tweeted. "Didn't I tell you it would all work out for the better?"

[There was a video here]

[screengrab via Today Show]