Posted on 11/27/2008 10:17:57 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
November 27, 2008 NBC's Rosie O’Donnell variety show disappoints Rosie O'Donnell gave NBC a real turkey.
The network's attempt to revive the primetime variety show failed to draw an audience Wednesday night, tying for the evening’s lowest-rated program.
A mere 5 million viewers tuned in for the 8 p.m. premiere of “Rosie Live,” with the program earning a 1.2 preliminary adults 18-49 rating. The telecast matched ABC’s recently canceled “Pushing Daisies” as the night's lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network.
NBC had high hopes for the special and planned to expand the program into a series should viewers re-embrace the decades-old variety format. Other networks, too, were watching closely since several are developing variety shows of their own.
“There’s a notion that the climate is right for the genre to make a comeback,” emailed one executive at a rival network. “I guess we now know what not to do, thanks to Rosie.”
Segments included Kathy Griffin impersonating Nancy Grace, Alec Baldwin hitting Conan O'Brian with a pie, O'Donnell singing "City Lights" with Liza Minnelli and Jane Krakowski doing a striptease while showing images of product placement.
Critics were not kind. The NY Times described it as "hokey comedy with an enemies list." TV Guide called it a "ghastly ego trip."
Networks have been chasing variety show programming as a low-cost option to revive the genre. But the idea has been sought by executives due the format’s rock-bottom low cost, cross-promotion possibilities and advertiser-friendly format rather than being a genre that's bursting from the creative community or demanded by viewers. In other words, the neo-variety show is a product designed to solve financial woes rather than an inspired act of programming creativity and therefore had the odds stacked against it drawing large numbers.
NBC’s variation in particular, starring O’Donnell with appearances by Alannis Morrisette, Ne Yo, Griffin, Rachael Ray, Harry Connick Jr., Clay Aiken and Gloria Estefan seemed pretty niche, skewing heavily female for a show broadcast the eve of a family holiday, and some observers thought the lineup was better suited for daytime than primetime.
Given the holiday week, programming was lower rated last night than average. One special that did perform well was Barbara Walters’ interview with president-elect Barack Obama (11.6 million, 3.0 rating), which nearly matched "CSI: NY" in the 10 p.m. hour and gave ABC its highest non-awards show rating in the time period in more than a year.
Jane Krakowski stripping sounds promising. The rest of that? Not so much.
Schadenfreude. Love it.
I’m glad the show tanked.
By accident I saw a few minutes of it. As soon as I heard Rosie mention Barack Obama I switched off the TV.
I didn’t watch it and didn’t even channel surf thru it.
“There’s a notion that the climate is right for the genre to make a comeback”
IMO the best variety show on TV was the “Carol Burnett Show”.......good clean LOL fun....gone are those days with the celebs jamming their poilitcs down our throat.....
Well, duh. Carol Burnette she ain’t. I don’t know anyone who even considered tuning in this twisted loudmouth.
I wonder what next great idea NBC has up its sleeve?
I have better things to do wit my free time than watch Rosie the Socialist !
http://majman.net/fly_loader.html
Why would America tune out on an ugly no talent lesbo heirloom hog pretending to have talent and a sense of humor sprinkled with Hate America/Christians and married heterosexual hate talk? (Sarcasm off!)
I channel surfed catching the end. It was a ‘WTF was that?’ moment.
Bush league. /pun intended
Nasty woman and horrible network. They have the nerve to have Olberman on NFL Sunday football. I am calling Direct TV and I am pulling the plug. Once Fox became another CNN then I am done. TV sucks, it is propapganda and it is designed to brainwash the masses. They will not have a nickel of my money.
O’Donut has worn out her welcome and that’s a good thing.
The only way I’d watch Rosie on TV is if it were news coverage of her spontaneous human combustion.
But...but...Rosie said that it “wasn’t going to be political”.
Guess she just couldn’t help herself.
Now what would make anyone in their right mind think that Rosie the lesbo hawg, could revive the variety show genre?
LOL gag LOL!
Unbelievable that five million Americans are so brain-dead that they tuned in to see this regurgitated hairball. This country is doomed.
What a surprise. I managed to stomach a few minutes of it in the same spirit one is compelled to gawk at a major car wreck, tt was positively awful.
The good part of Rosie is that she supports Broadway, both the quintessential American live entertainment and something that resonates throughout the land. The bad part is that she’s as trapped in the gay-identity shtick as Broadway itself is. I think either an Ed Sullivan straight-man host or a Carol Burnett classic comic genius-type host would work fine.
And the time is ripe for a variety comeback. I’m glad some other attempts are being made—and that Rosie’s wasn’t the answer.
...what NBC needs is Barack Obama all the time. :D
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