‘Rosie Live’ Ties as Lowest-Rated Original of Night
November 27, 2008 2:14 PM
On the night before Thanksgiving, NBC’s variety show “Rosie Live” ended the night as one of the lowest-rated programs of the evening, tying ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” for third-place in the hour.
“Rosie” drew a 1.2 rating/4 share in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and 5 million viewers turned out for the special, according to preliminary Nielsen Media Research data.
The holiday-eve ratings make for difficult comparisons because ratings company Nielsen’s households using televisions (or HUT) levels are generally fairly low during this time of year. Nearly every other show on the schedule, as expected, declined significantly week-to-week.
Compared against the rest of the night, “Rosie” tied “Daisies” as the lowest-rated original program for the evening.
But let’s not dwell on numbers. Maybe the critics were kinder. Let’s see what they had to say:
- TV Guide’s Matt Roush: “If the TV variety format weren't already dead, the ghastly ego trip of NBC's Thanksgiving-eve turkey ‘Rosie Live’ would surely have killed it. Like the pie Alec Baldwin predictably pushed into Conan O'Brien's face that fell to the floor without sticking, the entire hour landed with a sickening, sad, ill-conceived thud.”
- The New York Times’ Alessandra Stanley: “Rosie O'Donnell's Wednesday night special on NBC, "Rosie Live," was supposed to be a tribute to the variety shows of the 1970s, but she added a Nixonian twist: Christmas songs, tap-dancing twins and an enemies list. In between skits, celebrity cameos and hokey novelty acts, the legendarily thin-skinned Ms. O'Donnell found time to take potshots at some of her favorite targets, including Donald Trump, Nancy Grace and Bill O'Reilly.”
- The Los Angeles Times’ Mary McNamara: “Rosie, Rosie, what on earth were you thinking? Were you thinking camp? Were you thinking this will be big and brassy and so-over-the-top even the dancing cupcakes will be irresistible? … ‘Rosie Live’ may enter the realm of unsolved mysteries, along with the fate of Amelia Earhart and the design team of the pyramids.”
NBC took fourth for the night with a 1.5/5, as CBS captured the night overall with a 2.9/9. Fox placed second with a 2.2/7, while ABC took third with a 2.0/6. The CW was fifth with a 0.4/1.
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Comments (9)
I only saw about 45 seconds of that show and it was 45 seconds too much. Now that I'm reading the reviews it looks like it's a good thing that I didn't waste any more of my time on that horror show. Watching and listening to Rosie sing and dance with Gloria Estefan while people dressed as food danced around the stage was like a bad dream...a really bad dream. Rosie must be living in a fantasy world if she actually thought people would want to see that garbage. She's obviously on an ego trip and she needs to get off it!
Posted by mary | November 27, 2008 6:32 PM
This has got to be the worst show I have ever seen on TV in my 51 years. It was a disaster from start to finish.
Posted by PhillipP | November 27, 2008 7:10 PM
I'm so upset that I didn't TiVo this!!!!!
anyone have it on tape?
Posted by David | November 28, 2008 6:38 AM
TRAINWRECK TV AT ITS BEST AND TO THINK NBC WAS GOING TO GIVE HER ANOTHER SERIES SUCH A JOKE WASHED UP HASBEEN. NOBODY CARES ABOUT HER ANYMORE QUEEN OF NICE PHONEY TO PATHETIC ATTENTION WHORE WHO WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET RATINGS ESCALATING FEUDS AND DRUMMING UP MORE CONTROVERSY. GET HER OFF TV FOR GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Reality Creator | November 28, 2008 6:49 AM
Rosie is a witch. How does NBC think America wants to watch her? They should have given the hour to Kieth Olbermann. I think he would have gotten at least 5 more viewers. Stick a fork in NBC.
Posted by JJ | November 28, 2008 1:40 PM
When is she going to learn that the public doesn't want or need her anymore.
I think we are finished with this so called entertainer.
I think her big mouth should be shut, as everyone knows she fights with just about anybody who thinks different from her.
She has some nerve thinking her ---- doent smell.
At this point I think she should stay out of the public eye and never to return.
Posted by ANDREA | November 28, 2008 1:55 PM
It’s official from Rosie. NO MORE SHOWS! She just posted this on her blog:
“there will b no more
no ratings
bad reviews
yet still - a thrill 4 me”
Posted by Danny | November 28, 2008 5:48 PM
Thanks for the update, Danny. As self consumed as Rosie is I'm amazed she would step down so "gracefully", not blaming Bush, Cheney, and O'Reilly for subverting the show.
Posted by Snip | December 4, 2008 1:40 PM
Rosie is a washed up, mean-spirited, has been. NBC should be ashamed to broadcast such trash. I think the bulk of the unemployment is from MSNBC, NBC, the NY Times etc. Their ratings are down becuase the broadcast/print trash that main stream America is fed up with. GO AWAY ROSIE!!!
Posted by JYC | December 8, 2008 10:30 AM