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Rosie just may succeed where Dolly Parton didn't
Last week, NBC announced it was premiering the new Rosie O'Donnell variety show on Thanksgiving Eve. If the launch is successful, a series will follow in 2009. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne also are working on a new variety show to air on Fox next year.
It should be noted the O'Donnell program will be broadcast live. In fact, it's not clear whether the main attraction is the variety genre or the fact it will be a live show (of all TV formats, variety is the easiest to broadcast in real time). NBC's intent, however, is very clear: It wants to bring viewers to the show when it airs, as opposed to viewers watching it later on tape, DVR or the Internet. In short, it wants instant ratings.
Whether O'Donnell and/or the Osbournes are the right choices to be comeback kids remains to be seen.
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As the '50s rolled on, Jackie Gleason, George Burns and Gracie Allen, George Gobel, Roy Rogers and Perry Como joined the fray. So did a newspaper columnist named Ed Sullivan, and a pre-Casey Kasem countdown of the top songs that was known as "Your Hit Parade." "The Honeymooners," considered by many to be an iconic television series, was originally part of Gleason's variety program.
During the '60s, television fine-tuned the format and created its own stars, which it culled from Hollywood and the music charts. If Ed Sullivan was king of the format, his princes were '50s holdovers Benny, Skelton, Gleason and Como, along with Garry Moore, Bob Hope, Andy Williams, Danny Kaye, Lawrence Welk, Dean Martin and Glen Campbell. Carol Burnett (spun off "The Garry Moore Show") was the reigning queen of variety, while "Laugh In" and "The Smothers Brothers Show" most clearly defined the decade.
The format underwent a slow but noticeable change in the '70s when networks and syndicators honed in on pop stars such as Sonny & Cher, the Captain & Tennille, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Donny and Marie, Bobby Vinton and Bobby Goldsboro.
While Cher was able to adapt well to comedy, the others did not, and viewers abandoned the shows as quickly as they moved on to the next pop trend. Country was represented by Campbell, Johnny Cash and, of course, "Hee Haw." Oddly, just one comedian - Flip Wilson - had his own hit series, but, for the most part, he at least didn't try to sing.
By the mid-'70s, the genre was fading, despite one ill-advised, but heavily hyped show that ABC heralded as the return of variety: "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell." Though he tried admirably, Cosell was no Ed Sullivan. The show folded in four months.
When the 1980-81 season premiered, there were but two variety series on the schedule : "The Steve Allen Comedy Hour" and "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters." Allen's show died quickly, and the Mandrells lasted one more season. Six years later, ABC tried one last revival with Dolly Parton (who famously sat in a bathtub for her opening song). Though millions tuned in for the premiere, it was canceled after one season.
So, 20 years later, Rosie's going to succeed where Dolly didn't? Don't jump to those negative conclusions quite yet. She just might.
For starters, it's a misconception that variety died. It just moved to late night - a la the long-running "Saturday Night Live." It then emerged in prime time under the guise of the reality label. The most successful series of this century has been "American Idol." The most successful summer series of this century has been "America's Got Talent."
Certainly, one could make the argument that those programs are closer to "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" than "The Andy Williams Show," but the Godfrey program has always been considered the original variety show and, in the year television ratings were first calculated, the most popular one.
Both of the current variety series, and for that matter, "SNL," are broadcast live, which validates NBC's theory that the live element may be crucial to variety's success.
Sharon Osbourne, of course, is already a popular judge on "America's Got Talent," which could help in sampling her and hubby Ozzy's new show. Rosie, though, may be a more difficult sell. She has her fans, no doubt, but she's quite adept at alienating people, too. Just like Simon Cowell. Hmmm. Perhaps NBC knows what it's doing after all.
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Cindi Palombo writes:
What do you think about the decision to air "Friday Night Lights" only on DirecTV? I love that show, but I am certainly not going to run out and get DirecTV just to be able to see it. I think it's the final nail in the coffin.
Reply: Those same 13 episodes airing on DirecTV will be broadcast on NBC beginning in January. For most viewers, they will still be "new." The unusual arrangement - in which program costs are shared - was the only way the network could justify bringing back the low-rated "FNL." Unless ratings spike, it's still the final nail in the coffin, but at least the show's writers will be able to bring most of the storylines to a satisfying conclusion.
Terry Hazlett covers TV and radio for the Observer-Reporter. He can be reached at snowballrizzo@aol.com.
Rosie? : 10/6/2008
Thank All the Powers that Be that I will have MUCH better things to do on Thanksgiving than to watch this.....creature. Any adjective I might use for her would certainly be deleted!
No wonder : 10/6/2008
This network is in the basement when it comes to viewership. They keep pandering to the wierdoes of society, and the wonder why most of the people want no part of their network.
Rosie is no Dolly!! : 10/7/2008
No comparison...not even in the same class. The failed show wasen't Dolly's fault--they gave her such limited control. Dolly is an "Angel," and one of the very last entertainters of my generation. Dolly is American Royalty. A Mozart all "dolled" up!
Rosie's New Show will be a Success! : 10/20/2008
Rosie O'Donnell is a multi Emmy award winning show host and she knows how to entertain. I have no doubt her new show will be a success and will be entertaining. She's sure to have great guests and musical numbers, as well as comedy. Love Rosie and am looking forward to this format of a show. Just what we need right now and kudo's for having a live show, all the more exciting!
