"Rosie Live" Cancelled After Just One Show

OUCH!!!!  I had hoped that Rosie O’Donnell’s return to television, Rosie Live, was going to be triumphant but it fell flat after getting bad reviews and few viewers last week.  It wasn’t from a lack of star power, that’s for sure, since she had a plethora of celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Liza Minnelli, Alanis Morissette and a quick cameo from Clay Aiken.  Despite the effort, the show has been yanked from NBC’s lineup.

What turned people off?  Poorly written skits, bad jokes and blatant placement of sponsor products. 

Rosie, who I neither hate or love, has come out, guns blazing several times in the past and has pointed the finger at others when it comes to her misfortunes but, I wonder, if this recent flop will motivate her to be more introspective.  At some point, she’s got to look at all that negativity, right?  There have been many times when I’ve agreed with her argument and view of things but I feel like she ruins it by getting so nasty and negative.  It just turns me off and I think it’s gotten to many others now too.  It’s hard to remember the nice person who used to host her talk show Rosie.  I know she said that she needed to be her own person and, after leaving that show, she came out of the closet as a lesbian but being gay doesn’t mean you have to be harsh and angry and, well, since liberating her sexual identity, it seems that’s all she is. 

I hope she can continue to be the progressive, intelligent woman she wants to be but learns to either master her ire or learn to fake it.  It’s show business after all – can’t she even act happy and nice?

NBC Photo: Virginia Sherwood