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.
The unions killed the variety show. With HD TV it would be a great time to bring back the big dance numbers, but the costs to rebroadcast are prohibitive because of the dancer's contracts. That's why the old Carol Burnett show only has the comedy skits when it shows in reruns. The standard contract requires that every time the show is rerun each dancer gets paid not only for dancing, but for rehearsal. Since much of the profit from shows now comes from reruns, the dancer's contract effectively killed the variety show. Also, variety shows have never drawn ratings in reruns like comedies and dramas. I think variety shows are more tied to a specific time and don't age as well, although musical movies like Oliver, My Fair Lady, and the Music Man seem to stand up well. Possibly because they're period pieces. I'm not sure how Disney worked it out with High School Musical.
Rosie, like Sandra Berhard, has stayed on television etc., because of the gay mafia running entertainment. Neither of them has ever drawn significant ratings, except when attached to a project that would have been successful anyway.
I do have to admit that there is a car-wreck quality to a Rosie performance, but like Britney Spears, it's become old hat.
Yeah, they've run the reality shows, the "comedy" shows, the "don't you want to be a millionaire, really?" shows into the ground.
Rosie Gay O'Donut is about as far from a competent and acceptable variety show host as east is from west.
Variety worked great in the good old days when television was just for entertainment. Today, television takes itself much too seriously. It will be impossible to come up with a variety show that will not become preachy. Consider, this current attempt. Why would a network that wanted to focus on entertainment select a divisive personality like Rosie O for its M.C?
This is why Americans tune this stuff out. When they want to be preached to, they go to church.