01-28-10

In case you missed it...

• Rosie opened the show asking the studio about their weekends since it was actually Monday when they were taping today's program. Rosie and the crew discussed the article about Heidi Montag and her many plastic surgeries she's had. Rosie had never even heard of Heidi Montag when she was asked about it the other day on the red carpet. Heidi, a 23 year old MTV reality TV star, has had 10 plastic surgeries in all and some are saying she is addicted to it. The crew discussed the Today Show episode when Al Roker bashed Heidi and her husband Spencer. In June, Speidy (Spencer + Heidi) went on the Today Show to promote the NBC show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Al "bashed" them which caused the couple to stop doing interviews for a while (not long enough, imho). You can watch the video they were talking about here. Rosie kept rewinding to the part when Spencer says "he said that I saw Jesus" over and over which made Rosie laugh and exclaim "JESUS Christ." It was funny because Rosie had no idea who Spiedy was. Deirdre said it makes her sad because this is what our kids are looking up to. As a sidenote, I laughed when I was listening because no one except Deirdre was really an expert on The Hills. If they ever need to have a much younger expert on call to answer these pressing reality TV topics, I'd like to say I'm always available. :)

Heidi's before and after

• Jeannie mentioned that she is a TLC "junkie." She mentioned a show she watched last night on primordial dwarfism and a show coming up on Twins that she thought Rosie would enjoy. They talked about the twin festival called Twindays which takes place in Twinsburg, Ohio and suggested Lou and his twin brother go. Do I sense a road trip? Rosie talked about an "AMAZING" documentary on TLC about conjoined twins where one twin did not survive. At the convention in Twinsburg, Ohio researchers come from all over the country to study the twins. Rosie finds twins fascinating. FYI, one of my proofreaders is a twin. Michele, I think you are fascinating too, just sayin. And Liz, my other proofreader has identical twin girls.  Coincidence?  I think not.

• Rosie talked about how she spends as much time watching the smaller networks like A&E and TLC as she does the larger networks. Deirdre watches and loves truTV. She talked about the show Operation Repo and the show about cheaters where they track down people having affairs and catch them on tape! (which I am trying to find).

• Rosie talked about the new book Game Change which portrays Elizabeth Edwards in a fairly negative light. Rosie was speaking with Nora and Delia Ephron who said that she could play Elizabeth in a TV movie (Deirdre said Rosie was much prettier. We agree Deirdre.). Rosie said she would never want to play Elizabeth because she has children and she wouldn't want to portray her negatively given all she's been through. Then, Janette had to interrupt and ask who they were talking about mid-conversation because she had forgotten. CLASSIC Janette. Here's an article about the book and how it portrays Elizabeth if you're REALLY interested. Warning: The article links you to Fox.com against my better judgement.

• Rosie talked about Betty White's acceptance speech when she got her lifetime achievement award at SAG. Rosie talked about age, growing older and how she still feels like a kid herself. Rosie said the defining sitcom of her life is Mary Tyler Moore. Jeannie's defining sitcom was All in the Family. Jeannie said her father "had a little Archie Bunker in him." Lou played the theme song of All In The Family and went to commercial.

All in the Family Opening

• Rosie then introduced Peter Bales and John Mulrooney - two fellow stand-up comedians which Rosie knew from an Improv group they all used to belong to. Pete (who once made out with Rosie but ended up marrying a much skinnier and straighter girl) is currently a history professor and teaches and performs stand-up. Rosie, Pete and John talked about many, many things. They talked about the differences in performing comedy nowadays and how clubs require you to bring in an audience and even charge the comedians to perform. Peter Bales promoted his book "How Come They Always Had Battles in National Parks" which takes a humorous yet factual account of American History up through the Civil War. Pete said history is really about "life, people, passion and understanding who you are." Pete talked about his girlfriend Peach and how he and his ex-wife are friends and they have a GREAT relationship. John Mulrooney said he "followed the path of Jesus" and he didn't get married "because he didn't want to be crucified twice." (NICE.) They talked some about taking care of elderly parents and Rosie recommended Jim Breuer's documentary More Than Me about taking his elderly father on the road with him. John promoted his CD called "The Top 10 Lessons From The Worst Year Of My Life" about how the greatest gifts he has received were when his father was dying and the year he lost many members of his family. Rosie, Pete and John talked about telling your parents that you love them and how Pat Maravel (Rosie's teacher and other mother in grade school) was the first person to tell Rosie she loved her and hug her when she was in the 8th grade. They talked about the struggles of raising children and keeping them off drugs.

• Rosie told Pete that he was the smartest stand-up comic she ever knew growing up. Pete said he majored in theater at Northwestern and realized he couldn't perform Shakespeare or Chekhov but he could do comedy. John is doing a show that tries to find the "funniest first responders" where the winner gets $2000 and a several other prizes. Rosie said she too is doing stand-up again! (I heard she was touring this summer! I'm so there!) Peter said during his classes at Stand-up University many female comediennes use the class to come out. Pete said that Long Island is a completely different place for gay comedians than it used to be and there is a greater acceptance now. He praised Rosie for BLAZING the trail for gay comics. Rosie talked about how much she enjoyed the new Wanda Sykes stand-up special Ima Be Me and about her son Parker's obsession with stand-up. Rosie invited Pete and John to come over and watch old tapes of the stand-up shows and thanked them for coming in.

Wanda Sykes: Ima Be Me

If you haven't seen it, SEE IT.

• Rosie then interviewed Terri Cheney on the phone who is the author of the book Manic: A Memoir. Terri was once a successful entertainment lawyer in Hollywood serving celebrity clients who was secretly battling bipolar disorder. Terri said she knew as a child that she was very different from other children but didn't have the words for it. She said she hid it well behind the facade of over-achievement. Terri told her story of trying to commit suicide at age 7 because she was so afraid she was going to get less than an A on a school project. Terri and Rosie talked about how they used to self-injure to relieve the internal pain they were feeling and the ultimate shame they felt from that. For Rosie, the self-injuring began after her mother died and it wasn't until she was 20 years old that she first told someone (Pat Maravel) that she hurt herself. It wasn't until Terry was 27 years old that she got a diagnosis of bipolar disease. Terri and Rosie talked about how they often blamed themselves for the depression they felt and the shame that goes along with taking medication for mental illness. Terri talked about the need for the public to recognize that bipolar disorder is a physical disease. Terri Cheney has a new title coming out in 2011 where she is writing about bipolar disorder from a child's point of view. Rosie called "Manic: A Memoir" a very honest book that will help a lot of people very much and thanked Terri for calling in.

• Rosie and Janette then talked about anti-depressants and how her sister, Lanette, is trying to get off of them. Janette once tried anti-depressants but they didn't work for her because the drugs made her feel far worse. Bobby discussed his own battle with depression and how the anti-depressants created "an absolute (positive) difference." Rosie discussed how she went on Prozac in 1999 after Columbine and she felt a positive difference right away. Shoshana discussed the difference between sadness and depression. Janette then told the story of battling TMS (Tension Mito Sciatic Syndrome) which is when your brain, in an effort to oppress unwanted emotion (usually in the form of anger) lessens the blood supply and causes oxygen deprivation to a specific part of your body (for Janette it was her ankles). She further explained that the more you change your life to accommodate the pain, the more the pain grows. Janette had this disorder and was practically wheelchair bound from it. After seeing many many doctors and being unable to get a diagnosis Janette went to Dr. John Sarno and he talked to her for about 40 minutes and she went to a lecture that night and she began to get better! Janette explained that the cure for TMS is to know you have it. The pain is caused from an emotional trigger and there's no medical procedure to help. Dr. Sarno also helped Howard Stern with the horrible back pain he once experienced. You can buy Dr. Sarno's book HERE.

• Rosie told a story of battling her own pain when she was fighting the lawsuit against the magazine company in 2003. Rosie explained how she had horrible sciatica pain and could hardly walk up the steps. It took her 20 minutes to walk from her house to the dock in Miami. After the lawsuit the pain went away and she realized it was all from emotional stress. Rosie talked about how the mind has such power over the physical being. Rosie finished the conversation by saying how much she wants to help Janette's sister Lanette who's been struggling to get off anti-depressants. Janette thanked Rosie and said how they feel like they are all sisters...like family.

• Rosie closed the show reminding listeners to not forget to watch the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson TONIGHT where Craig and Rosie will be doing a musical number!