3-11-10

In case you missed it...

• Rosie decided not to sing along with the theme song at the beginning of today's show because she's getting so many complaints about it on the blog! Rosie said that Deirdre and Lou had picked out a song for Rosie to sing along to during today's show (for their American Idol bit) that she's sure she will know. Deirdre said that on the "old show" (in reference to TROS) they would frequently cut off or turn down Rosie's mike when she sang along with the musical guests! Rosie told a story about asking her friend, Wynona Judd, if she could sing with her up on stage at a concert and half way through the song Rosie realized that her mike didn't work! Bobby was sewing Shoshana's button back on her coat for her and Rosie thinks she is perhaps more excited than Pete and his wife about their new baby coming! Rosie asked Pete what names he was thinking about for the new baby and they remembered when he was thinking about naming his second daughter Sylvia and Rosie talked him out of it because she said it sounded like a old Jewish grandmother's name. The model Iman once told Rosie not to name her first daughter Sadie, Rosie chose the name Chelsea instead. Rosie sang the song Sylvia's Mother by Dr. Hook and said THAT is the reason she said he couldn't name his daughter Sylvia. The "American Idol judges" (which are tapes of the American Idol judges critiquing real participants from the show) critiqued her. That made Pete want to name his daughter Sylvia even more.

• They talked briefly about American Idol judge Kara crying last night after the last contestant performed. The general consensus was "UGH!" Deirdre (or Rosie) thinks the show has lost "the crazy car crash appeal." Janette feels the show no longer feels spontaneous but instead feels scripted. Deirdre doesn't like how they show the other contestants off stage watching the performers. She said they all look bored and Rosie said they all look like they're trying to see if they're on camera.

• Then a caller named Sylvia called in from Texas. She talked about how she didn't like her name and never wanted to go by it because she thought it was horrible. She then said she and Tracy have something in common. She said they are both a coon-ass because they are both of Cajun decent. (how did this woman know this about Rosie's girlfriend anyway?! lol) Although many Cajuns use the word in regard to themselves, other Cajuns view the term as an ethnic slur against the Cajun people, especially when used by non-Cajuns. The use of the word on live radio caused the other radio staff members to get very nervous and Tracy to skype in to Rosie that she needed to hang up on the person on the phone before someone gets really offended. Apparently, it is pretty bad!

• Rosie then told the story about the day that Danny DeVito came on The View drunk.

Everyone on the staff knew he was tipsy but they all had to act like he really wasn't. The next day Rosie said what a huge news-story was made out of such a minor event. She joked and said even newscasters in China are reporting that Danny DeVito was drunk on air. Only, Rosie said it doing a Chinese impersonation (as she is a comedian) and said the words "ching chong" in her impersonation of Chinese newscasters never knowing that ching chong was an ethnic slur used to mock people of Chinese ancestry. THAT event became an even bigger deal than Danny DeVito being drunk on air and Rosie was asked to apologize. She truly had no idea what she had said was an ethnic slur however. Someone (a young girl) made a YouTube video to Rosie saying that even if it's not your intent, you should apologize. Rosie actually agreed. Janette thinks the world has gotten too politically correct and the fact that she had obviously no intention to demean a race should be considered but people have such a desire to jump out and fight about it. It makes Janette and Deirdre NUTS. They then talked about a racially controversial thing that Dan Rather said about Obama and not being able to even sell watermelons. They then went into the reasons as to where the racist connection of watermelons and African Americans came from. You can read about the history of the stereotype HERE.

• Then there was some weird transition where Pete said that he wouldn't mind if his next baby was born with a tail because of his fascination with Star Trek and sci-fi/fantasy genre. Or even perhaps wings would be okay. Rosie was appalled and Pete said he was going to go work on his resume. It was HILARIOUS to listen to Rosie's offense she took by Pete saying that. Rosie said he is not allowed to say that he wants a dragon baby with a tail. Janette thought he meant he would love it even if it was born with a birth defect and Deirdre thought that Pete lives in two different universes - one of sci-fi fantasy and one of reality. Pete also announced that this pregnancy might be twins because twins run in the family and tend to skip a generation and they're DUE. I think Pete was saying this as a hope that Rosie would forgive him for the "baby with a tail" comment by distracting her with the idea of cute baby twins, which every Rosie fan knows is a weakness of hers. Only time will tell!

• Rosie said she has been going to the dentist every Wednesday and expressed how long the process of replacing her crowns is taking. Rosie said she took a photo what she looked like without her crowns but deleted it from her camera because she was too embarrassed to show the staff. She can't believe now how much pain she was in with the previous crowns and said she feels so much better now.

• Rosie then asked the staff if any of them had seen Jesse Ventura on The View talking about how he did not believe the official story of 9/11. Rosie asked her listeners to search YouTube for Jesse Ventura and The View. (Why do that when I can do it for you! :) Watch the clip below.

"engineer after engineer from the Institute of Studying Steel" -Elisabeth Hasselbeck

"There have [sic] been engineer after engineer from the Institute of Studying Steel"- Elisabeth Hasselbeck. OH! The ISS! Is that an accredited university? And what degree would one graduate with from the ISS? A Bachelors of Steelology? Rosie found it interesting how half the audience during yesterday's View was clapping in agreement with Jesse's opinion on 9/11 in comparison to when she was on The View and mentioned the doubts she had about the real story about 9/11 and everyone just sat there shocked. Pete read the poll numbers showing that more Americans now believe that we do not know the full story of what happened on September 11th. Janette said that "Because of 9/11 we've lost our freedom, lost our way of life, and the most patriotic thing we could do as Americans is question our government."

• Rosie took several callers with whom she discussed the unanswered questions of 9/11 including why WTC building 7 fell when no plane hit it, what documents it housed and whether or not it was a controlled collapse. They mentioned how up until two days before 9/11 Marvin Bush (the younger brother of the president) worked for the company that owned the contract to do the security for the WTC. And that no black boxes were found for the plane that went down in Shanksville, PA and the plane that hit the Pentagon. I couldn't really even try to attempt to take notes during this part. If you would like to find out more information on September 11th and the questions that are raised please go to 9/11truth.org. It is definitely not my area of expertise. Ask me any Rosie trivia and I'll win in that debate but ask me about the biggest terrorist attack in our lifetime and I'll lose. Priorities, ya know? Janette can't understand how you could NOT want to know the truth of what happened that day. Rosie said that "we're all doing the best with what we came with" and for some (like me) it's hard to see the truth. One caller asked if Rosie would have Jesse Ventura on the show and Rosie sounded interested by this idea! So, we will see!

• They talked briefly about the Oklahoma City bombing and Rosie recalled where she was when that happened. Rosie was doing Chuck Grodin's TV show that day. Then Rosie segued to the show Saving Grace starring Holly Hunter that she loves so much. In the show Holly plays a cop that lost her sister in the Oklahoma City bombing. Saving Grave returns to the airwaves on March 29th! Rosie wondered if that sort of revenge eases the pain of the terrorist at all? She briefly touched on how she is against the death penalty and does not feel that that would help her watching someone else die in punishment for the murder of a loved one.

• After commercial break it was time for
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL with Deirdre Dod! Part 1. Deirdre was born at NY Hospital and grew up in NYC. Deirdre's father was a stuntman and also co-owned a Jazz bar named Bradley's in the West Village in New York City. Deirdre grew up around many famous jazz musicians because of it. I found an article on Bradley's and the Jazz clubs of New York's history HERE. It goes on to say that "at a time when it was most needed, Bradley’s supplied the music, the libations and, most important, the camaraderie that is such a defining and necessary part of the jazz circle." Deirdre's mother was a ballet dancer but quit when she got pregnant with Deirdre. Her parents were divorced when she was 2 years old but remained very friendly while she was growing up and got back together when she 17. Deirdre was training to be an Olympic gymnast but blew out her knee at age 15. Deirdre's mom was friends with Bill Murray who got Deirdre an intern job at The Late Show with David Letterman. She was then hired as a talent receptionist worked her way up to booking the talent for the show. The Executive Producer asked Deirdre if she would like to be on a new talk show with Rosie and the rest is history! Deirdre won 5 Emmys for her work she did at The Rosie O'Donnell Show! Deirdre told a story about a beautiful white dress she bought one year for the Emmys and when she went to sit in her seat she realized that her dress was completely see-through and she wasn't wearing underwear! Stay tuned for Part 2 of Deirdre Dod's UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL tomorrow (3/12/10)!

• Rosie asked Deirdre if when she was working with David Letterman if there was any "crazy intern stuff" going on? Deirdre was called when the whole Letterman-Intern Scandal broke but refused to say anything to the media about what she knew, she said "Yeah." She is also pretty sure that someone who used to work on their staff for TROS was obsessed with him and she thinks she was one of the girls Letterman was with (this horrified Rosie). There were a couple times Letterman was inappropriate with Deirdre, too. Rosie said she couldn't imagine this side of him and Deirdre said the women that typically found him attractive were the highly intelligent ones. Deirdre said she absolutely LOVED growing up in the city and there was always something to do and somewhere to go. I'm jealous...

• Deirdre said that working for Rosie at The Rosie O'Donnell Show was THE BEST JOB SHE EVER HAD but she was ready for it to end because it was a lot of work. Janette agreed. Deirdre also really likes doing radio and she enjoys the small staff because there's no "he said/she said crap" between the staff. If there was any of that crap at the old show, Rosie would bring both parties into her office and make them work it out like a parent. Janette talked about how the show was like working on a little piece of television history during a time when the medium was really changing and said how proud she was of the staff and the standards they maintained (except on the days that she wanted to kill herself).

• Right now Deirdre is reading How to Rob an Armored Car because she likes crime mysteries. Deirdre said she reads one book a week that her boyfriend Ted picks out for her. She reads them in the order he puts them for her on her bedside table because they love the same type of books! Awww!! So sweet! Rosie is reading Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls who also wrote The Glass Castle and will be calling in on Monday! Rosie's longtime friend, Jackie, suggested that be their next "book club" book. Janette suggested that Monday they choose another book so they can have more structure with the book club.

• Rosie then discussed the recent news-story about an 18 year old lesbian girl in Mississippi who wanted to bring her girlfriend to the Prom and the school board wouldn't allow it. She then filed suit with the ACLU who threatened to sue the school so the school decided to cancel the prom all-together. You can read the whole prom story here. Janette talked about what a sad thing it was for the entire senior class of that school. Bobby and Rosie remembered that no one was even "out" when they were in high school. Pete said one person was openly gay at his high school and he routinely got his car keyed. Today there are Gay Lesbian and Straight student alliances for students who need support and resources.

• Rosie told a story about when she first met Kelli (who had been out to her parents since she was 16 years old) and her mother actually said she would prefer Kelli never find love then be in an out relationship with another woman. Bobby said it's "human nature to ignore what they don't understand." The staff talked about what a great job the Fox TV show GLEE is doing for gay kids today by giving them a representative of someone who is like them on TV. Janette also said the show is a model for the parents that need help to learn how to accept their gay teens. Because it will make you happy, watch this:

AND GLEE IS COMING BACK IN APRIL!!

• Rosie closed the show playing Michael Lynche singing This Woman's Work from last night's episode of American Idol. One of my favorite songs ever.

and that's what you missed! kw