5-27-10

In case you missed it...

ROSIE HAS BANNED AMERICAN IDOL, SOME KARAOKE SINGING, AND REALITY TV SHOWS
Bobby sang the opening theme song with gusto today! Rosie said GLEE is her new favorite show and she's NOT watching American Idol anymore! She didn't watch the finale last night but heard about it. (If you haven't been keeping up, Rosie thought Crystal Bowersox should win.) Janette called the American Idol finale "Octogenarians on parade" in reference to the acts that they had perform like Joe Cocker, The Bee Gees, Chicago and Michael McDonald. Rosie asked if Billy Idol performed (which he did not) that then led to a little Billy Idol impersonation by Rosie. Rosie read that Adam Ant had to go to a mental hospital and tried to commit suicide once. Rosie then broke out into song - Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant. And then Deirdre and Rosie sang along to Madness - Our House. Janette admitted that she didn't know those songs but requested We Built This City on Rock and Roll by Starship.

Janette said every person you've ever forgotten from American Idol was on last night. Janette and Bobby told Rosie that Paula was back on last night and tried to be funny but really wasn't. Rosie said to her listeners whenever you get really, really depressed just watch a couple episodes of Hey Paula and no matter who you are or what's going on, you're going to feel better about your life. Rosie asked Janette if she's ever seen Being Bobby Brown? Janette had never seen it. Rosie said that Janette HAS to see it. Deirdre said that Bobby Brown is getting remarried again. Rosie wanted to know how Whitney Houston was doing and Deirdre didn't know but she did hear that some people in Australia walked out of her concert. Rosie said it's very sad and wished there was a big comeback story for her. Deirdre went to the record release party for Whitney and her eyes were all squinty and puffy and she knew it wasn't because she had had work done - she was definitely on something. They compared it to Lindsay Lohan and how we're all just watching her die. Rosie called it Celebrity Death Watch. And just like Anna Nicole who Rosie predicted would die the same day she actually did die. What bothers Deirdre the most are her parents because her father won't stop speaking out about it and her mother is enabling her. Rosie said that Lindsay's mom is just like every woman she went to school with from Long Island. Rosie followed that up with how fame is so hard to deal with as an adult and she can't imagine how hard it is as a child. They briefly mentioned that Britney Murphy's (who also died of a drug related death) first show she ever did was The Rosie O'Donnell Show and now her husband is dead too. Janette worries about the young American Idols getting famous so young.

Rosie said that in Joan River's documentary she talks about never wanting her daughter to go into show business because of the constant rejection. Janette remembers reading about that in Joan's book and even worked for Joan Rivers once! Janette said that Joan is a lovely, lovely, lovely person.

DOCUMENTARIES, EXPENSIVE CLOTHES AND A LITTLE BIT OF JOAN
Last night Rosie spoke at the 92nd Street Y with Sheila Nevins (and many others) to discuss documentaries. Rosie talked about the night, who was there and said it was really fun. She said no one is as entertaining to her as Sheila Nevins. She called her genius and funny. Sheila buys Rosie clothes because she knows she has no fashion sense. Rosie said every time she wears something Sheila has bought her she looks good. Rosie can't believe the prices though! She said the sweatshirt was $270 and she couldn't believe it. She commented to Sheila how expensive it was and Sheila didn't think that was expensive at all. Deirdre and Janette said they didn't think that was so much money and Pete said he would never spend that much on any item of clothing EVER. Rosie admitted that the clothes feel better but she still can't justify spending that much when she can go to Target and be happy.

Rosie talked about her love of documentaries and how they are so special because they capture a moment in life and they allow the viewer to see someone's humanity in their total essence. She said they foster forgiveness. Rosie said the Joan River's documentary gave her a lot of ideas about what she wants out of her own career. And yet, Joan is still not happy with her success at 75 years old. Janette thinks that maybe it's because she's become famous for becoming a comedian and not what she always wanted to be, an actress. So she still is always craving something more. Rosie said that Joan's house is beautiful too and kind of like Barbara Walter's house. Janette couldn't say enough good things about Joan and how kind and generous she is. Rosie she was mean to her when she first started her career and outed her as a lesbian before she was out during a time when being gay could have been career ending. Janette said she was not kind to celebrities in her act. Rosie said it was way before any other celebrities were out and it was harsh to her. They talked a little bit about when Joan and her daughter Melissa were on Celebrity Apprentice.

Yesterday Tracy gave Rosie a list of the healthiest foods to eat. Tracy is also "on a rant" to Rosie about soda lately. Deirdre and Janette said Tracy is right! Soda is bad for you! Rosie said she's just going to drink her water without a bottle while she's composting with chickens wearing Birkenstocks.

THE JOAN RIVERS INTERVIEW

Rosie the introduced the amazing Joan Rivers! Rosie started the interview telling Joan how wonderful the documentary A Piece of Work is. Rosie asked Joan how can she not realize the status she has in our pop culture lexicon. Rosie said she wanted to slap her through the TV when she said she hadn't arrived yet. Joan said she realizes that nothing is sacred or permanent because it can be taken away from you in a moment. Rosie said Joan has broken down doors for female comedians and Joan gets to take credit or the impact she has had. Joan laughed it off.

Joan said that having nothing to do on her schedule fills her with terror. Her career is it for her. They talked about family, kids growing up, getting blown off by our teens and how it's only going to get worse for Rosie.
Rosie asked Joan what made her decide to do this documentary. Joan said she was approached by these people who wanted to follow her for a year and her only rule was that it couldn't be a puff piece. She said they were very lucky because they followed her during a year where so much happened in her career!

Joan talked with Rosie about how she never wanted her daughter to be in show business. She said her daughter Melissa has been lucky but she's very talented, too. Rosie asked Joan about her time on Celebrity Apprentice. Joan said she didn't get good swag at the end but it was a great time. Joan said she loves a project and she loved the pressure. She knew Donald Trump from seeing him around but not personally. She said she's never invited or in on that celebrity crowd. Rosie couldn't believe it and told her to come hang with her and they could start a big lesbian scandal together!

They talked briefly about plastic surgery and why celebrities feel the need to do it. They talked about young comics and Joan said she tries not to see any young comics perform because she never wants any comics to say she stole ideas from them. Joan has a filing cabinet of every joke she has ever written. Joan writes her jokes mostly on stage "ad-libbed" and that's how Rosie's jokes come to her, too.

Rosie talked with Joan about a scene from the documentary when Joan said she once made a joke about Helen Keller and someone stood up and yelled at her on stage because his son was deaf. She responded back "You asshole, my mother was deaf. I know what it's like you ass!" Joan said you have to be able to laugh at life. Rosie said the bit made her pee she was laughing so hard. Rosie said she's just going to make shit up the next time she gets heckled and loved the idea. Joan said if you want the truth, get an Encyclopedia.

Joan has a new show entitled How'd You Get So Rich? where they find people who had nothing and they tell their stories of how they came into money and then show the things they have purchased. Joan said everyone's story is so different and it's a great show.

Rosie told Joan her apartment is a little like Barbara Walter's. Joan thought maybe that's a generational thing. She said she lives the way Marie Antoinette would have lived if she had money. She explained that our lives are so messy and she likes to go home to a house that's in order and stays formal. Rosie saw Joan act on Broadway and Joan saw Rosie act on Broadway too. They talked for a bit about Broadway and the camaraderie of it all.

Rosie asked Joan if she ever spoke to Johnny Carson before he died and she did not. She said she sent him a letter when his son died and he never wrote back. She said for 20 years she did The Tonight Show and when the lights went down at commercial she would try to make small talk with him and he couldn't do it. She said he was beyond introverted and he couldn't deal with people in real life. Rosie had that problem with Letterman on his show. Joan said all the late night show hosts turn weird. Only Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon will have Joan on. She said that since Carson, it's like the door to the Tonight Show shut and locked, literally. She has made many calls to try to get on. Joan said, "It's a boy's club" in a bad way.

Rosie told Joan that Kathy Griffin is her biggest fan in the world. Joan loves Kathy Griffin. Don't we all Joan. They commented how successful Kathy's career is and how she's worked so hard to get where she is today. And Rosie said she "loves crap" in reference to her love of fashion and free stuff. Rosie told Joan how she introduced Kathy to Cher in Vegas and how Kathy got Rosie's room comped and got herself an upgrade at the hotel. Kathy also set up the whole dinner so that they could get the meal comped by having a photographer show up at the restaurant. Joan said "If they want to give it to you, take it. Because when you really need it they won't be giving it to you anymore." Rosie couldn't believe that Joan needed money. Joan said she supports every Jewish doctor in New York and she also believes that you're a conduit for money. She also said she lives great and she gives her money away to family that needs it. Rosie agreed and quoted the famous playwright Thorton Wilder, who wrote, "Money is like manure. It should be spread around." They talked about gong to dinner with their rich famous friends and fighting for the check and then going to dinner with their "civilian" friends and paying for them. Rosie asked how much Joan tips the waiters and Joan said never less than 25%. Rosie used to give 100% until her business manager told her she was crazy so now she gives a 50% tip. She said she'll be walking on the streets of NY today and a former waiter will come up to her and say, "I paid my mortgage one month because of you." Joan joked that she will be sure to never go to a restaurant Rosie's eating in.

Rosie thanked Joan for the interview and told her how much she loved her. The sentiments were echoed back from Joan to Rosie. Be sure and catch Joan's documentary A Piece of Work and her show How'd You Get So Rich?.

POST JOAN WRAP UP, ROSIE MAY DO NYC STANDUP AND SOME DICK CALLED JANETTE FAT
Deirdre said she loves Joan since she saw the documentary about her and she didn't realize that she was so giving!! Rosie agreed. She also sad that they are having Chita Rivera on Friday! She said that these legends like Chita and Joan don't get how much they've effected the world. She said they need to take their places amongst their peers. Rosie called Joan "a legendary superstar." Janette said that Joan once gave her a pin and she has kept it forever. Janette only worked for Joan for 6 months but she still remembers her and that has always impressed her. Joan has always been very supportive of Rosie's charity and supports her art too. Janette once saved a note where Joan Rivers told her she thinks she's funny and she said as a woman comic, there's nothing better.

Rose quickly asked who Lisa Lampinelli is. Deirdre said Lisa is she's very funny and she loves her and described her comedy as "very raunchy." Rosie asked if they could book her and Deirdre said of course! Rosie said she was at a comedy thing recently and felt out of it because she didn't know who she was. She then said that she was asked to perform at the New York Comedy Festival in November and she said she was going to see if Dick Scanlan would do it with her and do a reading of her one woman show Find Me! That just makes me happy to write that! Rosie said she did a workshop of "Babes in Arms" last year and it didn't get picked up for Broadway and now "they" just recently they gave them the go ahead but she can't do it because of the radio show. She said she would really love to do a Broadway show but it's too hard at this moment because of all the kids and everything. She said it would be to hard to be a part of a big cast but the one-woman show is easier because they could rehearse in Nyack.

Rosie asked Janette to share with everyone what happened to her yesterday. Janette said that she was walking out of the park at about 3pm yesterday, talking to her sister on her phone and she heard "fat, fat" so she turned and looked. She said a very large African American man with a pit bull called her a "fat bitch" and said that she was a "fat cunt" and that his dog was "going to tear her a new clit." Janette described the man in Janette-speak right down to the color of his shirt and whether his shorts were wrinkled, lol. She said she had to cross in front of on coming traffic to get away from him because he was following her and he said, "Yeah, run!" OMFG. Scary! Poor, beautiful Janette.

Rosie couldn't believe the story and told her own story about the time she was in a movie theater before she was very famous and men in the theater wouldn't stop talking. She confronted the guys and told them to quiet down and they said they were going to kill her. After the movie they were behind her and were taunting her and she turned around and they stopped and said "Hey, are you that Kmart lady?" (back when she used to do advertisements for Kmart). Rose said if she hadn't have been recognized she's not sure what they would have done! She said she would probably have been beaten up.

Janette said that the comment from the man in the park makes her flash back to when she was young and felt fat and horrible about herself. She has never confronted a person who has verbally accosted her like this. She said there's such deep shame from her childhood, she could never. Pete and Rosie (and the rest of the staff) couldn't believe it because Janette is not that fat! For example, Rosie pointed out that Bobby is bigger than Janette (nothing like throwing Bobby under the bus, right? lol) and people don't yell those things at him. Bobby said that perhaps it is because he is a man and they're afraid he might turn around and punch them. And then he said that of course he wouldn't because he's too gay.

Rosie said that that kind of stuff has also happened to Jeannie who is incredibly beautiful but not stick thin and guys would say "moo" to Jeannie. Rosie said this was always shocking to her because Jeannie doesn't look fat. She thought "Why not call me fat? I'm fatter than her!"

Pete told Janette she should have called the police. Janette said that her sister said the same thing to her but she didn't even consider it because the New York police are too busy. Janette said she wanted pepper spray for the dog in case that ever happens to her again. Rosie said the man was clearly mentally unstable.

A listener called in who was completely crying over Janette's story and then Janette started to cry. The fact that someone would cry like that for something that happened to her really touched Janette. Janette said that's why she's funny, as a coping mechanism. Rosie said maybe because Janette didn't have a mom to protect her that that was why she doesn't know how to stick up for herself. She told a story of Tracy standing up to some guy who was hitting on her young teenage daughter. Tracy pushed the guy back and said "Hey, that's my daughter." She stuck up for her and she wasn't afraid.

The other day when they were discussing the show "What Would You Do?" Janette said she was afraid she would just stand there if someone was being accosted because that is her pattern with herself. Rosie said that in some ways perhaps she carries a sense with her that it's okay to call her that. She was in no way blaming her but just trying to look for a reason why it keeps happening to her. Rosie said that maybe Janette needs to learn to overcome some of the things that were ingrained in her in a difficult childhood.

Rosie compared it to when Donald Trump went on 26 talk shows and slammed her because she made fun of his hair. She said that no one stood up and said how sexist he was being. Janette said it shocked her! And Rosie added that the media just allowed it. There was no uprising against him. Rosie said she couldn't ignore it! She called him out because he's a facade and has no power over her. She had to stand up for herself. She wants Janette to stand up for herself, too.

Rosie said that that is the same way with two of Tracy's kids. Wyatt, who has Down Syndrome has such a sense of himself and will stand up for himself. He is never a victim. Then there's her son Archie who is on the Autism Spectrum who is almost always a victim yet so sweet and so kind to everyone.

Rosie then added that Wyatt finally said a 5 word sentence - "Hey, mom help me please." And she said they were at dinner at a restaurant the other night and Rosie was trying to get Wyatt to say "My name is Wyatt." Rosie said she's had a hard time merging a child with Down Syndrome into her routine. She said that nothing happens by accident and now there's this kid in her life with Down Syndrome. She didn't know how much work it was going to be. She kept trying to get him to say "My name is Wyatt." And he finally said back to her "No, no, no, I love Ro." Awwwwwww!!! Rosie explained that the transition has been hard for her because he doesn't respond to discipline the same way her kids do. She did say he's at a new school now and getting intensive speech therapy.

DON'T ASK DON'T TELL
The staff talked about how the White House is trying to get Congress to vote on repealing Don't Ask Don't tell. They explained that while Congress can vote to repeal it, it wouldn't be repealed until the Pentagon has done a review. Rosie read from the This Gay Life Blog who wrote an amazing opinion piece about it. The writer says that all gays should resign from the military so they could see how much the military needs them. Janette said it's so true. Rosie said that not only are you in the closet but your partner gets none of the benefits or recognition if you get killed.

Rosie told the story of Lisa Pond and read from the NYTimes article. Lisa and her partner were on the first Rfamily cruise together and Lisa had a really bad headache. She went to the hospital and ended up dying and her partner and their children weren't permitted to see her. By the time she had the letter faxed to the hospital that stated what the hospital needed to know, that they were responsible for each other's care, she had died. Obama recently called Lisa's partner and apologized to her. Rosie liked that he apologized but still doesn't understand why he can't repeal Don't ask Don't Tell!

Janette said we also need to change the laws about who can visit you if you're dying in the hospital. Bobby said it's not just Florida. He said you can't get in to see your partner in a hospital if you're not married in any state that prohibits gay marriage.

Pete said that President Obama can't change this law on his own and Brendan agreed. Brendan said the legislative branch has to do it and Obama would be overstepping Congress if he overturned it. Brendan said Obama would have to spend a great amount of political capital to override the Congress. Rosie was very frustrated with Obama's inability to get it repealed. The staff then talked about the frustrations with politicians who are just worried about the next election around the corner and not about getting the issues resolved.

A listener who works with the Human Rights Campaign and the military called in who shared that gay partners also don't get the notification when a loved one dies, or the folded flag. She encouraged people to call the Congressional Switchboard 202-224-3121 and to ask for their representative and encourage them to vote to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

THE OIL SPILL
Rosie very briefly mentioned that the woman who owned the chimp died that attacked Charla Nash died.
Then end of the show talked about the oil spill and how corrupt everyone is with their hands in the pockets of the oil companies. They are now saying that anywhere from 17 to 39 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf at this point and the spill is far bigger than the Exxon Valdez. They are hopeful that the top kill response seems to be working. On a personal note, Rosie feels part of the reason she survived her depression was Miami - the dolphins, the water and the sea life. She is overwhelmingly obsessed with the concept now that that's going to all be gone. She ended the show saying "the top kill, let's hope it works people."

and that's what you missed -kw