9-15-10 "Eminem, The Other O'Donnell and Jeff Garlin"

In case you missed it....

THE EMINEM CONCERT
Rosie began today's show discussing  the Eminem concert at Yankee Stadium which she went to last night!  She went with Tracy and their four teenagers ages 13, 14, 15, and 16.  They left before it was over because the kids had school the next day but they still didn't get home until midnight.  Rosie said it was a  great concert and they had great seats right on the floor.  Deirdre got the awesome seats for them!  Rosie has never seen Eminem perform live.  Eminem performed for a little over an hour and then JayZ performed. 

Rosie said she was excited to see Eminem in his recovery at the top of his game.  She said the concert was inspiring and so is his story of how he's overcome addiction.  Rosie said that same sort of recovery and celebration was what she had always dreamed of for Whitney Houston.  She said that she and Tracy were the oldest people at the concert and it was a very different and diverse crowd.

Rosie did comment about how there was a lot of pot smoking going on at the concert so much so that you could almost get a contact high from the air!  She said her eldest son Parker was a little "hyped up" and being very obnoxious.   He rolled his eyes at her when she was dancing along to the music and seemed totally embarrassed by her.  Rosie suggested to him that this could be his last concert if he's that embarrassed to be with her.  She said that Parker was also constantly making fun of his sister Chelsea and acting like he knew everything.  Rosie defended herself saying that she knows much more about rap than Parker knows but teenagers think they know everything.

When Tracy and Rosie arrived at the concert they realized they had no money! A cute boy named Max Jones from Jones Trading? came over and introduced himself to Rosie.  He told her how much her talk-show meant to him growing up, etc and Rosie explained to him that they forgot their cash and asked him if he could buy them some waters.   She demanded his business card so she could send him a thank you gift and he gave it to her but he wanted nothing in return for the gesture.

Rosie took a call from a listener who sat a few rows behind them.  She said her son was being just as obnoxious as Parker and also couldn't believe all the pot smoking and pill taking going on at the concert.  Another listener, Liz, called in whose young son was a big Eminem fan before he passed away.  Rosie gave her two tickets to the show when she called in to share that story.  The caller brought her nephew and had a great time!  She said that Rosie's assistant, Shoshana did a wonderful job with her tickets.  Liz and Rosie both left early and Rosie said the concept of leaving the stadium at the same time as everyone else gave her panic.  Liz said she was there when P Diddy and Lebron James came into the stadium and said that the audience booed Lebron! GOOD!  (I'm from Cleveland, don't mind me.)  P Diddy is one of Rosie's neighbors in Miami and she said, "Hi Neighbor!" to him as he walked by but he didn't hear her.  Liz thanked Rosie for the tickets and told her she had a wonderful time.  She then told Rosie that Parker's attitude will get better.  Rosie hoped that was true.   

Rosie said that three years ago she hit Parker in the head with a soft-covered dictionary for making fun of Blake's learning issues and it worked for 2 years.  Now she's thinking she needs to do it again for constantly making fun of Chelsea.  

Rosie continued to talk about the amazing stage and graphics and then it was discovered that Janette and Bobby had never been to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium!  Janette didn't even realize that baseball and football weren't played in the same stadium in New York.  Pete explained that the joint football/baseball stadium trend was a big fad in the 70's and then they realized that there are very different audience sizes for the events and it didn't work well to combine football and baseball stadiums.  Janette asked if that was because fans preferred one sport over the other and Pete said the the audience size is different because there are only 18 football games and about 82 home baseball games.

Rosie recalled the time she flew to London and went backstage with Madonna when she toured in the 1990s.  Before the concert the crowd was roaring and Madonna said to Rosie, "Feel that?"  She said the energy from the crowd was palpable.   It felt like the audience's energy could physically move your body.

Pete took his father to see Bob Dylan and Paul Simon once.  Shoshana is not a Bob Dylan fan and always makes Pete's change the channel on the radio when a song by Bob Dylan comes on.    Lou played Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan and Rosie sang along doing her best Bob Dylan impersonation.  Rosie's father used to listen to The Clancy Brothers and Rosie recalled the lyrics by heart.  A listener called in who once took her daughter to see a Ricky Martin concert when she was 5 years old and she also took her daughter to see The Rosie O'Donnell Show when she was only 5.  One listener called in who took her mom to see Cyndi Lauper and discussed how Cyndi sings True Colors a cappella at the end of her shows.  Never heard her do that?  Click here! Brings me to tears almost every time.    Rosie, who has performed on the road with Cyndi, said she "gives it" every single night and her shows are also different every night.

Rosie said that she hopes to get to meet Eminem one day and really get to talk to him.  Deirdre could have gotten Rosie backstage but she told her it would probably be a big party scene filled with rap royalty.    After the concert there was a guy with half his braids pulled out of his head selling t-shirts and Rosie struck up a conversation with him.  He seemed creeped out by her since she was talking to him so much so he moved away.  Just as her car pulled up he said "Oh my God!  Are you Roseanne Barr?!  You're Roseanne Barr and these are your kids!"  Rosie just said "yes, whatever" and got into her car.  Here's an article I found about the concert last night with pictures if you're interested!

THE OTHER O'DONNELL OF NO RELATION AND THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT 
Brendan discussed with the staff how Christine O'Donnell (who is of no relation to Rosie) won the Delaware Senate primary race.  Christine has been at the forefront of "pro-family" groups.  She's an outspoken Christian conservative who speaks on morality, sexual health and abstinence only education. They played the audio of Christine speaking about how masturbation goes against the teachings of the bible.  Janette feels that there's no place for religion in politics and firmly believes in the separation of church and state.  Pete said that it's okay for politicians to run on a certain religious platform but he thinks it's important that they not pick and choose which bible mandates to follow.  Janette said that all Americans do not have the same religion so she doesn't like it when politicians thump their bibles at her!  Rosie cannot believe she got elected and Bobby thinks it's crazy too.  Brendan explained that she was elected with help from the tea party movement, a movement that wants the country to go back to its traditional roots. 

Brendan also explained that it wasn't a majority of the population of Delaware that voted for her.  It was only about 30,000 people.  Republicans are saying that they're sure now that they'll lose the seat to the Democrats.  Brendan said that joke candidates are only funny until they actually get elected and someone who's not a serious candidate winds up in office.  Brendan said that the Republicans won't fund her and that O'Donnell will get her money from PACs associated with the Tea Party movement.  Brendan said there is a misbelief that the Tea Party movement is a grass roots movement but in reality there are 3 men funding the movement - Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Brothers.  These men want to get government out of all aspects of American life.  

Brendan said the important lesson here is to stay politically active and make sure you're reading from a lot of sources and check into where your sources are getting their information from.

THE PRINCE HAS AN OFF NIGHT
Rosie wanted to know what happened to Janette's favorite Prince Poppycock on America's Got Talent last night.  Janette agreed that the Prince did not have a stellar performance and said she knew it was trouble the moment he walked out in his too masculine outfit.  Janette also didn't like his hair and thought he sang a much too serious song.  She said his sense of whimsy and humor wasn't there and she thinks he's blown the competition.  Bobby, the Tony nominated costume designer, said he's never seen a "not masculine" sequenced piece of body armour.  Bobby loves Fighting Gravity who Janette thinks is BORING.   Janette still hopes that Poppycock will win although she now thinks it's unlikely.  Pete thinks Fighting Gravity will win.

THE CONNECTICUT HOME INVASION STORY AND PLANNING FOR DISASTERS
Janette has been really shaken up by the Connecticut home invasion story.  She read an article about what happened to the family that night and said it is like Clockwork Orange to her.  Janette told a story of what happened to her one night at her house.  It was after midnight and she heard gunshots and they sounded like they were coming closer and closer.  Because she lives on a large piece of land in the middle of the country this wouldn't have been out of the ordinary if it were during the day.  But because it was late at night and she had recently heard about this news story she was very frightened and called the police.  She and her boyfriend Barry took out their guns and loaded them which she said was an eerie feeling. 

Janette said that she and Barry have a home invasion plan about what they would do and where they would go if they ever had a break-in.  Janette warned that she will shoot and intruder if they break in!   Rosie wondered if this obsessive worrying is good for her.  She said she doesn't worry obsessively but she does have a plan.  Rosie doesn't have a "plan" per se but she does have a home alarm.  Pete has a home invasion plan but  Deirdre, Bobby, Brendan and Lou do not.  Pete read the statistics that 1 out of 5 homes undergo a home invasion or break-in.  And 38% of assaults and 68% of rapes happen during home invasions.   Bobby said he would use his fire plan as his home invasion plan.  Rosie took a call from a listener who had contemplated getting a gun for protection but decided against it because of the kids in her home.  Rosie said she understands people's fear but the likelihood that something could go wrong and the invaders would find your gun and use it against you seems too great.  The possibility of the children finding the gun seemed too great a risk for Rosie too.   

JEFF GARLIN

Rosie then introduced the hilariously funny Jeff Garlin from HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm!  Jeff asked Rosie how she liked the Eminem concert.  Jeff joked how Eminem always seems so angry!  He said he's a rich, handsome guy, why is he always so angry!  

Jeff spent the last two months filming Curb in New York.  He loves NY and didn't want to complain but he was happy to be home with his kids and family.  Jeff and his wife have two boys ages 10 and 14. 

Rosie asked Jeff about how he came to know Larry David well.  Jeff said he and Larry were acquaintances during the stand-up days.  One day Larry came in and invited him to lunch and Jeff pitched an idea to Larry about an improvised special, showing what goes into the making of a comedy special.  He told the right guy because Larry loved the idea and that's how 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' came to be. 

Rosie asked Jeff if improvisation is hard for him and Jeff said it is not.  Improvisation is effortless for Jeff and he complimented Rosie on how great she is at improvisation too!  Jeff called Rosie a "natural improviser" and said she can easily be in the moment of a scene rather than simply sticking to the words in a script.  Jeff and Rosie joked about how they will get in trouble when doing a movie for not following the lines of a script exactly. 

Jeff has recently lost weight and said he's keeping it off and losing more.  Jeff said what finally did it for him was admitting that he was a food addict.  He said that he learned that food was an emotional experience for him.  Jeff wrote a book about weight entitled My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World.  He said while he was writing the book which was supposed to be about weight loss while filming Curb, there was so much pressure to finish it that he started eating and gaining weight.  As he was writing it he realized he had a problem.  Jeff said that the minute he approached food as an addict, it changed.  He hasn't eaten sugar, fast food, or meat (except for fish once in a while) in almost two years!  Jeff said that now he has to deal with emotions that he didn't have to before.  But on the flip side, he's not binge eating anymore which is so freeing.  He mentioned his movie I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With with Sarah Silverman when he binge eats in a convenience store parking lot.  He said his own binge eating was very lonely and sad like that movie.  

Jeff has been to the health resort Pritikin in Miami.  He said he learned everything he now knows about nutrition from Pritikin although they don't deal with the emotional part of eating which Jeff said was their weakness.

Rosie complemented Jeff on how he was able to make her daughter Chelsea laugh the last time they were together.  Rosie said that Chelsea's not always easy to crack.  Jeff said his favorite thing to do is make kids laugh who are sure that they will not.  Rosie said Chelsea talks about Jeff all the time now and asks her when they are going to go see him again.

Jeff has always wanted to be a comedian and a dad.  At 8 years old, he went to see Jimmy Durante and he remembers asking his parents if that's a "job," being a comedian.  When they told him yes he said that that's the job he wanted.  Jeff's not touring anymore but he still does stand-up.  He has a show Combo Platter at the UCB theater in LA and he still does stand-up at The Comedy Store.  Rosie asked Jeff if the audience cuts him slack when he's doing stand-up because he's well-known.  Jeff said he gets about a 1 minute buffer but after that, if the audience isn't in the mood for him he gets it hard if he's not up to par.  Jeff said that stand-up is something you have to keep doing to be good at.   He said that if you don't write new material, you're just treading water on stage.  And Rosie added that it's hard to add new material if you're not working a lot in order to practice it.   

Jeff joked about how he and Rosie should perform at Yankee stadium as Eminem did and he asked Rosie if she'd ever performed to thousands of people.  Rosie said she was able to she sell out Radio City Music Hall two nights in a row.

The season premiere of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' is in March of 2011 and Rosie will be on this season!  In Rosie's episode she and Larry vie for the same girl.  The day they filmed the episode it was 103 degrees in New York City!  Rosie said that Curb is one of the best show on TV.  Jeff asked Rosie about her deal with the OWN network and Rosie said she's going to start working for OWN doing some documentary specials in early 2011 and then she'll have her own show this time next year.

Rosie thanked Jeff for calling in.   

GAME
The game was that Brendan would list off the character names of some television kids and the player had to guess which show those kids were from.  (see answers below)

ROUND ONE
1. Bobby - Wednesday and Pugsly.  He got it.
2. Shoshana - Kimberly, Willis, Arnold and Sam.  She didn't get it.
3. Rosie - Rudy, Theo, Sandra, etc.  She got it.
4. Pete - Chuck, Joni, Richie.  He got it.
5. Janette - David, Jonie, Susan, Mary, Elizabeth, Tommy, Nicholas.  She got it despite the fact that she doesn't typically watch shows with children in them. 
6. caller - Mallory, Alex, Jennifer, Andy.  She got it.

ROUND TWO
7. Bobby - Mike, Chip and Ernie.  He got it.
8. Rosie - Tabatha and Adam.  She got it.
9. Pete - Meadow and AJ.  He got it
10. Janette - Hoss and Adam. She got it.
11. caller - Kelly, Bud and Seven.  She guessed Blossom but that was wrong.

ROUND THREE
12. Bobby - Brad, Randy and Mark.  He didn't know so he was out.
13. Rosie - Mary, Albert, Laura, Carrie, Grace and Charles.  She got it.
14. Pete - Merth.  He didn't get it.
15. Janette - John Boy, Jason and Mary Ellen, etc.
16. Rosie - Brandon and Brenda.  She didn't get it.

17. Janette (for the win) - Wally and Theodore.  She got it and she WON!!!!! 

Janette got a gold sticker and Rosie sulked away in horror. 

THE ANSWERS
1. The Addams Family, 2. Diff'rent Strokes, 3. The Cosby Show, 4. Happy Days, 5. Eight Is Enough, 6. Family Ties, 7. My Three Sons, 8. Bewitched, 9. The Sopranos, 10. Bonanza, 11. Married With Children, 12. Home Improvement, 13. Little House on the Prairie, 14. Mork and Mindy, 15. The Waltons, 16. Beverly Hills 90210, 17. Leave It To Beaver 

Rosie closed the show asking her listeners to not do anything she wouldn't do.  Hmmmmmmmm.  :)

and that's what you missed -kw