Rocci Fisch

January 2, 2012

NEW YEAR'S EVE CAME AND WENT

… No more Times Square for me, thank you.
… Didn't we hear/see enough of it the other night? The rundown: ABC (Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest), NBC (New Year's Eve with Carson Daly), Fox (American Country New Year's Eve), Fox News Channel (All American New Year's Eve), CNN (New Year's Eve with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin), BET (106 & Party 2011), MTV (NYE in NYC 2012), MPT (Coldplay's New Year's Eve: An Austin City Limits Special), Univision (Feliz 2012). Was there more?
… CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT: CBS. Maybe they thought there was enough of it out there.
… How right they were.
… MSNBC had on "Lockup." That's all they ever have on.
… Thank God there were alternatives.
… (I'm not commenting on BET's, MTV's, MPT's and Univision's coverage. I couldn't find the channels on my cable service.) Make fun of that if you want to.
… If it's not obvious I don't see it.
… MANUFACTURED CELEBRATION. That's what the whole thing's come to be.
… ABC had six hours (count 'em) of programming on (8 p.m. til 2 a.m.), for crissakes.
… TIMES SQUARE: "The crossroads of the world." Gimme a Break! How many times have we heard that?
… Dumb talk with jerks in the crowd by street "reporters" like Jenny McCarthy (former partner of Jim Carrey) on ABC, Greg Gutfeld on Fox, others, all of whom asked inane questions.
… At the stroke of midnight McCarthy grabbed a New York City cop and planted one on him ... a long one.
… It was a lip-lock.
… "How would you rate the kiss?" asked McCarthy of the cop.
… "I would actually give it a '10,'" sayeth one of New York's finest.
… The hosts kept hyping "what's coming up" in the shows, making it sound like so and so (musical guest) was next and they weren't.
… "The night was filled with optimism and [people are] looking forward to a great new start," opined Seacrest.
… Kathy Griffin (always so controversial) stripped down to reveal her underwear (a black bra and panties, Victoria's Secret-ish) and shocked Anderson Cooper.
… "Oh my Lord. What, are you kidding me?" he kept repeating. Jesus, good Lord, seriously."
… Griffin kept jumping up and down, attempting to show viewers at home her bottom half.
… But she didn't jump high enough and the camera person didn't pan down to show the rest of her.
… Oh darn.
… "You've got a rockin' body by the way," said Cooper.
… It was funny. (I'm not completely humorless.)
… "You're saying you want me to get dressed, because you're a big square -- outlining the shape in the air -- who won't let me have fun," whined Griffin.
… David Gergen, of all people, (CNN contributor and former presidential adviser ), who was in the Caribbean with his wife and his brother and his wife, joined Anderson and Kathy on the phone and joked about Griffin and what she was doing.
… "... I'm just waiting for the ball to drop to see what Kathy does next," said the good-natured pundit.
… Hype king Ryan Seacrest kept emphasizing how exciting the night was.
… ASKING. Who died and made him Dick Clark's successor?
… Clark was on the broadcast, again in the background and not on a close-up, but telling little vignettes about the significance of the event and of "his" (he started it) annual show over the past 40 years.
… Clark still has trouble with his speech but insists on being part of the broadcast as he has been all these years.
… Seacrest is very respectful of Clark and considers him his idol.
… ANTI-CLIMACTIC: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Lady Gaga pushing the big button that started the crystal ball to drop.
… It seemed like the director was a little slow in showing the pair standing by the switch at the ready. I wanted more set-up time to see both of them getting ready and with anticipation in their expressions.
… Bloomberg said he had never met Gaga but while the ball was ascending they kissed each other.
… And hHow many TV "news" spots did we see prior to the big night about the Waterford crystal ball?
… How expensive was it?
… And how much did it weigh? Let's have a contest (about 12,000 pounds, as big as half a male elephant).
… GOOD INFORMATION. The origin of "Auld Lang Syne" ("the most famous song that we don't know the words to") was explained by Kate Snow, who was anchoring the NBC Nightly News (subbing for normal anchor Lester Holt) on Saturday.
… The song is a poem set to music and written in 1788 by Scottish poet Robert Burns.
… Rita Braver (CBS) also weighed in on it New Year's day on "Sunday Morning." Of course their story of the song was longer and much more fact-filled than the 'Peacock Network's.'
… Carson Daly (NBC) was as boring as ever.
… At one point Daly was interviewing a military officer, who was up on the platform with the host, and talked about the war and presented Daly with a cap as a gesture of kindness or recognition or whatever. He wanted Daly to put it on (of course).
… (OBSERVED: The guest seemed to be a little too talkative for Daly's taste and the host looked like he was veering away from him, like he was too much up in his business or something.)
… But Daly thanked him for the compliments and the hat, standing there holding it in his hands but not putting it on.
… Seemed sorta disrespectful.
… Maybe he didn't want to mess up his hair.
… Or maybe it would've been too difficult because Daly had on headphones and a mike (microphone) wrapped around his head.
… Those ear-muffed headphones he had on looked old-fashioned to me.
… None of the other hosts that I saw that fateful night had that kind on.
… Maybe he's into that retro look.
… Big & Rich (country duo) were introduced by some guy that announced their entrance like he was Hank Williams Jr. yelling "Are you ready for some football?" (on Fox).
… Fox is big on country (Toby Keith, Joe Nichols, others) and, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, changed their show (American Country New Year's Eve) at the last minute from the normal hip-hop/rock entertainment to offer "something different," according to executive producer Bob Bain, to lure viewers away from the Clark show.
… It didn't work. ABC led the night in the ratings for the broadcast networks, with NBC second and Fox third. In the cable world, Fox News Channel beat CNN.
… ABC had Justin Bieber and promo-ed it ad infinitum all week prior to the show and from 8:00 on that night.
… It wasn't worth it.
… POOR CHOICE . . . Of song. He sang the Beatles 'Let It Be,' playing the piano and not paying any attention to the huddled masses.
… A ballad? The night called for something more upbeat. This is New Year's Eve. Let's get raucous.
… Poor judgment.
… Santana joined him on stage with his Jimi Hendrix-like screeching guitar accompaniment.
… Nicki Minaj (hip-hop pop artist) on ABC did a couple numbers ("Turn Me On" was one of them) from Hollywood dressed in what looked like a filled-in hula hoop or mushroom top around her waist.
… Her "theme" seemed to be space-agey.
… Wings of glittery balls adorned her shoulders.
… A quadrant of writhing female dancers accompanied her on stage.
… She seemed to be obviously lip-synching into a pink microphone.
… I don't get her.
… She and Katy Perry seem to be of the same ilk.
… Bill Hemmer (Fox News Channel) and Anderson Cooper went the casual route with open-necked shirts with no tie.
… They rejected the formality the occasion. (Conversely, Ryan Seacrest had on a tux with a bow tie and Carson Daly had on a necktie and a nice double-breasted overcoat.)
… He must've been a little warm. It was 47 degrees in New York that night.
… Rapper Drake, seemingly the latest sensation, performed on NBC.
… I don't get him either.
… Cee Lo Green, "The Voice" coach and Grammy nominee, also was part of the NBC festivities.
… How overexposed is he?
… After being exhausted and watching the year turn to 2012 I went out to a friend of a friend's house, had red velvet cake, played with two Wheaton terriers and talked about anything else but the new year.
… UH . . . What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? – The Stylistics on Amherst Records, 1992.
… ANSWER: Not watching TV, that's for sure.

rocci.fisch@gmail.com

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