I know that there’s more serious stuff out there but . . . .
I’ve attended the Rose Paradein the past and have also watched from my warm, comfy home for many years so:
This year was a big mess in their coverage.
This year there were big obvious gaps in the coverage and cuts from the “narrators”.
Leeza Gibbons was okay, but even she couldn’t cover for her on-air partners.
There were probably technical issues, but the gaffes in the ad-libs were not good.
Several examples:
Leeza appeared to have a cold. They cut to her at one point when she was reaching for a kleenex.
Re: the Hawaii Schools’ bands, Leeza: they practice their routines on their own separate islands and meet and come together in Pasadena. Partner says: “let’s hope it works because . . . . . .”; someone must have nudged him because he stopped in half sentence.
Re the Kool and the gang float that hadn’t finished: the anchors went on to the next parade band, who hadn’t appeared yet onscreen, then there’s a blank screen showing. The anchors go back to talking about the K & G float, but there’s a flash to the school band, and then another flash back to Kool and the gang, and then there’s dead air.
Ongoing “reading” of the information without looking up to see what’s on camera.
I know they don’t have the experience and need to “practice” reading the cue cards but, DANG it!
Well, I watched NBC and Al Rocher and they weren’t any better. What they need to bring back is the HGTV excellent coverage with the property brothers and real flower experts who know about horticulture. HGTV did it commercial free, so you didn’t miss anything (not a single float, band, or horse.) They also had a bonus preshow which went behind the scenes showing you people actually designing, building, and decorating the floats.
As a former band parent, I was outraged that Hallmark put an ad overlay on top of each high school marching band to promote their movies. Literally in the middle of the screen! So very rude and disrespectful. I really hope the Rose Parade goes back to HGTV, even with all their promotions for the dram home.
They shouldn’t cut to commercials and leave out any group in the parade. If commercials must be shown, at least pick up where they left off instead of skipping groups. The groups all make such a huge effort to travel and attend, and people from home are looking forward to seeing them on TV.
Darn, I knew there was something I was supposed to watch New Year’s Day. They often skip that one band I care about…
A bunch of relatives on H’s side went to the parade a few years ago- cloudy. Sun on the flowers in real life would have been fantastic. So would having the UW band instead of the Penn State one ( for the band quality, not just who got to play the game). Plus they put the CA milk board float just ahead of the Pulaski, WI HS band (hmm- on purpose?)- not their first RB parade and they were good.
+1 for bringing back Stephanie and Bob. Shame on you KTLA (our hometown station) for dropping them. They would have done a much better job filling air time while the ground crew tried to tow that large two part float at the end. I heard that the South Pasadena float was stuck behind it. Does anyone know if they ever got it going?
Rose Parade is a big tradition in my family since my Mother grew up in Pasadena and was the Rose Queen in 1946 or 48!! My grandfather was the President of the Tournament of Roses several years. I feel sorry for the Swedish band that travelled so far and got knocked off the telecast. I don’t remember anything like that float failure happening in prior years
In my opinion coverage has been off ever since Bob and Stephanie retired after the 2016 broadcast. Their 30+ years of experience is not easily replaced. As bad as the Hallmark Channel’s broadcast is, I still prefer it over the network coverage. While Hallmark’s interpretation of “commercial free” is a bit off, they do not cut away from the parade like the networks.
I watched from my living room in Pasadena and was smh. Coverage was horrible. Sound was horrible - couldn’t even hear most of the bands plus they were “talked over”. Constant ads (NBC) interrupting the flow. The only announcer I liked was Mika and he’s been around for a while. Leeza got caught out with her “kill” gesture - how can a professional announcer not know when the cameras are on? The network said they’d stick with the parade and then didn’t. It was a total cluster but I don’t just blame the networks, the organizing was also off this year. Who puts a float that sets off fireworks right in front of a group of horses and their riders? Who allows a float to shoot metalic streamers in front of the grandstand and doesn’t assign a white suit to clean them up before the parade progresses? Who tries to tow a disabled float out before the parade is over? The absolute worst Rose Parade I have ever watched and it’s certainly not the participants’ fault at all - the organizers AND the networks share the blame.
