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Interview With Mo Rocca

Aired May 19, 2003 - 15:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in the battle to win the Nielsen TV ratings war known as the sweeps, happens May every year, the networks bring out some pretty nasty characters this time around. Apparently, they appeal to viewers even though they're hated by those same viewers.
Joining me for an in-depth look at this kind of strange love/hate relationship, Mo Rocca from Comedy Central's "Daily Show."

Mo, good to have you with us.

MO ROCCA, "THE DAILY SHOW": Good to see you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Good to have you drop by.

Mo, we're talking about Hitler and Martha Stewart...

ROCCA: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Two -- the fact that we even say that in one sentence is kind of strange.

But first of all, let's talk about "Hitler" on CBS. Why Hitler and -- this has been very controversial. There's a station that even pulled the plug on this series.

ROCCA: Well, listen, the decision by CBS to air a special, a miniseries about Hitler was very controversial. But in the end, the series itself is rather toothless, very anti-climactic. So I think that given enough time, historians will agree what Hitler actually did was probably more controversial than CBS's decision to air a special about Hitler.

But I think, you know, a lot of people are sort of laughing, I suppose, about Hitler going head-to-head against Martha Stewart. The comparison between the two is, to say the least, stretched, if you will.

The -- first of all, Martha Stewart never aspired to be a painter. So the comparison doesn't make much sense. And Hitler, by all accounts, was a terrible host.

Recently, I was speaking to my good friend, Leni Riefenstahl, and she was reminding me of a time that she went to Hitler's summer palace at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and she described the furer as a horrible, horrible host who served poached pears in bullion bowls. I mean, this guy was clearly sick. And if you read "Mein Kampf" carefully, you see that in many passages where he means to use the word tureen, he uses tareen and they're two totally different things here. And there's, you know, nary a word about crudite in the entire book, so...

O'BRIEN: That's incredibly bad taste. Bad, bad taste.

ROCCA: Well, it's also -- you know, so the comparison really falls apart.

O'BRIEN: Now, Martha Stewart, this -- this particular program, whatever you want to call it...

ROCCA: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Is -- is really a bad thing for Martha, clearly.

ROCCA: Well, you know, part of -- again, here, the joke, I suppose is Cybill Shepherd, who was rumored to be sort of a monster on the set of "Moonlighting" and her CBS show...

O'BRIEN: So it was type casting, maybe? Is that...

ROCCA: Right, well that's -- I think people are snickering about that. And, you know, and I think again, it's sort of obscene to suggest that Cybill Shepherd can be compared to Hitler. Gerbels (ph) maybe, but Hitler. never

I think it's fair to compare to Rommel, though. You know, during her days at CBS, I know that Les Moonves used to refer to Cybill Shepherd as the Desert Fox and her whole coterie of personal assistants were known as the Cybill's Panzer division. And it's true that in viewer polls you'll find that in the Sudentland viewers hate Cybill Shepherd more than anywhere else in the world.

But we must remember that Field Marshal Rommel was never a member of the Nazi Party and in fact he openly criticized Hitler until, in 1944, he was forced to poison himself by Hitler's closest associates. So I think that if Cybill Shepherd is ultimately judged by the the same criteria by which defendants in Nuremberg were tried, then I am confident that she will be cleared of any wrongdoing and amnesty will be granted.

O'BRIEN: So, of course, the ultimate question is which particular program or series will win the ratings war?

ROCCA: Oh, gosh. I didn't watch of either of them and I don't intend to.

But I'm not sure. I mean, I'm going to watch "American Idol."

O'BRIEN: And what does this all say?

ROCCA: I heard Stalin was a really good singer, actually.

O'BRIEN: What does this say? I mean, would a series on Mother Teresa just not work for the networks? Is that it? We have to have evil people to tune in?

ROCCA: I think that if you cast Jennifer Anniston as Mother Teresa, that would bring in viewers. I think there's got to be some twist on it, some twist on it. I'm a huge M.T., Mother Teresa fan, but I think you've got to cast it right.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Mo Rocca. I appreciate...

ROCCA: Anytime.

O'BRIEN: All right. And drop by anytime. We appreciate it.

ROCCA: Of course.

O'BRIEN: Mo Rocca with his insights on the odd sweeps confluence of events that puts Martha Stewart and Hitler in the same sentence.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 19, 2003 - 15:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in the battle to win the Nielsen TV ratings war known as the sweeps, happens May every year, the networks bring out some pretty nasty characters this time around. Apparently, they appeal to viewers even though they're hated by those same viewers.
Joining me for an in-depth look at this kind of strange love/hate relationship, Mo Rocca from Comedy Central's "Daily Show."

Mo, good to have you with us.

MO ROCCA, "THE DAILY SHOW": Good to see you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Good to have you drop by.

Mo, we're talking about Hitler and Martha Stewart...

ROCCA: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Two -- the fact that we even say that in one sentence is kind of strange.

But first of all, let's talk about "Hitler" on CBS. Why Hitler and -- this has been very controversial. There's a station that even pulled the plug on this series.

ROCCA: Well, listen, the decision by CBS to air a special, a miniseries about Hitler was very controversial. But in the end, the series itself is rather toothless, very anti-climactic. So I think that given enough time, historians will agree what Hitler actually did was probably more controversial than CBS's decision to air a special about Hitler.

But I think, you know, a lot of people are sort of laughing, I suppose, about Hitler going head-to-head against Martha Stewart. The comparison between the two is, to say the least, stretched, if you will.

The -- first of all, Martha Stewart never aspired to be a painter. So the comparison doesn't make much sense. And Hitler, by all accounts, was a terrible host.

Recently, I was speaking to my good friend, Leni Riefenstahl, and she was reminding me of a time that she went to Hitler's summer palace at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and she described the furer as a horrible, horrible host who served poached pears in bullion bowls. I mean, this guy was clearly sick. And if you read "Mein Kampf" carefully, you see that in many passages where he means to use the word tureen, he uses tareen and they're two totally different things here. And there's, you know, nary a word about crudite in the entire book, so...

O'BRIEN: That's incredibly bad taste. Bad, bad taste.

ROCCA: Well, it's also -- you know, so the comparison really falls apart.

O'BRIEN: Now, Martha Stewart, this -- this particular program, whatever you want to call it...

ROCCA: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Is -- is really a bad thing for Martha, clearly.

ROCCA: Well, you know, part of -- again, here, the joke, I suppose is Cybill Shepherd, who was rumored to be sort of a monster on the set of "Moonlighting" and her CBS show...

O'BRIEN: So it was type casting, maybe? Is that...

ROCCA: Right, well that's -- I think people are snickering about that. And, you know, and I think again, it's sort of obscene to suggest that Cybill Shepherd can be compared to Hitler. Gerbels (ph) maybe, but Hitler. never

I think it's fair to compare to Rommel, though. You know, during her days at CBS, I know that Les Moonves used to refer to Cybill Shepherd as the Desert Fox and her whole coterie of personal assistants were known as the Cybill's Panzer division. And it's true that in viewer polls you'll find that in the Sudentland viewers hate Cybill Shepherd more than anywhere else in the world.

But we must remember that Field Marshal Rommel was never a member of the Nazi Party and in fact he openly criticized Hitler until, in 1944, he was forced to poison himself by Hitler's closest associates. So I think that if Cybill Shepherd is ultimately judged by the the same criteria by which defendants in Nuremberg were tried, then I am confident that she will be cleared of any wrongdoing and amnesty will be granted.

O'BRIEN: So, of course, the ultimate question is which particular program or series will win the ratings war?

ROCCA: Oh, gosh. I didn't watch of either of them and I don't intend to.

But I'm not sure. I mean, I'm going to watch "American Idol."

O'BRIEN: And what does this all say?

ROCCA: I heard Stalin was a really good singer, actually.

O'BRIEN: What does this say? I mean, would a series on Mother Teresa just not work for the networks? Is that it? We have to have evil people to tune in?

ROCCA: I think that if you cast Jennifer Anniston as Mother Teresa, that would bring in viewers. I think there's got to be some twist on it, some twist on it. I'm a huge M.T., Mother Teresa fan, but I think you've got to cast it right.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Mo Rocca. I appreciate...

ROCCA: Anytime.

O'BRIEN: All right. And drop by anytime. We appreciate it.

ROCCA: Of course.

O'BRIEN: Mo Rocca with his insights on the odd sweeps confluence of events that puts Martha Stewart and Hitler in the same sentence.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com