Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon’s ‘Terrible’ and ‘Inane’ Rose Parade Parody Really Pissed Off Some Amazon Viewers
Zack Sharf
Amazon Prime Video got into the live-streaming business on New Year’s Day with live coverage of the 2018 Rose Parade, albeit with a very intentional twist that proved either confounding or downright idiotic to most viewers. The live coverage was actually a parody of live coverage starring Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon in character as health and fitness expert Cord Hosenbeck and “L.A. Law” alum Tish Cattigan, respectively. The comedians stayed in character the entire broadcast and provided ridiculous commentary, and it appears a majority of Amazon users were not happy.
The comments section for “The 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish” is currently flooded with one-star reviews for the broadcast, with many people seemingly unaware they were watching a parody and not actual coverage of the 2018 Rose Parade. While Shannon looked more like herself, Ferrell was a bit more unrecognizable with his bald head and red glasses (although he sounded exactly like Will Ferrell).
Take Amazon user Mariel Ralston, for instance, who called the hosts “awful” for “not giving any facts about the floats or commenting on wat we were seeing.” Mariel was hardly alone, as numerous viewers apparently didn’t realize the entire thing was a big joke.
“I love the Rose Parade, but this was the worse hosting that I have ever seen,” user Justthefax wrote. “I turned it off. Cord got too personal and was rude and even cut one of the co-hosts off and dug into an old girlfriend. He should be fired! I tuned in to watch the parade not listen to someone’s rudeness and personal garbage.”
Amazon user AK7272 wrote, “Disappointed!! I was really excited to see this!! And was let down by the stupid, continued banter, back and forth about nothing. Cord ruined it for me!! He is annoying, not funny, and never stops. I was hoping to see more floats!”
“The inane conversation, the totally inappropriate comments about the floats and officials, and the extremely poor coverage of the actual parade were very disappointing,” added David A. Garrison. “I guess I was expecting something like HGTV’s coverage….watching this live stream we missed several of the more interesting floats because the commentators were babbling about nonsense… never again will I watch the parade on Amazon…very, very, very disappointed!”
A user named Richard called the broadcast “inane” and “sophomoric.” “I switched to network coverage after 10 minutes,” he wrote. “Amazon sure blew this one.”
Even the reviews that clearly understood it was actually Ferrell and Shannon hosting didn’t have many nice things to say about the broadcast.
“Parody or not, this was STUPID,” wrote UkuleleBob. “I had to turn it off. Those that watched it had their IQs fall by 50 points. Will Ferrell at his stupidest! Molly, stick to SNL. Amazon what a waste of money!” He’s not alone, as nearly 40% of the film’s 3,567 user reviews are one-star ratings.
While Amazon has not revealed the ratings for “The 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish,” it clearly has many people confused and talking. Watch a clip from the special below.
