CBS scraps plans to air Madonna concert

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:11pm

http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,695646_10_0_,00.html

2 hours plus without commercials? She must have been planning some extra material for the show, because the concert was only an hour and a half or so. I hope HBO picks it right up. It's a really great concert. I hope you guys get to see it.

CBS may have become the top rated network, but they have also (and maybe rightly so) become the wimpiest.

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:17pm

They may have mentioned the 'scantily-clad' worries, but I'd bet they were more worried about the political content. Reagan bio, anyone?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:18pm

oh you know she would have said some very political things! :)

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:37pm

2 hours plus without commercials? She must have been planning some extra material for the show, because the concert was only an hour and a half or so. I hope HBO picks it right up. It's a really great concert. I hope you guys get to see it.

The show pushes 90 minutes, so it would need a two-hour time slot. The show would have easily run 2.5 hours with those long special-event commercials. Plus, commercials would kill the pacing of the show, which was one of the most impressive things about it (it was like being on a sensory roller-coaster).

I was always a bit worried that CBS had bought the rights to the re-Invention Tour, because the concert is so politically-charged. If NBC can't read the names of American soldiers killed in Iraq, there was no way CBS could broadcast an imitation Bush and Saddam hugging each other under a curtain of blood.

I also really hope HBO picks it up (I was actually kinda disappointed they didn't). It'll follow a long tradition of Madonna tours being broadcast uncut by the cable network.

I can't wait for the DVD release. It was the best concert I had ever been to, and I need to experience it again.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:46pm

but Madonna was 2 plus hours without commercials--so what would she have put in that extra hour??

[junglered]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:47pm

I loved Madonna's recent concert, as I have the 2 others that I saw live. I believe it would be more appropriate to air this show - unedited - on a cable network like HBO or Showtime than CBS, NBC, ABC or FOX.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 2:49pm

true--but the show was clean. It could have been seen on network TV. It's this new climate we are in.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 3:05pm

true--but the show was clean. It could have been seen on network TV. It's this new climate we are in.

The concept of "clean" has been inverted. Networks can show scantily-clad, transparently-clothed Britney Spears gyrating against a chair, but being critical about the government and American lifestyle is a no-no.

Updated On: 9/12/04 at 03:05 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 3:10pm

good point!

[Iris Chacon]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 3:15pm

fear not. i am sure Madonna will have this one out on DVD soon enough.

[junglered]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 3:16pm

JRB - You are right - the show was clean - (a little Kabbalah influence perhaps?) and - it was incredible. I just think that that cable would be the most appropriate venue to put The Re-Invention Tour on the airwaves. Since cable is so accessible these days, most folks who want to see this show would have the opportunity to do so via an HBO or a Showtime. I think those networks are the better media outlets for most concert presentations - regardless of artist - so that they can be viewed - uninterrupted, un-cut and un-censored, and presented totally as the artist had designed.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 4:01pm

Agreed! :)

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 4:30pm

I saw Madonna in oncert at MSG. I can't see a reason why they wouldn't air it. Nothing in it was very taboo. I hope they show it on HBO. Also Truth Or Dare 2 will be out soon enough! :)

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 5:34pm

Jrb, the concert I saw was only a shade under two hours, so while it still isn't two PLUS hours without commercials, it was longer than 90 minutes. It just flew by because it was so damned amazing.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 5:50pm

I, for one, am glad that CBS has decided to pass on it. I didn't like the idea to begin with. A Madonna concert is too good for Broadcast T.V., especially CBS! I want my Madonna uncut and uncensored! If one of the cable networks decide to show it unedited and in it's entirity, then great! If not, I'd just as soon wait for the DVD!

Updated On: 9/12/04 at 05:50 PM

[jakebloke]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 8:06pm

Are they for sure releasing this tour on DVD? Blond ambition aired on HBO and never was released on tape...plus that is when she filmed Truth or Dare. Now she is doing another documentary on this tour, is she going to include concert footage and figure that's good enough? I certainly hope the put it on DVD.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 8:16pm

Blond Ambition was released on laser disc. I hope that it is released on DVD.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 10:44pm

The concert was too amazing to have missed. Though when I did see it (and when CBS still had plans to air it) I wondered how they were going to show the "Starf*cker" bit on the videoscreens during the Hanky-Panky number on network TV....

Hoping for the DVD soon...

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:12am

I just read the full report of this and what concerns me is the part where it says "The concert was to have been taped in Lisbon next week". I thought they already taped a US date. Apparently not. So does this mean if a new deal isn't in place in time, the Re-Invention Tour won't be recorded in its entirety?

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:23am

Don't worry, both of the Lisbon shows are being taped for the DVD. However, there is confusion surrounding the release of the DVD. Every date has been mentioned from November until next August !!!! But until I buy the Official DVD of this amazing show...where there is a will there is a way

Take care

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:24am

Don't fear...the concert has been filmed...several times actually from what I've read. From what I understand, the footage they are going to use for the DVD is from the Paris shows.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:26am

Erik! Where HAVE you been, ho?

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:28am

Been busy hoing...

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:29am

Uh huh.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:40am

I have read in numerous Madonna sites that the DVD will feature the Lisbon show. However they did film some Paris shows as a back up plan and they've been filming parts of most of the shows for the documentary. I would have loved it to feature the Paris shows... first because the Paris crowd ROCKED and secondly because I was there too !! :) Updated On: 9/13/04 at 10:40 AM