I watched Carrie Underwood’s recent “Holiday Special” (or so it was billed) mostly of curiosity. I was hoping for a Christmas-y, modern take on the old Barbara Mandrell variety show from the 80s. Like Barbara, Carrie included family in the show; her sister Stephanie and Mom Carol were featured in skits throughout the special. Like the Mandrell Sisters brand of comedy, Carrie’s skits were more corny than funny. I hope Carrie doesn’t plan to delve into acting, because, well… let me quote a coupla reviews…
Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker described the show as a mixed bag of “singing, sentiment, silliness, and sex” in his column. He pointed out that it was hard to find the “holiday” in this supposed Christmas special. (I mean the first two songs she sang were “Cowboy Casanova” and “Before He Cheats”… How Holly Jolly is THAT?!?) Marnie Broderson, of Examiner.com, described the show as “painful,” lamenting: “No team of writers can make up for the fact that Carrie's mother and sister aren't actors and, although it was obvious it was meant to be endearing to have them on there, I just died a little inside each time they appeared.”
One thing I enjoyed about the program was Carrie’s dog, Ace. What a cutie! I’d always thought he was a MinPin, but actually, Ace is a Rat Terrier. Neil Patrick Harris provided the pooch’s voice in a cute skit about a day in the life of Ace. If you missed it, you can catch it on his fan club website. Not Neil’s… Ace’s. Yep, Carrie’s dog has his own fan club!
Ratings-wise, Carrie’s premiere TV special did so-so for FOX, drawing about 8.5 million viewers, according to Neilsen Ratings. However, CBS’s comedy lineup drew around 15 million in its competing time slot.
Meanwhile, Carrie has big plans for 2010, with a big tour in support of her latest CD, “Play On.” The tour includes stops March 12 in Albany, at the Times Union Center and March 31 in Rochester at the BlueCross Arena. 45 dates are scheduled so far, and reportedly, more will be announced in the spring. Carrie’s “Play On” tour will be sponsored by Vitamin Water and will feature opening acts Craig Morgan and new country trio Sons of Sylvia. (You might have seen them on Carrie’s TV special.) Tickets are not yet on sale. I’m kind of on the fence about whether I’ll attend a Carrie concert or not. I saw her a few years ago with Keith Urban in Rochester and she just nails it live! No doubt the girl has killer pipes. Maybe, if I’m sure that there won’t be any cheesy skits between songs, I’ll go.
Carrie did perform a wee bit of Christmas music on her special, but I’d gone to bed by that time. Thank goodness for YouTube!! Enjoy her lovely version of “O Holy Night” here today.
I watched Carrie Underwood’s recent “Holiday Special” (or so it was billed) mostly of curiosity. I was hoping for a Christmas-y, modern take on the old Barbara Mandrell variety show from the 80s. Like Barbara, Carrie included family in the show; her sister Stephanie and Mom Carol were featured in skits throughout the special. Like the Mandrell Sisters brand of comedy, Carrie’s skits were more corny than funny. I hope Carrie doesn’t plan to delve into acting, because, well… let me quote a coupla reviews…
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