★★★★★ 0/5

Mixed reception for Saturday Night Rove

Viewers were happy to have entertainment back on Saturday nights, but social media didn't hold back.

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10 unveiled Saturday Night Rove last night, the first of 6 Live to Air entertainment specials hosted by the Gold Logie winner.

10 piloted a Saturday night format last year, and staged the new series in its Sydney studios, with guests Jessica Mauboy, Luke McGregor, Anthony Callea and Venezuelan comedian Ivan Aristeguieta.

Many were happy to see a return to Saturday entertainment with a familiar face. It was an intimate grab-bag of segments and ideas, removed from the traditional Tonight show, which made for an uneven start.

Points to 10 for bringing back live Saturday telly ….will 6 weeks be enough to find its feet?

On social media the response was divided, with some questioning the timeslot suitability. Amongst supporters were:

But there was criticism too:

https://twitter.com/Misss_Wendy/status/1165225626329960449

46 Responses

  1. I didn’t like the roaming camera during the guest interviews… what the hell was that? Judith was hilarious. I liked 90% of it tbh. The set was nice.

  2. It was okay I don’t think I will watch again it seemed like he didn’t audience that he was targeting some of it was targeted at millennials the rest families(parents)

  3. Thought the show was a great improvement from the pilot. The pilot seemed rushed. This had time to breathe.
    A few things to work on. Too many moving shots..
    Wasn’t a huge fan of the set.. all of those lamps and cables and ladders.. people sitting on stools..
    I like Judith but she needs to be seen when the interactions happen, it just seemed lost when she chimed in.
    It needs music get a house band or even a DJ, or music act.
    Otherwise looking forward to future episodes

  5. If they can’t find a audience on a Saturday night. I think bringing back ‘Rove Live’ on a Sunday night or weeknight after its 7:30pm offerings would work

  7. I love how people were offended by the smutty jokes. Do they forget Hey Hey was 50% smuttiness?
    I guess they were more subtle back then.
    If anything, needs a live band performance, more quick segments, less motion camera.
    It was rusty, but so was Rove ’99.

  9. It seemed like a mix of early Rove (Channel 9 version) and Rove Live. It’s the kind of show we need but things I’d ditch:

    – whatever that musical rant was about traffic
    – 3 randoms on bar stools. Put a camera on Judith Lucy and let her interact with Rove.
    – Steadicam – used way too much, particularly in the Jess Mauboy interview

  10. Not sure what their target audience is. If it’s the hip and cool 20 something crowd then it’s probably a hit with them but did any of them actually watch it? As someone in my 50’s now it didn’t hit the mark with me. Didn’t find the skits funny at all.

    1. Hip ‘n Cool types would be heading out the door at that time on a Saturday night or at least getting ready to do so…takes hours to get that carelessly tossed hair look!

  11. I haven’t watched it (I can’t stand Rove), but how were the numbers?

    It seems bizarre to risk alienating audiences by opting for an M rating for a show that appears to be aimed at a family audience in a family-friendly timeslot.

    It’s certainly a far cry from the G rating of Hey Hey It’s Saturday in its (no pun intended) heyday.

  12. I enjoyed it…wasn’t the best of starts but the show gradually eased into its place for an awesome outrageously funny hour-long night of laughs. Looking forward to next week, where I won’t be out and about and have to watch it on my phone through 10Play, but rather on an actual TV screen. 10 has done well with commissioning Rove, we just need more fun segments, more guests and more live-crosses.

  13. Not sure why they keep giving airtime to Judith Lucy. All of her “comedy” was disgusting on ABC’s The Weekly (I hope they don’t bring her back next season). What on earth was 10 thinking to bring her into a family time slot?

      1. Perhaps “vulgar” is a bit more appropriate. I can see one such complaint in of the tweets shown in this article.

        I agree that the wellness segments weren’t too bad, but when the jokes became about inappropriate body parts, it just wasn’t that funny.

          1. You can make funny jokes out of those areas, lots of comedians do it, but Judith Lucy’s jokes on The Weekly tended to be a bit too “gross”, so to speak.

  15. Didn’t think too much of it. Never really was a Rove fan. Too much smutt for that time of night. Silly stuff from McGregor didn’t do a lot either.

  16. I thought it was a great start – it will improve over the weeks. Happy 10 made the effort to bring it to our screens… only think it should have been at the start of winter…

    1. Loved it as well…it was a great effort by Rove and I’m sure he’ll be improving it even more for next week. One thing great about Rove’s shows is that he does listen to viewer feedback…

  17. I found it boring unfortunately. The three people sitting to the left of Rove offered very little. Judith was funny, but I’d prefer to see her than just hear her. Would have preferred Anthony Callea to sing a proper song instead of that painful attempt at comedy.

    1. I agree with Gaz – and who the hell were those 3 people anyway??? Unfunny unknowns! I’d rather see them replaced by Judith Lucy on-camera interacting with Rove. Someone here suggested as a criticism that she be given her own late-night adult show – I happen to think that is an excellent idea! I’d watch! But back to Rove – I also found Luke McGregor a huge bore – I think he’s one of the least funny people on TV, and he annoys the hell out of me! There should be more music – Jessica Mauboy was wasted – interview could have been paired with a song. Anthony Callea was also wasted in that half-witted sketch on traffic. As for the sketch with the bearded blokes – puh-lease! Just not funny. I hope Rove can whip this show into shape, because there is a great need for a variety show on Saturday nights – not everyone wants to watch sport and not everyone goes out for the night!

  18. I will watch again as I don’t like sport. But cut out the smut, ditch the annoying Judith Lucy and possibly bri g back. “what the ” or as some one here suggested that it do Graham Norton with differences. And sit down this new thing of standing up really annoys me.

  19. I thought the Luke McGregor ‘stand in’ gags were hilarious, very very funny stuff. I throughly enjoyed it overall. I hope they make referencing Hey Hey, it’s Saturday a weekly gag.

  21. I thought it wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t great either. It seemed to be an improvement on the former Rove Live format. It was a mixed bag of good and bad. The adult jokes came across as lowbrow and trashy. I thought the live crosses to follow up on the doorknocking and the piggy sketch were good. I felt it needed Tony Martin to join in on the voiceovers. Hopefully, they can reflect on the viewer feedback for the upcoming shows.

  23. I liked it…mostly…kept my attention away from the PC…
    A little messy….did not like the smutty stuff…or the childish Luke McGregor pranks….
    But needs to be given time….light hearted for a Saturday early evening ?⭐?

  24. Rove seemed very nervous in the beginning. I felt the opening was very laborious. It did not flow that well. I doubt he will make an impact ratings wise.

  25. I thought some bits were quite good such as Rove doorknocking, Luke McGregor and Ivan but other bits appeared quite amateurish. Hopefully the fact it was trending on social media means a decent number of people watched it.

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