A Recap of 'The 2018 Rose Bowl Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish'

Written by Scott Edwards

I don’t remember where I saw the ad for it, but I do remember seeing that Amazon Prime was going to be doing a special broadcast of the 2018 Rose Parade and I wanted to make sure that I gave it a watch, because Funny or Die was involved. So, turning on the broadcast little bit late and meeting Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan, I noticed that there was something very different about this parade broadcast that I have been missing all of my life. When the microphones did not turn off during a quick talk with Saturday Night Live’s Tim Meadows about not talking about his time on the show, I knew this was going to be something incredibly unique. With plenty of giggles that continued after this talk, the 2018 Rose Parade was in for a makeover that nobody saw coming. 
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After finding out that Cord is afraid of horses and Tish was able to battle her fear of conquering the wine club and hearing the Cord might make a Presidential run and Tish used to date NFL great Charles Woodson, I knew that this parody broadcast would be something that I needed to make sure all of my friends were watching, because you just don’t see this. Being able to place Cord as Will Ferrell and Tish as Molly Shannon, I could tell that this was the greatest joke ever played on the viewing public, because social media blew up and the 1-star reviews started rolling in with a vengeance on Amazon’s website. People seemed to be losing their minds calling this the worst parade broadcast of all time, not understanding that this was the point.

Watching as people complained that the broadcast was not paying enough attention to the parade floats or that they needed to give the marching bands the just due they deserve, well it all made me start to laugh even harder and I lost myself on the Twitter box for several hours. Seeing that people were just mind blown that two unknown reporters would be given this assignment put a huge smile on my face, because jokes had been had by Amazon and Funny or Die. This is a satire of what has happened to the parade scene and what actually goes on behind the scenes, especially when the microphones are supposed to be turned off during performances. But you also did get to see the broadcast team having fun with the show when Cord and Tish broke it down when Earth Wind and Fire made their way to the stage.

I am not sure what really got lost in translation with this broadcast, but it seems to have left plenty of people upset with Amazon, but they don’t seem to understand the joke as you ‘Do not mess with the Rose Parade.’ While I continue to watch comments pour in and the ratings continue to split 50/50 between the users, it still seems like people are not willing to endure or enjoy a joke to start off the new year. What was delivered with Cord and Tish on New Year’s Day was two straight hours of improv with the great Tim Meadows getting in on the act. Honestly, if this was just a normal parade broadcast, I would have not stuck with it, but with all of the laughter that this broadcast brought to the screen, I could not stop watching. Starting off the year with a grand joke is just what was needed and I am so happy I did not miss this. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, and just a reminder to keep it loose, because it is alright to laugh.  

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