Rove Live is a weekly Australian television talk show hosted by Rove McManus which has been broadcast on Network Ten annually since 2000. The show featured on Nine Network in 1999, under the name Rove, but was axed after the first series.
In 2004 the show began broadcasting on TV3 in New Zealand. Though carrying the name Rove Live, it is not broadcast live in New Zealand but is generally aired the same week as the Australian broadcast.
The show usually has at least two guests and a live musical performance, and Peter Helliar and Corinne Grant are regular co-stars on the show. Dave Callan was also a co-star in 2000.
Show segments
Celebrity interviews
Each show includes interviews with several celebrities. Rove has gained a reputation for being a very relaxed and non-confrontational interviewer. While he still asks the questions people want answers to, he does so without making the guest feel intimidated. This has put Rove in the position of recruiting guests that may have never seen the show before, via word of mouth from previous guests.
Rove has interviewed a variety of guests including actors, musicians, politicians and even Muppets.
What the...?
This segment is a part of every show and involves Rove showing viewer submissions of things that make you say "what the...?" The submissions can range from newspaper clippings, DVD boxes, photos of odd signs or animals doing inappropriate things to each other. Many are mistakes of translation from Japanese or Chinese. It is a direct appropriation from one of David Letterman's segments, 'What in the World'.
Band performances
At the end of every show there is a live band performance. The bands vary in style and level of fame, including David Bowie, Grinspoon, Simple Plan, Ben Folds and many others.
Starting in 2005 the band performs before the closing credits. In previous years the credits would roll while the band performed.
Joke credits
At the end of every episode there are fake credits shown with the real credits. There is a common theme for the credits each week, and the theme varies from week to week.
Live List
Viewers can register their name, address and various other details on the show's website to join the Live List. A broadcast team will occasionally visit a viewer (the first the viewer knows about it is when they see the front of their house live on television). What happens from then on varies greatly—from performing a quick two-minute interview live from their house, to being sent away to perform a certain task (usually to win a prize), sometimes being sent as far away as Fiji, New York City, or the United Kingdom.
2 Minutes at Your House
In addition to being chosen to participate in stunts and contests, "Live List-ers", as they are referred to, may be visited by the show's camera crew for a live crossover to their house lasting about 2 minutes. In reality, these segments are often well beyond the suggested 2 minutes, as the timer doesn't commence counting down until the person has been verified to be at home, and Rove tells the clock to start. If a particular story isn't finished, pet not shown, or talent not displayed, the segment will often continue even if the timer has expired. Recent segments have hinted at prior planning of the segment, by contact friends and/or family of the Live Lister to ensure they are where the camera crew will show up.
Flick Your Switch
Another feature of the show is a live video shot of an area of an Australian city. Rove then gets the residents of the area to flick the lights of their houses on and off, often in answers to questions.
This segment started in 2004 when Rove pointed a camera at Kirribilli House and asked the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, to flick his light switch if he was willing to be interviewed on the show. When the desired result was not achieved, Rove then asked the neighbours to flick their switch if they would try to help get Howard on the show. In a recent show (April 19, 2005), Rove succeeded in his goal of getting Kirribilli house to flick its switch. A special ferry filled with participants in a dress-up competition for the show, stopped on the Sydney Harbour outside Kirribilli House, the passengers chanting "Flick your switch". Rove and viewers were surprised to see the lights flick. It can't have been Mr. or Mrs. Howard as they were both on an international visit at the time, but it is believed it was one of Howard's children or an aide.
My Charader
A variation of the game charades, the title being a play on the song My Sharona by The Knack. The game is run by Rove and involves two teams, Peter Helliar and a guest on one team and Corinne Grant and a guest on the other team. Each player takes a turn guessing the charades of their teammate and must correctly guess as many as possible within the time limit. The team with the most correct guesses wins.
Tell Us Where To Go
At a viewer's request, Corrine Grant is sent on location to somewhere in Australia to witness a local event, local landmark, or local personality. With the attractions being of varying notoriety, the segment is often played up for laughs more than anything else. The segment is prefilmed and presented by Grant and McManus in front of a large map of Australia (sans Tasmania) lowered onto the stage. At the end of the segment, Corrine gives Rove a present from adventures, something sexual or inappropriate (or both) if possible, and a magnet is placed on the drop-down map approximately where the location was. Due to Australia being very closely populated on the eastern coast, and southeastern corner in particular, the "approximate" placement of the magnets has been evermore loosely interpreted - with the magnets basically being placed anywhere in particular regardless of location.
Amazing Talents
Viewers with "amazing" (or just plain bizarre) "talents" are brought to the studio and given a few minutes to display their skills. These can range from feats of skill, such as balancing lawn furniture, or natural freak-ish-ness, such as nailing a fork into each nostril.
Ron's Review
Ron Stewart reviews a movie that is about to premier or just has premiered. Ron's Review is not a weekly segment and happens around every 3 weeks. Peter Helliar also reviews the same movie with Ron.
Writers
It's also worth noting that much of the material presented on Rove is actually created and prepared by a team of writers. This team is also responsible for writing jokes that Rove tells personally, although the only acknowledgement of the writers is in the credits.
Rove Live related
Rove Live Radio
Rove, Peter and Corinne hosted a radio program originating from Fox FM in Melbourne for Austereo's Today Network, and selected regional stations up until 2004. The show has since been axed.
Soundtracks
Two soundtracks have been released featuring performances on the show, as well as a compliation of Rove's "What The?" calls, and a rap song about Home and Away character Alf.