Billy Joel fans will eventually find out if Davey is still in the Navy. A special broadcast of the singer performing at Madison Square Garden was abruptly cut off during most of the climactic performance of his signature hit “Piano Man” on Sunday night, prompting considerable public outrage, and CBS promised to rebroadcast the entire episode. Friday night show.
In a statement released Monday morning after widespread viewer dissatisfaction, the network said: “Due to a timing error on network programming, last night's Billy Joel special The show ended approximately two minutes early in the Eastern and Central time zones. We would like to apologize to Joel, our fans, our affiliates, and the many viewers whose viewing experience was interrupted during the last song. By overwhelming request, Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden will be rebroadcast in its entirety on CBS on April 19th at 9pm ET/PT. Became.”
By following this uproar with filler reruns, CBS could dampen viewer anger, but anecdotal evidence suggests it would be a good idea to rerun the special, which garnered significant viewer interest. It also gives you an excuse. (Ratings for the Sunday premiere have not yet been announced as of this writing.)
The program started 30 minutes later than scheduled in the Eastern and Central time zones because it followed the broadcast of the Masters Tournament, which was past its scheduled end time. CBS hasn't explained exactly what happened before Joel's special ended with a sudden cutout near its end. However, some local affiliate stations are upset that their local news time will be shortened due to the delay in Joel's special program, and say that no one will miss it unless they include the part in which “Piano Man'' appears. It seems that someone made a fateful decision. “Mike smelled like beer and they sat at the bar and filled my jar with bread.”
On that score, even some local newscasters found themselves in the position of apologizing to Joel's fans who were upset to see their faces instead of the singer's, so it definitely meant “rest assured.” This was not an example of “let it happen.”
“Piano Man” was not the last song Joel performed at the filmed Madison Square Garden concert, but it was the last song on the television special. In his original MSG show, “Piano Man” was followed by an encore of “We Didn't Start the Fire,” “Uptown Girl,” “It's Still Rock and Roll to Me,” and “Big Shot” . Because of the two-hour special, three of the final four songs were cut, with “It's Still Rock 'n' Roll to Me” moved up before “Piano Man.” So maybe viewers didn't miss as much of the special as they thought, but even the loss of his two minutes at the end of his first big hit gave the special a “Sopranos”-like ending. It was a blow to many who weren't expecting it.
Meanwhile, viewers on the West Coast will have a chance to watch Joel stick the landing twice.
VIP+ Analysis: Concert films look beyond Taylor and Beyoncé