Rolonda

Rolonda (or Ro) was a syndicated daytime talk show that aired from January 17, 1994 to September 17, 1997. It featured Rolonda Watts as the host, and was produced by Watts Works Productions in association with King World Productions, and was also distributed by King World.

Background

The program served as a replacement in the majority of the markets carrying the show at launch for The Les Brown Show, a daytime talk show that debuted on September 6, 1993, and which went on hiatus in December 1993 due to low ratings, ending its run on January 14, 1994, the Friday before Rolonda's debut.^[1] Prior to hosting the show, Watts served as a senior correspondent and weekend anchor for the syndicated daytime newsmagazine series Inside Edition, which was also produced by King World.^[2]

The program was like many other talk shows at the time, featuring guests who had problems with other guests, and wanted to bring them on the show to tell them. Usually, Rolanda would try to help them out with their problems. Other topics featured paternity tests, out-of-control teens, and other everyday problems.

Towards the end of her show's run, many topics (and mainly the guests) began to go to the extreme as many fights were breaking out, and Watts struggled to maintain order on the set. Watts was faced with the claim that this was turning out to be "another Jerry Springer Show"; because of this, among other problems that she was facing, Watts and her producers soon ended the series on September 17, 1997.

The opening sequence video used in 1994 both early and late used a sphere-like period symbol drawing out the name 'Rolonda' following her smiling for the introduction. In the 1995-1997 seasons, the city of New York was used in vignette scenes of Rolonda connecting with fellow guests in numerous of ways. In the early 1994 intro music composed by David Foster was a slow tempo saxophone theme; the late 1994 version was a remix with harmonizing voices percussion with guitar. The 1995-1997 theme also composed by David Foster was an uptempo piano bass and string synthesizer. A solemn version was used for episodes of a serious overtone.

References