Rosie's Return Means Round Two With Barbara Walters

By Ben Widdicombe Posted Mar 23rd 2010 02:00PM

Rosie O'Donnell's plan to return to daytime chat means that viewers will get to watch a fight for Oprah Winfrey's crown that once looked like it would pass smoothly to Barbara Walters and the ladies from 'The View.'

And it's a fight Rosie could win.

After Oprah announced that her 25 years on network television would end in September 2011, 'The View' beat out 'Ellen' in a battle for her coveted time slot. But after a brief peace, Rosie has already come out swinging against her former sparring partners.

"I [know] that 'The View' wants to be on in the Oprah spot," O'Donnell said yesterday on her Sirius Satellite radio program, adding that when Walters asked her when her new show would air, "I said, 'Oh yeah, the Oprah spot' -- to which Barbara's face goes slack-ish."

She was joking, but her glee at the exchange sets the tone for a pitched battle over who will be the new Diva of Daytime. So why will Rosie win?

"She can command an audience," says veteran TV executive Mark Finkelpearl. "Rosie has enormous brand equity and this is clearly a sign that people are ready, willing and able to invest in her again. She does belong in this space [of daytime TV] and she's proven time and again that she can do it."

And let's not forget the slew of Emmys she won during her six years at the helm of 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show,' including five consecutive awards for Best Talk Show. While O'Donnell is often portrayed as a "love her or hate her" figure, Finkelpearl believes that her essential popularity will win out. "When I think of Howard Stern or Bill O'Reilly, those are polarizing figures. With Rosie, she reaches much more of a mainstream audience than people give her credit for," he says.

And there's no question that Rosie is hungry for success. Another source, who has worked with O'Donnell in the past, told PopEater, "Rosie loves a fight, it energizes her. When she left 'The View' and clashed with Barbara, some people thought it was a put-on for the cameras, but she was really fired up. Rosie will relish a chance to go hand-to-hand with Barbara Walters on competing shows."

Rosie has already outined the plan for her new series. She told Entertainment Tonight that it will be "a single topic, hour-long show about life, love and laughter."

O'Donnell added that there won't be a desk or stars promoting their upcoming projects. "It's gonna be a lot different, because I'm a lot older, you know. It'll be a dozen years since leaving my own show when we go back on the air and I've grown a lot and I think that it's time," she said.

With Oprah leaving the stage and Ellen Degeneres diversifying into other formats, like 'American Idol,' the timing seems perfect for the one-time "Queen of Nice" to return to talk. Whether the "Nice"-ness will last in a battle with 'The View' remains to be seen.

Tags: barbara walters, rosie odonnell, the view

Comments

(455)

Tuesday 23 March

By emily29388

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1-Liz I can only hope your daughter survives your upbringing.

2-Lee you focused too much on what Liz said. Read mine carefully please. Where is the hate you accused me of in what I said? In my opinion Liz absolutely needs to lighten up and I wish she had not interpreted things the way she did. As for you it seems you might need to sit back and take a deep breath before you call anyone else a tard just because you disagree with them. Is that really the best you can do?

Sunday 04 April

By Aurelius

Liz, shes 9. You dont know that it "worked" yet. I hope if your daughter does turn out to be gay your love for her will be greater than your hate for homosexuals.

By yankeei

I'd like to give Rosie a second chance. I always thought there was some natural talent there - loved her in "League of their Own", and she can be hilarious, homespun and approachable. Yes, she has some issues. Fame can do that to people. Perhaps her crusade years are behind her and she can let the master entertainer she is be revealed. If she can lose the "in your face" politics, she could be a wonderful antidote to our national mental depression. We could all use a little "in your face funny."

By Stephen

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What's that you say? Bring back that poor, defused hulk? Better she be developed as a character in a cartoon.

By Ann

Rosie's first show was great she was a pleasent happy host now she is just a bitter nasty woman who should git some therapy to deal with her issues.

By Faith

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What Rosie the new Oprah??

No way!!

Oprah is pure CLASS!!!
Rosie is pure TRASH!!!

Rosie is beyond her prime. She had a good thing with her Rosie O' Donnell show way back when. I actually prefered her show to Oprah back in the day. Rosie was hip, cute and funny.

Then Rosie went away for a while and when she came back on The View, she was not the same AT ALL. She was just ugly and poison dripped from her every word. Agreed with what she said or not, she just was not very kind in her ways at all.

If she does take another shot at a talk show then we all can settle the score on Rosie. Is she is better off alone on her own show or is she better off gone from TV all together.

By rue

ROSIE O'DONELL IS A MEAN SPIRITED PERSON WHOM MOST PEOPLE DISLIKE. I WOULD NEVER WATCHH HER SHOW. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE BRINGING HER BACK ON TV. MAYBE SHE CAN TELL US ALL ABOUT HER WOMAN FREIND ( WHETHER THAT THAT PERSON REPRESENT A MALE IMAGE OR FEMALE IMAGE ? ) LOOKING AT ROSIE I WOULD GUESS THE PERSON IS THE FEMALE PERSON IN THE RELATIONSHIP. ANYWAY THIS TURD DOESN'T DESERVE A SHOW. TAKE HER OUT AND SHOOT HER FOR OUR SAKES. UGH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Nancy

Well this is a toss up which ones are nastier? The View women who are rude to many guest ie. John McCain or Rosie who is just plain rude and crude? Neither one interests me. Ellen is at least professional and seems to have a high standard for herself.

Friday 26 March

OPRAH HAS DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB OVER THE YEARS AND SHOULD BE CONGRADJULATED FOR ALL THE GENEROSITH AND GOOD CAUSES SHE HAS ATTENDED TO. MY HAT AND GOOD WISHES GO OUT TO HER , I KNOW SHE WILL STILL BE AROUND SO WE WILL STILL SEE HER,BUT SHE DESERVES ANICE LOND REST AND I HOPE SHE GETS IT. SO HEARS TO YOU OPRAH THREE CHEERS HIP HIP HOORAY, HIP HIP HIP HOORAY HIP HIP HOORAY GOD BLESS YOU MRS. " O "

By abc

rosie is the best...the view...i could throw up...the worst show on tv..........

By sandsman1

leave rosi in the dark where she belongs and get rid of everybody on the view and let the little blond young lady have her own show then ill watch a talk show shes the only one that can act human on the view

By hermhappy

Who gives a s***.

By geomcd

Rosie? I don't know anyone who would watch that fat in body and mouth witch.

By dave mugro

None of these people should be on tv . Rosie and the view should be arrested for verbal pollution and rotting the brains of america. Are these the best people these networks can put on tv ?

By alex

I personaly can not can not stand that Rosie , Huh Rosie shes more like a weed. Years ago she did her show at DisneyWorld , and Macy Gray a wonderful gractious lady aranged for me to get in to see it , we had backstage passes. At any rate the show was taped and that witch Rosie was a total B.... all the time off camera , I found it hard to believe she let the live adience see her true colors . These network execs have got to be crazy, I wouldnt even let her scrub my floors.

By MIKE

IF YOU LIKE ROSIE YOU ARE EITHER A BEAST OR WAITING FOR HER TO BREAKDOWN.

By Mike

OH GREAT. Just what we need.
Poster child for MAD COW DISEASE back from the dead.

That'll make me watch another channel.

Hey TV exec's what part of No Value Added don't you understand?

By marn

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She will be the female Glenn Beck . Ranting, raving and saying nothing. Blackboard is already taken. Need new gimmick. How about grocery cart to hold all of her garbage ideas?

By John

I'm a little confused. The article is supposed to be about Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters. I see Barbara in the photo on the right, but who's the beefy guy on the left? He looks a little like a Russian shot putter I remember from the 2008 Summer Olympics... Or perhaps an Albanian truck driver that used to live a few doors down from me... Wait a minute, is that Sasquatch? Maybe not... I was thrown by the body hair there for a minute... ANYHOW, does anyone know who this guy is?

Hey, she may be ugly and fat, but at least she's disgusting and stupid...

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