Top > Entertainment > 2006 > September > 2006-09-01

Rosie O`Donnell Joins "The View"

The entertainment fans would be glad to hear that Barbara Walters` "The View" changes its way a little. The show, the original aim of which was a mix of Regis Philbin`s "Live" with ABC News` "This Week", seems to be also embracing the idea of "The Jerry Springer Show". Where, before, the sisters were doing it for themselves, now they seem just a little too keen to do it to each other. In the process, they`re tarnishing the series with discord and tacky behavior.

Rosie O`Donnell, an odd replacement for Meredith Vieira, who left in June for NBC`s "Today", joins the entertainment show (which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. EDT on ABC) on Tuesday, September 5, as it starts its 10th season, as a panelist and the show`s moderator. But she seems more like a problem, rather than a solution. Is Rosie, known as anything but moderate, really the right choice to restore cohesiveness, fruitful debate and good vibes to this sisterly salon? Will Walters be forced to keep Rosie in line?

Rosie is kind of into extremes. She was dubbed the "Queen of Nice" for her hit daytime entertainment talk show that aired for six years starting in 1996. But one element of this overwrought "niceness" was her fetish for celebrities. She consistently swings between blinding light and oppressive darkness. Or maybe hiring an impulsive figure like Rosie is a calculated move to ensure "Jerry Springer"-like clashes? Is Rosie, a conflicted and polarizing personality, meant to lock horns with Hasselbeck, fulminating daily from the other extreme? That the entertainment fans will have to find out.