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“I found something I feel comfortable doing and people seem to like what I do.”
-- Ellen DeGeneres speaking backstage at the Kodak Theatre after winning top honors at the Emmy Awards last month.
“For me, it's the perfect career move.”
-- Rosie O'Donnell talking to The New York Times about joining The View in September.
“Almost every familiar name you might think of, we heard from.”
-- Barbara Walters telling The New York Times that she chose Rosie for The View out of many possibilities.
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So, what have we here?
On the same night that Ellen DeGeneres picked up Daytime Emmys for outstanding host and best talk show for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Barbara Walters announced that in September Rosie O'Donnell will replace Meredith Vieira on The View, a show that hasn't earned an Emmy for best talk show since 2003.
Barbara didn't come out and say, “Ellen, get ready to rumble!” she didn't say that she wants an Emmy more than she wants Star Jones Reynolds, she didn't publicly tell Elisabeth Hasselbeck to buy a helmet, but she really didn't have to, did she?
You don't have to be Cagney or Lacey to detect what's happening: In this never-before-seen battle of the lesbian daytime stars, the gloves are off and fur is about to fly — on so many levels.
On the entertainment level, The Ellen DeGeneres Show will squash The View, I think. I don't have time to dance during the day and I couldn't care less whether or not Jennifer Aniston is homeless, but plenty of people do. Ellen's great with the fluff. She's happy and lovable, and she immediately puts everyone who sits on her stage at ease. She's someone we'd all like to invite into our homes, literally.
Wouldn't it be fun if Ellen just dropped by your house one day to do her jig to “Pump Up The Volume”? Of course it would! But even though Joy Behar's material will reach gigabyte proportions once Rosie's on the set, she and the opinionated women of The View would probably have to call first.
On the political level, we'll see showdowns on The View between Rosie the no-nonsense liberal and Elisabeth Hasselbeck the GWB-loving conservative. With Rosie on board, former Survivor contestant Hasselbeck is going to have to contend not only with the liberal opinions of O'Donnell, but also with Rosie's lesbian views, especially her views on gay and lesbian rights and parenting. It's going to get ugly in the way that blue vs. red arguments do. Hasselbeck might discover that she prefers the outback to the out-Rosie.
Ellen? She avoids politics. To her, discussing the country's poli-cultural wars is apparently as enticing as Chlamydia.
On the Let's-Get-Honest-About-Our-Weight-Issues level, Ellen prefers a ‘lite' and lean cuisine, to discussions about stomach stapling and liposuction. Ab crunches with Britney Spears is much more delightful than surgery! But the conversations between Rosie and Star Jones Reynolds on The View are going to be both amusing and tense.
Star might be smaller these days than she used to be, but she's still so bloated with ego that she's a never-ending source of arrogance and blather. And Rosie won't let her get away with it. While I think much of the Rosie/Star conflict cum comedy will likely be staged —if Star chooses to hang around for the new season (her contract is up this summer)—there will be quite a few intentional barbs and some will hurt.
Watching Star try to wrap her phoniness around Rosie's truths and logic will be painful, indeed. I suppose Star's demographic will come to her rescue, but I can't figure out what demo Star represents. I've honestly never heard anyone say, “I love Star Jones Reynolds! Star's not easy to like, that's for sure, but perhaps Rosie can get her to orbit the real world as opposed to believing the world orbits her.
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