"The View" from here
I'm going to say something that apparently goes against popular opinion (surprise, surprise): I like Rosie O'Donnell. I've liked her ever since I happened to catch the first episode of her talk show way back when. I was 11, and recognized her right away from her role in the Flintstones movie. (Which I had on VHS. Remember those?) I thought, "Hm, maybe this will be good." And it was. Rosie was fresh, enthusiastic, and immensely likeable right from the get-go. She felt real and down-to-earth in a daytime TV landscape cluttered with vapid hosts and larger-than-life guests.
Now, 11 years later, Rosie has just ended a whirlwind 8-month tenure on another daytime talk show (one that was as boring as a box of dust before she arrived, let's face it, and one that will likely dissolve into irrelevance now that she's gone). She came, she saw, she cried, she seethed, she blew up at right-wing pundits and multi-billionaires alike. All the while, she spoke completely from her heart, for better or for worse.
I'll admit, Rosie was tiring at times. She grabbed onto an issue and didn't let go, spent far too much time fixated on some conspiracy theory or other, let her emotions get the better of her at the expense of coherency. But at the end of the day, you had to admire her chutzpah. And she was a damned better debater than Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who couldn't argue her way out of a paper bag without paraphrasing a Bill O'Reilly soundbite.
The View was turned on its ass by Rosie O'Donnell, and in the process it suddenly found itself relevant, even vital. As Entertainment Weekly pointed out, no other show on broadcast television, let alone daytime, showcased women talking, debating, and soapboxing so brazenly about hot-button political issues - live, at that. Had Rosie renewed her contract for another year, The View could have turned into must-watch television, particularly come election time. Instead, it all just became too much, too intense. Rosie showed herself the door before things got really ugly (see last year's Star Jones debacle).
Now ABC has a choice to make. They can hire someone bland, nonthreatening, and photogenic to replace Rosie as moderator, bringing the show back to its original level of fluff. Or they can pick up the torch and find someone who's just as outspoken as Rosie but with more self-control. They can hire a woman to represent the Republican point of view who actually has something to say. They can hire a twentysomething single woman without kids, to bring a dose of much-needed balance to a panel fascinated with menopause misery and puking-baby stories. They can take the hint, in other words.
You've got the start of something good here, ABC - something that could quite literally change the face of daytime television. Run with it.
Now, 11 years later, Rosie has just ended a whirlwind 8-month tenure on another daytime talk show (one that was as boring as a box of dust before she arrived, let's face it, and one that will likely dissolve into irrelevance now that she's gone). She came, she saw, she cried, she seethed, she blew up at right-wing pundits and multi-billionaires alike. All the while, she spoke completely from her heart, for better or for worse.
I'll admit, Rosie was tiring at times. She grabbed onto an issue and didn't let go, spent far too much time fixated on some conspiracy theory or other, let her emotions get the better of her at the expense of coherency. But at the end of the day, you had to admire her chutzpah. And she was a damned better debater than Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who couldn't argue her way out of a paper bag without paraphrasing a Bill O'Reilly soundbite.
The View was turned on its ass by Rosie O'Donnell, and in the process it suddenly found itself relevant, even vital. As Entertainment Weekly pointed out, no other show on broadcast television, let alone daytime, showcased women talking, debating, and soapboxing so brazenly about hot-button political issues - live, at that. Had Rosie renewed her contract for another year, The View could have turned into must-watch television, particularly come election time. Instead, it all just became too much, too intense. Rosie showed herself the door before things got really ugly (see last year's Star Jones debacle).
Now ABC has a choice to make. They can hire someone bland, nonthreatening, and photogenic to replace Rosie as moderator, bringing the show back to its original level of fluff. Or they can pick up the torch and find someone who's just as outspoken as Rosie but with more self-control. They can hire a woman to represent the Republican point of view who actually has something to say. They can hire a twentysomething single woman without kids, to bring a dose of much-needed balance to a panel fascinated with menopause misery and puking-baby stories. They can take the hint, in other words.
You've got the start of something good here, ABC - something that could quite literally change the face of daytime television. Run with it.
This entry was posted by Darryl, on
Friday, May 25, 2007.
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