Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello reported Friday that NBC is talking to Rosie O'Donnell again, but this time about putting her in prime time with a variety show, as if she was Carol Burnett:
Multiple sources confirm to me exclusively that Hasselbeck's former View nemesis, Rosie O'Donnell, is in active talks with NBC to return to television with her own weekly primetime variety show....
The possible NBC-O'Donnell hook-up is particularly ironic in light of the fact that less than a year ago the network's cable news arm, MSNBC, was close to giving the Koosh Ball-lovin' funny lady her own one-hour showcase. But when word of the discussions leaked out before the ink was dry, O'Donnell claimed the network "panicked" and the deal went south.
O'Donnell's rep declined to comment, but an insider with knowledge of the Peacock negotiations tells me that NBC isn't the only major network making a play for the ex-View moderator. CBS is (or was) also said to be interested in giving the ratings magnet her own series, but at this point, NBC is said to have the upper hand.
Roger Friedman at Foxnews.com (a Rosie fan) offered more scuttlebutt:
What I’m told is that Ben Silverman and Jeff Zucker like the idea — and it’s a great one that Rosie’s had for a long time. The new show could turn out to be a 2009 version of Carol Burnett or even "The Ed Sullivan Show.’
...Sources tell me that O’Donnell has been kicking this idea around since 2002. No one does live TV better than this comedienne, and with the potential for some kind of controversy every Sunday — something outrageous or cutting-edge — NBC would be certain to grab big numbers.
