Rosie O’Donnell could be back on TV. After leaving her talk show centering around celebrity guests in 2002 and briefly taking part as a moderator on The View, she is back on NBC. The show is said to still be in the negotiation process, but rumor has it that the concept has something to do with a variety hour.

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 Ausiello Files]

Rosie is maintaining secrecy about the project. She feels that an earlier television show deal with MSNBC was blown due to the network “panicking” after the news of a possible show was leaked. This time around she is trying to seal the deal before NBC changes their minds. With competition like the soon-to-be unemployed Jay Leno, O’Donnell is ready to ink a deal now.

If the peacock network fails to work out she might have another option. CBS is also said to be interested in utilizing Rosie’s better qualities to their advantage. Any series being pitched revolve around humor and celebrity star power. The idea is to stay away from hot topics that cause debate and issues.

I hate to admit it, but NBC would be wise to pick her up. She is a ratings magnet. People pretty much love her or hate her, but The View scored top ratings while she was there. I just don’t think a variety hour is a great idea. Sonny and Cher should have put a patent on that. Perhaps then we wouldn’t have been subject to the eye torture of Nick and Jessica’s failed 2004 variety show.

Rosie O’Donnell is shown signing copies of her book Crafty U in Coral Gables, FL on 6/28/08. Credit: Splash News

Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky on 5/4/08
If I hadn’t heard it for myself, I never would have believed it. The “King of All Media,” Howard Stern, and the former “Queen of Nice,” Rosie O’Donnell, could end up working together on Sirius. The pair were once engaged in a vicious war of words, but all that changed when Stern saw her documentary “All Aboard.” He was impressed with the work she was doing with foster kids and children with special needs, and said so on the air- much to the disgust of many listeners. The unlikely pair have been quietly patching things up, and on Tuesday, Rosie called into Howard’s show on Sirius. Stern offered Rosie an hour-long talk special on his channel, Howard 101.

On Stern’s show in 1998, the staff once estimated the size of O’Donnell’s noggin, filled what was deemed a comparable container with jellybeans and challenged visiting celebrities and listeners to guess the number. And O’Donnell always had some choice words about Stern whenever his more militant fans prank-called her self-titled talk show.

In recent years, however, Stern’s rants about Rosie subsided, particularly after he admitted on the air a year or two ago that they had a nice chat when bumping into each other at a restaurant.

Today, O’Donnell called from her home—presumably in South Nyack—to chat it up with Howard and the gang. The gripping interview, which lasted almost an hour, covered her career, her love life and her controversial theory about 9/11.

On quitting her own talk show: “I left because I could no longer enjoy it the way one should enjoy their work, and I was sort of paying someone else to raise my kids and (hated) not having time to live my life.”

On ‘The View’: O’Donnell said she respects her successor, Whoopi Goldberg, because of her ability to be real; remains friendly with Sarah Lawrence College grad Barbara Walters; but was never completely embraced by Joy Behar (for whom O’Donnell opened early in her career as a stand-up comedian). The liberal O’Donnell said she has only exchanged a few baby-related e-mails with conservative “View” cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck since O’Donnell left the show. Then O’Donnell admitted that Hasselbeck was the most attractive woman on the show.

On her celebrity crushes: O’Donnell, a lesbian, said she really did have a crush on Tom Cruise and revealed that Matthew McConaughey also turned her on while slow-talking his way through a description on how to make beer-can chicken. She said her current celebrity crushes include Angelina Jolie, Angela Bassett, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and Diane Lane. Not on that list, however, is Stern’s fiancée, Beth Ostrosky, whom O’Donnell complimented and described as a “too perfect … Barbie doll.”

On her love life: She said she was sexually abused as a child, lost her virginity when she was 21 to a man, and could count her number of sexual conquests on “two hands.” She added that rumors of a wild life as a single woman had been greatly exaggerated, adding, “I’m not even nude in the shower.”

[From Suburbarazzi]

That was way more than I want to know about Rosie. Still: if these two can make up, anyone can. Last year, when Stern sidekick Artie Lange contemplated leaving the show, Stern actually considered replacing him with O’Donnell. At that time, he said, “Hey, Rosie really mixed it up on The View, she caused controversy on a daily basis and I’m a big fan of controversy. Controversy brings listeners. Much of my career has been based on lesbians and controversy, Rosie is a double whammy.” That may be true, but I don’t know if I could tune in and listen to an hour of Rosie every morning.

Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter O’Donnell are shown below at the PS 122 Spring Gala on 5/15/08. All images thanks to WENN.

Rosie O’Donnell may be off the talk show circuit, but the outspoken and controversial comedian isn’t going to stop appearing on television any time soon. Fran Drescher, the former star of long running sitcom “The Nanny,” told In Touch that she’s in development for a new sitcom with Rosie O’Donnell called “The New Thirty.”

Will Fran Drescher and Rosie O’Donnell be the next comedy dream team? “We’re in development for a new sitcom called ‘The New Thirty,’” Fran told In Touch at a Friar’s club lunch honoring her work with her Cancer Schmancer nonprofit organization. “It’s basically about middle-aged women on the verge of a midlife crisi. We play old high school friends - who live in the same building in Manhattan - who are living very different lives…. I love Rosie and I’ve known her for many, many years,” says Fran.

[From In Touch, print edition, June 2, 2008]

Fran has an very distinct voice that a lot of people find annoying in large doses, but she’s also funny and you could see a sitcom with Rosie working. Rosie is a talented comedic actress and a sitcom might be a decent way for her to get back in the public’s good graces - As long as she’s reading someone else’s lines and doesn’t say anything offensive.

Rosie most recently starred in a revival of in “No, No Nanette” for four days, from May 8 to May 12, on Broadway, which received mixed reviews. Critics praised her comedic timing and tap dancing skills but some said the show was a little Wikipedia describes it as “a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all women’s cancers be diagnosed while in Stage 1, the most curable stage.” Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2000, but it was caught at stage 1 and she did not have to have chemotherapy.

Rosie described their upcoming sitcom as a “Fun, happy family comedy” in a video entry on her blog, but has provided no further information about it. You may have heard this before as the story has been out for a while, but it was definitely news to me.

Donald Trump must really be bored as crap right now. He hasn’t been in the gossip pages – or any pages, really – in quite some time. So what do you do when all you’ve got to entertain yourself is watch your comb over bat around in the breeze? Attack Rosie O’Donnell again! Donald seems absolutely intent on resurrecting the old feud – really, when else has he gotten so much attention?

Last week the Globe published a story accusing O’Donnell of being abusive towards her 13-year-old son. She’s shown grabbing his arm in a photo. Not exactly the beat-down you’d expect, given the nature of the article. But of course Donald Trump saw an opportunity to get some attention for himself, and jumped on the horn to blab about it to anyone who’d listen.

“Well I think Rosie is a very abusive person,” he told Access Hollywood on the Miss USA pageant red carpet. “She’s a slob and I’m not surprised to see it.” Rosie was pictured in the accompanying article to the headline, in an apparent argument with the tall pre-teen and in one photograph she is seen grabbing his left arm. “I would imagine that being her son is not fun. I know Rosie very well… She’s a very bad person,” Trump added.

Yesterday, Rosie herself lashed out at the tabloid story with the help of her wife, Kelli Carpenter. “Kelli, come say ‘Hi’ to the bloggers. Honey, come say hi! Are you scared of my abusive parenting ways honey?” Rosie asked, referring to the story. “Um, no,” Kelli responded to Rosie’s question. “I would assume that any mother [out] there that has a 12 or 13-year-old boy has grabbed him by the arm.”

[From Access Hollywood]

I love the “I know Rosie very well.” Something tells me that to know Rosie very well, you’d either have to be her friend, a family member, or her coworker. Donald is none of those things. Having an angry obsession with someone is not the same as knowing them very well. I imagine that he has a whole little library stocked with Rosie O’Donnell paraphernalia that he angrily studies every night before he goes to bed.

There really is nothing that man won’t say. What is the logic behind “she’s a very abusive person… she’s a slob and I’m not surprised to see it.” Let’s ignore the fact that he’s attacking her appearance again (Donald, look in a mirror) – how is being a slob indicative of someone being abusive? “She doesn’t comb her hair often enough, and her house has magazines strewn about. Of course she’s an abusive person.” I really will relish the day someone finds something criminal on this man.

Here’s Rosie signing copies of her book “Crafty U: 100 Easy Projects the Whole Family Can Enjoy All Year Long” at Barnes & Noble in New York on Tuesday. Images thanks to PR Photos. Header of Donald last night at the The 57th Annual Miss USA Competion held at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Images thanks to WENN.

For some reason, people keep inviting Rosie O’Donnell onto their talk shows so she can plug her stupid projects and blab incessantly about her time on “The View.” Most recently, the irritating former funny lady appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, mostly to promote a new arts and crafts book for kids, but also to offer herself as the new poster child for mental illness in lieu of Britney Spears, and to get in a few more irrelevant digs at former co-star Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

“I tried my best but it’s hard for me when I’m not the boss,” O’Donnell, 46, said on The Martha Stewart Show Tuesday, reflecting on her experience on The View. “There was people there telling me what to do. There was a little Republican who scared me.”

[From People]

I’m sure Rosie was just terrified of Elisabeth. Whatever. Like anyone actually takes Elisabeth seriously anyway- she started her career as a Survivor contestant and the only reason she’s so conservative is that she has a rich professional athlete husband taking care of her stupid ass. But that’s beside the point, which is that this argument between these two morons happened ages ago, and nobody cares anymore. Rosie is the inspiration for the the term STFU. Honestly. For someone who is supposed to be funny, she sure spends a lot of time bitching. My mom used to tell me that if you’re constantly in arguments with people because they’re always jerks, you have to start to wonder if maybe you’re the jerk.

Note by Celebitchy: Yesterday I wasted minutes of my celebrity-obsessed life watching Rosie on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. Here’s the link to the video of that interview if you’re interested. She said essentially the same thing on that show, that she used to be the boss of her own talk show and she liked that better, and that Elizabeth Hasselbeck was young and that’s how she viewed her. She also volunteered that she had gray hair “all over,” and practically said that the curtains didn’t match the carpet or whatever. I’m really sorry for giving you that thought at all, but it really skeeved me out and I needed to pass it on. Like watching that little waterlogged girl in “The Ring.”

Here’s Rosie signing copies of her book “Crafty U: 100 Easy Projects the Whole Family Can Enjoy All Year Long” at Barnes & Noble in New York, thanks to PRPhotos. Oh - she also said on GMA that her kids don’t watch TV or play on the computer and that their school is also “media free.”

According to Mike Walker in the National Enquirer, who isn’t the most reliable source but manages to come up with zingers about the celebrities every week (which would probably be impossible if all of it was true), Rosie O’Donnell pissed off pint-sized Tom Cruise by telling him that she read the very unflattering biography of him recently put out by Andrew Morton. The story is that when Rosie ran into Cruise at Madonna’s Kabbalah fundraiser, she blurted out that she had read the book but didn’t believe any of it. Tom got pissed that she had even read it and had the tenacity to tell him about it, and stormed off:

Rosie O’Donnell… rushed up to her idol Tom Cruise, planted a wet kiss… and instantly stuck a foot in her big, fat mouth! Babbling about Brit muckraker Andrew Morton’s controversial new Cruise bio, Rosie barked: “I bought that book, but don’t worry, Tommy - I don’t believe a word in it!” Stunned and speechless, the InterGalactic Lord of Cruise Control finally gasped: “You actually went out and paid money for that book? I can’t believe you’d buy that book - and then actually read it!” Sputtered Rosie: “I - I had to read it… so I could give my opinion if I was asked about it.”

My spywitness says Tom lashed back: “No one cares about your opinion. I don’t care about your opinion!” He grabbed wife Katie Holmes’ arm and stormed off, leaving Rosie red-faced [and] humiliated.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, March 3, 2008]

Sounds like someone is pretty touchy about that book if this story is true. In this photo that came out of Rosie posing with Madonna, Lourdes, Tom and Katie, Rosie is off to the side but everyone looks perfectly happy. Rosie blogged after the event that:

my tommy was there
handsome as ever
he makes me smile
i love that guy

[Rosie’s blog via Just Jared]

You would think that Tom would handle that better, but maybe not. As it is, this story sounds fake and there’s not much evidence for it, but it’s juicy enough that we couldn’t resist reporting it.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are shown in the header image at the First Annual Essence Black Women In Hollywood event on 2/21/08, thanks to Splash News. They must’ve been working the crowd for Xenu. I really don’t like Katie’s hair like that. She’s one of the only celebrities who works the helmet hair, so she should embrace that and not mess with it like that. Those curls don’t suit her. She used to look so young with long hair.

Lately it seems to be trendy to wrack up DUIs and/or visits to rehab, but some celebs just aren’t having it. Rosie O’Donnell announced on her ever-so-useful blog that she’s given up alcohol all on her own, in an attempt to be healthier and lose weight… but she made a comment that makes it sound like she might be an alcoholic, or at least have some issues with it.

Rosie O’Donnell says she was boozing too much and has gone on the wagon. The moon-faced comic made the confession on her blog after telling one fan she’d shed pounds by giving up beer.

That prompted another fan to ask, “So, Rosie, alcoholic or not? Just spit it out! Don’t go all Star Jones on us here. What led to you stopping the beer? You’ll only help someone else.”

To which O’Donnell admitted: ” ‘Cause I was drinking too much, ’cause I didn’t want to any more, ’cause it is hard to lose weight when drinking, ’cause I can never have only one.”

[From Page Six]

Rosie also mentioned that laying off the sauce is “not easy,” and noted, “but I feel better.” I’ve always been a borderline teetotaler so I have no idea if it’s normal to “never have only one.” I could totally say that about chocolate, but then I would readily admit I’m a chocolate addict. I’m not sure if Rosie is implying that she’s an alcoholic or just saying she struggles with saying no. Rosie has admitted several times in the past that she’s not good at exercising self-restraint. If that’s still the case, it might be a better idea to consider Alcoholics Anonymous or something of that nature - though perhaps she already is involved with something.

Picture Note by JayBird: Here’s Rosie with Cyndi Lauper at the “True Colors“ after party at Studio 54 on June 8th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Bill Clinton has done many an inappropriate thing to a many a lady over the years. But who knew he could work his mojo on a lesbian? Well Bill, apparently. Rosie O’Donnell went off on the former prez/ladies man during a stand up act a few years ago, not knowing that Bill was apparently in the audience. You’d think someone would have mentioned that to her. Or that all the security would be hard to miss. But apparently not, because Rosie told the audience, “He disgusts me,” O’Donnell recalled saying at the casino show. “And I know I’m not supposed to say this because I’m a good Democrat, but I didn’t want to [talk] to him because he lied to me when he said, ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman,’ and then put the scarlet-letter [bleep]-job on her for the rest of her life . . . I still hate you!”

Well Bill, being the guy that he is, actually sent O’Donnell a card apologizing to her, and gave him her phone number.

The sapphic supernova, doing stand-up at the New York Comedy Festival Tuesday night, told the audience how Clinton sent her a card after she slammed him during a performance at the Mohegan Sun Casino Hotel five years ago, The Post’s Mandy Stadtmiller reports. When the corpulent comic called the phone number Clinton included with his note, Bubba himself picked up, she said. “My knees got weak. I was like, ‘Can I [bleep] you?’ No, I didn’t say it, but I felt it - I was like, ‘Whoa! Whoa!’ And he said, ‘I was at your show the other night, and I was sorry that you didn’t come over and say hello to me. And I know that you’re still harboring some hard feelings,’ ” O’Donnell related.

“And I said, ‘You know, listen, here’s the deal, dude. I’ve been disappointed by men my whole life. I loved JFK, my mother loved JFK, and you were the JFK to me. And you let me down, man. You killed me and that hurt me a lot, and when you hurt me, I don’t know, I didn’t expect that out of you and I thought you could do better for your wife, for the country and just in general.”

Clinton then worked his charm on O’Donnell. “He goes, ‘I’m sorry for all the men who ever hurt you, I’m sorry that I hurt you. Everything you’ve said to me, I’ve said to myself, and I hope one day you can forgive me, and I hope I can forgive me.’” Clinton’s mea culpa quickly had O’Donnell’s faucets opening up. “I’m hysterical crying,” she recalled.

[From the New York Post]

Man he’s good. Never let it be said that there’s a lady out there that Bill Clinton can’t bed. Seriously. Was that disrespectful to say? I don’t care, it’s true. If all men could harness whatever sexual magnetism it is that Bill Clinton has, women the world over would be rendered powerless. It’s a good thing it seems to be bestowed upon the relative few.

Rosie O’Donnell is said to have attempted to bury the hatchet with former fellow View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Rosie famously left The View after a shouting match with conservative Elisabeth in May. Rosie had posed the hypothetical question “who are the terrorists?” a few days prior after saying that 650,000 people were dead in Iraq. The news talk shows were all over that, and Rosie wanted Elisabeth to say if she really believed the claim they were making that Rosie called the troops terrorists. She posed a direct question to Elisabeth as to whether she thought that was true. Elisabeth never answered the question and just got loud while Rosie sat there kind of stunned and holding her ground.

I’m no Rosie fan, but I was on her side in that argument because I thought she handled it better. Hasselbeck later denied a feud with Rosie, saying they were friends and that “We are used to debating things there.”

Now Rosie is said to have sent Hasselbeck, who is due with her second child this month, a bunch of expensive baby gifts as a peace offering:

According to a source, Rosie dropped almost $600 at L.A. baby boutique Petit Trésor on Oct. 25 on gifts for Elisabeth, who is expecting her second child. “Rosie’s assistant called the store and ordered a $290 Lulla Smith white silk Moses basket and a $285 christening gown for the baby. “She asked for the gifts to be wrapped up and sent them to Elizabeth’s new address in Arizona.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, November 12, 2007]

That’s a nice gesture and although the news got out I doubt that Rosie did it for publicity. She probably just wants Hasselbeck to have a healthy, happy baby and not to dwell on what happened. Rosie blogged before this spat that she wasn’t going to fight with Elisabeth anymore because “there is a new life there - inside,” so maybe she feels guilty about what happened.

There was a story that we covered that Rosie was in talks for an MSNBC talkshow that would be up against Hanity & Colmes and Larry King Live, but that deal has apparently fallen through.

“We were close to a deal almost done,” O’Donnell wrote on her blog. Negotiations continued late into Wednesday, but it was clear by evening that there would be no deal and no show.

“My career as a pundit is over b4 it began,” O’Donnell wrote.

[From Reuters.com]

Rosie may have screwed herself out of the show. She revealed at a book fair over the weekend that it was in the works and may have ruined her chances by blabbing about it too early.

Rosie is shown below on 6/3/07 at the 2007 Book Expo in NY, thanks to PRPhotos.

Rosie O’Donnell’s last gig at “The View” didn’t exactly last a long time – nine months was about all she could take. Though as many who worked with her reported, it was about all anyone else could take of her, too. The opinionated comedian/actress/TV host clashed both on and off screen with many people she worked with – and supposedly not just over her political opinions. She was generally considered to be a bit of a self-righteous diva, and clashed with Barbara Walters over her behavior on several occasions. Current rumblings have O’Donnell considering signing a deal with prestigious MSNBC for her own show, which would go head to head with CNN’s “Larry King Live” and Fox’s “Hannity & Colmes.” That’s some pretty serious competition.

Even though much is being made of MSNBC’s ”left-leaning” slant in its nighttime programming, thanks to the constant President Bush-bashing from Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Dan Abrams, a few network insiders say the expected signing of Rosie O’Donnell by the cable network has even some staunch liberals at MSNBC a bit worried.

O’Donnell’s ”loose cannon” reputation, reinforced during her nine-month stint on ”The View,” apparently is a key stumbling block as the comedian-turned-TV talker negotiates with the network. Showcasing alternative political viewpoints to the conservative opinions espoused by Fox News has helped boost MSNBC’s recent ratings, ”but we still get nervous when we think about Rosie,” an MSNBC source told me Tuesday.

Yet, given the big ratings boost O’Donnell gave to ”The View” during her tenure there, MSNBC is definitely interested in snaring her, the source said, ”as long as we have certain controls in place.” As for O’Donnell, a source close to her says the outspoken personality thinks it’s all pretty moot. ”Everyone in America knows where I stand as a liberal Democrat who can’t stand the fact George Bush is president,” the O’Donnell friend quotes her as saying about the MSNBC gig.

[From the Chicago Sun Times]

There’s no official word on what kind of show O’Donnell would have; mostly news, interview, celebrity, political, etc. I’d think a mix, though much is being made of her celebrity connections. Certainly she could beat Larry King, who’s been out of the game for years. His show is generally good for humor’s sake, though that’s not what he presumably intended. O’Donnell would likely be good for ratings, and she’s certainly been known to stir up a controversy or two. I would hope that she’d be able to rise above some of the petty squabbles of the past if she wants to be taken seriously and have a show that will make a real impact.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Rosie at the 207 Book Expo in New York City. Images thanks to PR Photos.