The Rosie O'Donnell Show <!-- do NOT change to "was" -->is<!-- remains as "is" per Wikipedia:WikiProject Television/Style guidelines#Lead paragraphs --> an American daytime variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on June 27, 2002.

This talk show was taped in Studio 8G at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York City, New York, and was produced and distributed by KidRo Productions, Telepictures Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The talk show won five Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Talk Show.

History

Debut

On June 10, 1996, The Rosie O'Donnell Show premiered, and proved successful. It was a replacement for Carnie!, which aired from September 6, 1995, to February 23, 1996. Warner Bros Domestic Television Distribution prematurely concluded Carnie! so that The Rosie O'Donnell Show could premiere in advance of the fall schedule.

1996–1999

In October 1996, a fire broke out at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City. As a result, the show resumed taping for four days in the Ed Sullivan Theater (where David Letterman taped his show). The first episode resuming taping in the regular studio featured a beginning scene reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz, in which Rosie awakens from a dream.

O'Donnell often spoke of her admiration for Barbra Streisand, and in November 1997, Streisand (who rarely grants interviews) agreed to a full hour special. The set was covered in flowers and Streisand memorabilia. Streisand's husband, actor James Brolin, was also interviewed. Before this interview, O'Donnell received a brief letter from Streisand which she discussed on-air and held up very briefly. She described Streisand as being very caring in the letter, but would not read it on-air. It was too late, however, as a television camera caught a brief shot of the letter, and within days, savvy viewers distributed its contents. O'Donnell later expressed dismay that viewers would do that. Streisand was interviewed again in 1999 at her home, shortly before her Timeless tour.

On May 19, 1999, a month after the Columbine shootings, which prompted O'Donnell to become an outspoken supporter of gun control and a major figure in the Million Mom March, O'Donnell interviewed actor Tom Selleck, who was promoting a film The Love Letter. After a commercial break, O'Donnell confronted him about his recent commercial for the NRA and challenged him about the NRA's position on the use of assault rifles. According to Selleck, the two had agreed not to discuss the topic before his appearance on the show. O'Donnell maintains that Selleck and his publicist had been informed that the topic would be discussed. She stated at the end of the interview that it had not gone the way she had hoped it would have gone, but went on to say: "I would like to thank you for appearing anyway, knowing that we have differing views. I was happy that you decided to come on the show. And if you feel insulted by my questions, I apologize, because it was not a personal attack. It was meant to bring up the subject as it is in the consciousness of so many today."

2000–2002

In April 2001, O'Donnell had a two-week absence from her show because of a staph infection. She had guest hosts take her place, including Joy Behar, Meredith Vieira, Barbara Walters, Kathy Griffin, Marie Osmond, Jane Krakowski, Ana Gasteyer and Caroline Rhea.

On the May 11, 2001 episode, Maxwell Jacob Friedman appeared on the show as a five year child to sing "You Are My Sunshine" after his parents submitted a tape of him singing it in an operatic style while eating a pear. After a video of his performance resurfaced in 2019, Friedman (in-character) denied the appearance before admitting it, stating that Rosie O'Donnell was trying to cling onto her fading star and that he "didn't have the nerve" to tell Britney Spears (who appeared on the same episode) that she "wasn't going to make it as a singer". During his interview, when asked about what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said he would be an opera singer and a wrestler, and stated that Bill Goldberg and The Rock were his favorite wrestlers at the time.

Throughout the final season O'Donnell called on Caroline Rhea to host the program every Friday. Rhea's growing popularity as a guest host gave her the green light to host her own daytime talk show the following year, supposedly succeeding O'Donnell. However, Rhea's program lasted for only one season and was replaced by The Sharon Osbourne Show.

Ending

Charity fundraiser

On March 22, 2020, the show was revived for a one-episode fundraiser in support of The Actors Fund. Produced by O'Donnell and Erich Bergen, the episode was broadcast live on Broadway.com and the website's YouTube channel. It featured interviews and music performances with numerous celebrities. Over $600,000 was raised for The Actors Fund as a result of the episode.

Reception

Early on, O'Donnell was dubbed "The Queen of Nice" by Newsweek magazine for her sweet personality, which was in stark contrast to many other talk shows of the era.

The New York Daily News labeled it the best new syndicated talk show of 1996.

Awards and nominations

The show won multiple Emmys such as five times Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show (1998-2002) during its run.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width:99%;"

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! scope="col" style="width:12%;"| Award

! scope="col" style="width:2%;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:22%;"| Category

! scope="col" style="width:22%;"| Nominee(s)

! scope="col" style="width:4%;"| Result

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! scope="row"| GLAAD Media Awards

| style="text-align:center;" | 2003

| Outstanding Talk Show Episode

| "Adopted by Gay Parents"

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Home media

A compilation of highlights of the show's first season was available for sale in September 2008, exclusively from the Home Shopping Network. The DVD runs 90 minutes and contains Rosie O'Donnell commenting while watching clips of archived footage. Included are Tom Cruise's first visit, Fran Drescher's parents reviewing Florida restaurants, and the incident in which Donny Osmond made a fat joke at Rosie's expense.

In 2021, O'Donnell began making interviews from the show available on her personal YouTube channel until November 19, 2024 when the channel was terminated due to copyright issues.

Notes

References

  • Jump The Shark – The Rosie O'Donnell Show

Season-by-season breakdown

The following site is no longer online, but was backed up by the Wayback Machine caching service:

  • 1st Season (1996-97) Guests
  • 2nd Season (1997-98) Guests
  • 3rd Season (1998-99) Guests
  • 4th Season (1999-00) Guests
  • 5th Season (2000-01) Guests
  • 6th Season (2001-02) Guests