Rosie O’Donnell can be argumentative. She can get emotional. She can seem downright irascible at times.
And ABC is counting on Rosie being Rosie when she returns to appear on “The View” as a guest on Feb. 7.
“She’s a big name, and she brings a lot of tension with her,” noted Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson, who specializes in television’s impact on popular culture.
“Rosie is controversial, and she has the TV credentials,” Thompson said. “The show certainly won’t be boring with her around.”
ABC needs Rosie to stir the pot and help revive a franchise that is somewhat long in the tooth and in need of someone to come in and give it a kick in the backside.
Further, ABC is anxious to steer the TV publicity away from NBC’s lavish Sochi Olympics coverage and give its own morning franchise a boost.
“I think it’s a good idea — why not?” shrugged Marc Berman, editor-in-chief of TV Media Insights. “There will be a spike in the ratings — but I don’t think the ratings will double that day.”
When O’Donnell appeared as a regular on the daytime gabfest in 2006 to 2007, her tenure was marked by her political arguments with then-co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
It seems both O’Donnell and the show will benefit from the outpouring of publicity stemming from this announcement.
“I have great affection for Rosie, and we have remained in contact throughout the years,” said ABC veteran Barbara Walters, a producer of “The View” and one of its staples for many years.
OK, so why doesn’t Rosie return on a regular basis then?
Well, that scenario wouldn’t work easily. For openers, O’Donnell would have to be a total team player, and that arrangement might not come naturally to her.
“If they brought her back regularly, it would be a train wreck,” Berman said. “She works better when she is in charge.”
This season of “The View,” which debuted in 1997, is Walters’ last on the show, and many agree it needs a jump-start.
The show’s 17th season dawned with an average of 3.01 million total viewers during its premiere week, with
new co-host Jenny McCarthy. In its record month of September 2006, “The View” had
a total of 3.1 million viewers tuning in.