Rosie O'Donnell: It Has Begun

If I was a bookie, I'd have a pool going on how long Rosie will last before getted axed or "moving in a new direction." Newsweek has a splash about her. She's an alpha-female. Barbara Walters is an alpha-female. Joy Behar is like a yipping poodle, yapping but irrelevent. And isn't there someone else on that show? Oh yeah, a bland blonde white person. I think she's therer for, you know, balance. (What would a WASP do? I have no idea! Let's ask the bland blonde.)

Evidently, Barbara doesn't like Ro's blog. Really? Now, that's shocking. I give it six months, tops. But my future as a futurist doesn't look so good, if my past predictions offer any future insight. Anyway, uh oh, Ro:

It's as if O'Donnell has got four years of chitchat stored up and ready to go. Of course, that's also how she gets herself in trouble. If you read her blog, a chunk of the e-mails come from people who hate her for being outspoken about politics or gay rights or the other 100 topics Rosie feels passionate about. But it's one thing to take some heat on a blog. It's another to do it every day on national television. Is she ready? "When I saw the billboard in Times Square, I thought, Oh my God," she says. "Sometimes it feels exciting. Sometimes it feels like—what's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting a different result."

Hmmmm.... Maybe this is why:

One of O'Donnell's goals on "The View" is not to be so bossy, to learn to ride the bus, rather than drive it. So far, the experiment has been ... a failure. Take the show's new commercials. "They wrote a skit about a bus. I was, like, 'OK, can you let me write it? Give me a day'," said Rosie. She got her promo, which ends with Walters's telling the ladies, cleverly: "You're all stars to me!" But Rosie thought the whole thing looked too grainy, and she immediately complained on her blog. "I saw the new view promos/found myself/in the position/I loathe the most/powerless." That entry made the gossip pages, which didn't please her boss. "I didn't like the blog," says Walters, who wants O'Donnell to stop posting, at least about the show. "I'm counting on Rosie's intelligence and sensitivity and humor. This is, after all, an entertainment show. It is based on people who like each other and are having a good time, not on people who are arguing and unhappy." A few minutes after Walters spoke to NEWSWEEK, she called back. She had just received an enormous bouquet of flowers. The card read: "Barbara, I only want the promos and the show to be great. And I love you. Love, Ro."

Makes me think of some business advice from a very good business guy:

"Business is business. Family is family. Friends is friends. Don't mess 'em up and it works out."

Barbara is making a business decision. Most likely it will end a friendship.