Rosie Muses on Her TV Deal Undone
The controversial comic has audience appeal, but what does her future hold?
Nov. 10, 2007— -- Rosie O'Donnell has weighed in with more reflections about her television deal undone.
The controversial comedian posted on her video blog (rosie.com) a stream of consciousness that meanders between a rave review about the musical "Young Frankenstein," the uplift from an appearance at Lincoln Center with fellow comedienne Roseanne Barr and her daughter's parent-teacher conference.
Then, O'Donnell considers her future.
"I am going to figure out how to do a show here in 'blogville.' It's the next wave," muses the 45-year-old comic and former co-host of "The View."
Swinging between bitterness and fatalism, she continues: "Who the hell wants to work for a company with three-letters who is just going to get mad if you tell people what you're doing?" said O'Donnell.
Both MSNBC and O'Donnell reportedly maintained that a deal for a prime-time talk show fell through this week over issues of money and length of contract.
But some observers suggest the network was not happy when Rosie went public about the negotiations last week. Her remarks on her blog suggest there may be something to that.
"I am too old. When you are young, you know, you'll do those things: 'Yes, I won't tell anyone. Lock me in the NBC vault."
Too Hot to Handle?
Could the leak of a possible partnership between the provocative O'Donnell and the peacock network have played a part in the death of the deal? Could the network have fretted that they were getting an employee who -- given past controversies -- marched to a drummer of her own and would have trouble taking orders?
"Once it gets out, you have all the Rosie forces coming at you," suggests Stuart Levine of Variety. "The 'pro' forces and the 'con' forces and you may feel you are pressured into making a deal or not making a deal depending on who you want to listen to."
"Rosie is an entertainer and she is a provocative lightening rod for controversy," observes Bradley Jacobs of Us Weekly magazine. "Creating a show around a personality like that is more difficult."
