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Stand-up comedy. Fun music. Longer-then-usual celebrity chats. These are some of the features we can expect on The Rosie Show which premieres tonight on OWN at 7 p.m. ET. For a sneak peek, watch below:
By the looks of it, Rosie O'Donnell will be going back to her "Queen of Nice" persona, and moving away from the more mercurial side she showed while cohosting The View. She's created a relaxed and friendly writer's room for her staff, where dogs and children are welcome, and everyone seems to be laughing all the time. And she plans to banter with audience members, also reminiscent of the old TV Rosie.
O'Donnell told TV Guide that celeb guests on her show will have no less than three segments in each episode, giving them quality air time. "Guests today get like five minutes, six minutes, and you can't really get a conversation going in that amount of time," O'Donnell said. Think "more Dick Cavett than Charlie Rose, but with humor." In addition to tonight's guest, Russell Brand, she's booked Roseanne Barr, Wanda Sykes, Gloria Steinem, Salma Hayek, Lisa Kudrow, Gloria Estefan and several others.
While many of these celebrities have been around Hollywood for a while, Rosie will not be turning her back on the next generation of stars, such as Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. "I was really fortunate to have spoken to so many Hollywood luminaries in my career already that it's the new ones and the young ones, the ones that I sort of missed, that I would love to get to sit down with now," she said. Who is the star she's most focused on snagging right now? Emmy winner Melissa McCarthy! "I could not believe how funny she was on SNL. Literally, like, honestly, had to wear (a) Depends undergarment watching that show."
As far as the opening segment of the show goes, O'Donnell mentioned that she will be doing stand-up, modeled after the way that TV host Craig Ferguson opens his late-night talk show.
If this promo spot and this one are any indication, Oprah Winfrey is offering her guidance and input. And really, is there a better mentor to help you launch a talk show? The Rosie Show should do just fine.
