Will "The View" Be Lost Without Rosie O'Donnell?

Regardless of anything else, there are very few that can claim that Rosie O'Donnell's tenure on the view was anything less than ratings worthy. She drove the show to higher ratings with every new conflict. There are many that claim she was only on the show to bring in ratings yet these very same people added the fuel to the fires that ultimately led to the final confrontation between Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on ABCs "The View". Perhaps the pressure of constant conflict is what ended this rather civilized and much exaggerated "feud" between Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

In all honesty, I was never a big fan of "The View". Even in the beginning I found that the dialog fell short of the hype that a show with this sort of potential presented. Over the years there have been many changes and new faces in the anchor seats that I have barely noticed as my life moved on with "The View" and it warranted little fan fare in many cases. That all changed with the announcement that Meredith Vieira would be leaving "The View" to replace Katie Couric on NBC's "The Today Show" and that Rosie O'Donnell would be taking her place.

Rosie O'Donnell did not warm her seat on "The View" very long before the conflicts begun to arise. She has made some outrageous statements during her tenure at "The View" and has both offended many people and won the respect of many more. Rosie O'Donnell's very vocal opposition to the war in Iraq has made her the butt of many jokes on the more 'serious' news shows. Despite this, Rosie O'Donnell holds true to her beliefs and convictions regardless of the ridicule she has received.

The verbal spars Rosie O'Donnell has with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck have become almost legendary on popular video sharing programs such as YouTube and Google Video. In fact, one must wonder what the YouTube fans will possibly have to burn up the wires with now that Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck will no longer be seated across from each other five mornings a week. I'm sure they'll think of something.