Rosie O’Donnell Returns to The View

Would Rosie O’Donnell ever return to The View?

And if she did, what would happen?

These are examples of two questions that no one had been asking themselves. And yet the instincts of nostalgia are not to be denied: The announcement that O’Donnell would visit the ABC morning talk show Feb. 7 prompted the fingers to instantly program that appearance into the DVR calendar.

I had such an itch to see her again, you see.

O’Donnell, who left the show in 2007, was a vivid character in The View‘s Wild West era, when the law of discourse would break down and mud would be flung as she faced off against conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck. There was also a memorable feud with Donald Trump that drew in Barbara Walters. (I am reading a book about the origins of World War I – this incident is very similar to the way the European alliances worked.)

Hasselbeck is gone, now, of course, over to Fox. And brassy Joy Behar, who was on the same political end as O’Donnell, is gone too. It’s a quieter View, anymore, with Walters herself preparing to step down this year.

O’Donnell, who looked great during her appearance on Friday, was well-behaved during her return but gamely contributed her two cents, which would be anyone else’s nickel, to the day’s “Hot Topics” segment:

Dylan Farrow. “I firmly believe Dylan, and I believe Mia.” Next!

Justin Bieber. “I threw eggs at houses every Halloween of my life!” Next!

Philip Seymour Hoffman. “Its about time that we stop shaming addicts and we understand that it’s a disease.”

There was no flaring of tempers, and then she was gone as Jenny McCarthy introduced a segment about finding a girlfriend for her father. But she left behind a trace of the old smoke.

I guess I miss her.

Source: People