Variety Calls for Rosie O’Donnell to Be Given a New Show — As if Late Night Needs More Trump Haters

Rosie O’Donnell fills in for Jimmy Kimmel

Rosie O’Donnell has reemerged as a fixture in our culture as a vital voice of opposition voice. If you dispute my contention, just ask her. She claims to have become significant anew, so who is anyone to argue?!

This summer, a bit of nervousness emerged from those who still cling to the late-night gabbers for their nightly fix of anti-President Trump ruminations. Jimmy Kimmel has been on an extended sabbatical, but fears were assuaged. Anthony Anderson, Jelly Roll, and others have filled in and dutifully continued the drumbeat of presidential prolix monologues.

Rosie O’Donnell also had her one-week stint in a fill-in capacity, and the woman who has been the exemplar of Trump derangement for years was, unshockingly, focused on Trump. She made the claim that the president forced her move to Ireland. A bit of a hysterical claim, but at least she backed up her words with action and actually kited out of the country.

Her monologues were filled with the sophomoric name-calling (“Mango Mussolini”, Velveeto Corleone”, and other cerebral gems), she sang a bastardized version of the Irish classic “Oh Danny Boy”, and made the claim that Trump placed her “back in the spotlight”, when at the time he had not commented on her appearance. There was a social media comment from him by Friday, when he would have been better off not acknowledging her at all. But this is Trump, after all; he cannot help himself.

As tiresome and un-dazzling as Rosie O’Donnell’s appearance had been, one person at least was impressed. Daniel D’Addario, writing at Variety, feels that “Rosie The Derivativer” had put on a performance that earned her a chance to be granted her own show.

The comedian and Donald Trump antagonist just spent a week filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, and the results were TV magic. Over four nights, O’Donnell … proved that she may yet have another act, and it may be on one of television’s grandest — diminished, but still grandest — stages.

Yes, if there is one thing that is needed, it is more late-night shows with a pathological fixation on the president. After all, we only have Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, The Daily Show – and we can include the weekly Jon Oliver on HBO. What we need is to shoehorn in yet another unoriginal voice to warble nightly on – the – same – tired – material.

Rosie O’Donnell Should Host Her Own Show on Late Night TV — and Shatter Comedy’s Greatest Glass Ceiling https://t.co/kPE4Ok0zuw

— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2026

One issue with this plea was the article saying that Rosie is needed to break the supposed glass ceiling. In fairness to D’Addario, he likely did not write the headline, given he does give Rivers her due in his copy.

But seriously, this is an entertainment outlet; how did no one pick up on Joan Rivers bursting that tempered plateau decades ago?! And recently – though not on the networks – Samantha Bee had her own program, and The Daily Show has seen a rotating cast with plenty of hostesses in the chair. Rosie O’Donnell, in other words, if she were to be tabbed, is not breaking ground – either in a gender role, and certainly not in an anti-Trump role.

The claim here is that giving Rosie O’Donnell her own slot “would electrify late night, drawing in an underserved audience of women and gay men and generating reams of press.” This seems a stretch, as D’Addario himself admits, “Late night is in the doldrums.”

Bringing on a new voice who is merely repeating the same tired bromides heard from the others will only extend the erosion of viewers that late-night has experienced over the past decade or so. What would be seen resembles the final stages of a motocross dirt track race, where the result is predetermined as everyone is running in the same ruts and no one distinguishes themself.

Few will be watching to see the conclusion.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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