Read a history of The Rosie O'Donnell Show

BuzzFeed News

Buzzfeed has an excerpt of Ramin Setoodeh's upcoming book, Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View, which also focuses on Rosie O'Donnell's hit daytime talk show. "Before Jimmy Fallon, Ellen DeGeneres, James Corden, or Andy Cohen adopted the persona of the talk show host as the superfan, there was Rosie, whose daytime show aired from 1996 to 2002," writes Setoodeh. "For six seasons, Rosie took on the title of the world’s utmost expert on movies, TV shows, musicals, and crafts, without uttering a cross word. She averaged 5 million viewers on her best days, nipping at Oprah’s heels and clobbering her at the Daytime Emmys. On TV, Rosie offered a ray of sunshine; it was not for nothing that Newsweek dubbed her the Queen of Nice. Rosie was so popular, she stepped in as host of the Grammys and the Tonys, making her Hollywood’s emcee of choice after Billy Crystal."