Rosie O’Donnell to replace Oprah?

                         O’Donnell aims to replace Oprah in 2011

It’s been eight years since Rosie O’Donnell hosted a daytime talk show, and now she’s plotting her return.

The Hollywood Reporter says the
 outspoken comedian/actress/celebrity is aiming to replace Oprah Winfrey – who is signing off in 2011 – with her own syndicated talk show in the fall of that year. O’Donnell would serve as a producer on the as-yet-untitled project alongside syndie series vets Dick Robertson and Scott Carlin.

Though O’Donnell’s show would fill the void left by Winfrey, it’s not likely that her series would take over Winfrey’s timeslot on ABC stations. O’Donnell snagged A-list guest stars and millions of viewers with her The Rosie O’Donnell Show, but she came under fire for her strong personal beliefs and political views, especially when she moved over to guest-host The View for a rocky eight months. The comedian butted heads with all of her fellow View co-hosts, especially Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and got involved in a feud with Donald Trump which strained the friendship between he and Barbara Walters.

It’s believed the fact that O’Donnell’s new show is being produced independently means that she will have control over what she says and does on the air.

As the president of Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution, Robertson was the man behind the sales of The Rosie O’Donnell Show to TV networks, which ran for six years and netted the talker six Daytime Emmy awards. The Rosie O’Donnell Show, which ran from 1996 to 2002, averaged 3.5 million daily viewers.

O’Donnell has most recently appeared in episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Drop Dead Diva, Nip/Tuck and the HBO special A Family is a Family is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration. She currently hosts Rosie Radio, a late-morning show on the Sirius XM network.