June 10th isn’t just National Ballpoint Pen Day. Today marks the 20th anniversary of The Rosie O’Donnell Show.
Hosted by actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, the syndicated talk show debuted on June 10th, 1996 and ran until 2002.
Produced at NBC Studios, the chat show was known for its entertaining celebrity interviews, O’Donnell’s outspoken personality, and frequent references to Broadway shows. The latter can be seen in this clip where Hillary Clinton sings “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie:
Here’s George Clooney appearing as the first guest on the show’s debut episode in 1996:
During its six-year-run, the talk show proved popular with audiences and won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show five years in a row.
In 2002, O’Donnell decided to end the show in order to spend more time with her family. Here’s a clip from its farewell episode on May 22, 2002:
What do you think? Did you watch The Rosie O’Donnell Show? Do you miss it? What’s you favorite moment from the show?
Hearing a member of the audience saying Hit it John!
I loved watching Rosie especially the show she had Barbra Striesand as her guest..a very special show..I hoped one day she would invite my son Nathaniel Blumberg to sing on her show who is a gifted singer songwriter that you can find his music on Amazon..Miss Rosie !!!
I remember watching it live. Oy. It was such a great show for a few years until it became clear that she was tiring of it — and so comparatively quickly.