A Rosie-colored glasses ‘View’
Rosie O’Donnell made her debut on “The View” on Tuesday and didn’t disappoint anyone expecting a dose of manic energy.
“My name is Meredith Vieira, and welcome to ‘The View,’ ” she began – name-dropping the woman she replaced (who has in turn moved to NBC’s “Today” to replace Katie Couric).
In the first 15 minutes of the ABC daytime show, O’Donnell talked about pal Tom Cruise, medicating herself, being a lesbian and discussing, ahem, her naked body with her daughter.
Then she gave away a cruise to every member of the audience.
O’Donnell also dished about her Broadway activities, her blog and her old, short haircut, which she called “an error of epic proportions.”
She bristled when co-host Joy Behar imitated one of her children, glaring at Behar and quipping: “And you all thought I was going to have problems with Elisabeth (Hasselbeck).”
“Trust me, you will,” responded “View” creator Barbara Walters.
Ellen escapes
Ellen DeGeneres kicked off the fourth season of her talk show on Monday, just days after walking away from a three-vehicle collision.
DeGeneres and partner Portia de Rossi both suffered minor injuries in the accident, which started when a suspected drunken driver crashed her car into the vehicle behind DeGeneres’ 2006 Porsche Carrera.
Tom atones
Brooke Shields says Tom Cruise has apologized for publicly criticizing her use of antidepressants after her first daughter’s birth.
The “Mission: Impossible III” star, a devout Scientologist, had said that depression can be treated with exercise and vitamins instead.
Shields says Cruise came to her house to apologize, and “I was so impressed with how heartfelt it was. … And I accepted it.”
A Cruise spokesman confirmed the visit, but says that he hasn’t changed his views about antidepressants.
Cops and pleas
On the celebrity court beat, Victor Willis, the original policeman in the ‘70s disco band The Village People, was sentenced to three years’ probation Tuesday on drug possession charges after he agreed to enter a treatment program.
And veteran R&B singer Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers has been sentenced to prison for three years and a month for tax evasion and ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes.
Lawyers for Isley, 65, asked for probation because of his complications from a stroke and a recent bout with kidney cancer.
Firefighter power
Finally, on a brighter note, Jerry Lewis‘ annual Labor Day telethon raised a record $61 million to fight muscular dystrophy, bolstered by a $23.5 million donation from the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The previous high was $60.5 million in 2003. Since 1966, the telethon has raised $1.4 billion.
The birthday bunch
Musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 63. Actress Jane Curtin is 59. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 48. Newswoman Elizabeth Vargas is 44. Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 43. Actress Rosie Perez is 42. Singer Macy Gray is 36. Actress Naomie Harris (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”) is 30. Rapper Foxy Brown is 27.