April 10th Recap: Rosie’s Back and David Hyde Pierce
Rosie O’Donnell returned from her vacation in Miami. She said that she had a great time and for the first time in about eight years they saw a manatee near the dock at their house.
They all talked about Don Imus again today. He has been suspended for two weeks following racially-biased comments he made on his radio show. Rosie added her two cents and said that she did not think that a few words should end a forty-year career. She added that he raised a lot of money for charity, included the wounded veterans hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that doing good things does not give you absolution for saying horrible things like he did.
Rosie also said that there is free speech in this country and she doesn’t think you should be penalized by a corporation for things that you said. She also wondered why the women’s movement hasn’t come down on him for the derogatory use of the word “ho” in his comment the way the African-American community has come down on him for calling the women “nappy-headed.” Rosie said that once we have someone who decides which words you can say and what words you cannot say, you are headed down the road to Nazi Germany. Elisabeth said that if she had said what Imus said, then she would have been fired.
Later, Barbara talked about an article in the New York Times that said that the brain indicates whether someone is attracted to a male or female. The study also revealed that women, even those who are not homosexual, can be aroused by photographs or other images of attractive women. She then said that even if men have their penis cut off, they still have sexual feelings or arousal because it comes from their brains. Rosie admitted that she gets embarrassed with the “sex talk” and hid behind her cards.
Barbara told a joke by Woody Allen about bisexuality and when Rosie didn’t laugh, Barbara asked, “It’s not funny?” Rosie said that her Woody Allen deflectors went up when she heard his name mentioned because she is not a fan of “adopting a child and then marrying her.”
Rosie joked that after seeing James Gandolfini’s big tummy on The Sopranos, she wants to go on a diet.
Elisabeth mentioned that she watched The Bachelor last night. Rosie revealed that when Andy the Bachelor was on the show a few weeks ago, he admitted that he had a crush on Elisabeth since she was on Survivor. They then showed a clip of two blond bachelorettes hatching a “genius” plan to go over to Andy and say “hi” to him and then sit down. Joy then called the two blonds “limp-headed hos.”
David Hyde Pierce appeared on the show to promote his new Broadway musical Curtains. He said that if he had to choose, he would pick live theater over doing a sitcom, although he had a tremendous experience doing Frasier. He said that he was always interested in acting and would write plays for him and his friends to act out as a child. He said that his character always died because it was the “most dramatic thing you can do, both on and off stage.”
He said that he is a trained classical pianist, and although he rates himself a 7 out of 10 in skill level, he only plays for himself and would never perform publicly. He said that before Curtains, he didn’t know how to dance and now he is doing Fred Astaire dances in the musical.
Elisabeth revealed that her grandfather has Alzheimer’s disease and asked David about his work with the Alzheimer’s association. He said that the organization is launching a consumer awareness campaign to give people more information about the disease and how to get help. He said that there are 5 million people in this country with the disease and every 72 seconds another person develops the disease. He added that the disease is not exclusive to senior citizens and can afflict people as young as in their 40s and 50s.
Country singer Martina McBride appeared on the show and sang the song “Anyway” off her new album Waking up Laughing. She is going to appear on American Idol next week.
Rosie O’Donnell, The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Don Imus, David Hyde Pierce, Barbara Walters, Woody Allen, Alzheimer’s disease, Martina McBride, Curtains, Broadway, Frasier
