This Day in Hollywood History

Sept. 5, 2006 Ro was a go! Rosie O'Donnell debuted as the new moderator of The View a year ago today, thus kicking off a roller coaster eight-month tenure that won't soon be forgotten. Unlike her later contentious verbal smackdowns with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Donald Trump, Kelly Ripa and the Chinese, Rosie's first morning on the air was tame. Her old buddy Jessica Simpson was the guest, and the only awkward moment was when she grilled the singer on whether or not she was dating John Mayer."She just goes right there!" Jess said. "I'm not actually dating John Mayer." Lies. Things didn't stay too "rosie" for long. Within weeks, the outspoken liberal lashed out at the Catholic Church, the war and tried to out Clay Aiken. Remember that whole fiasco? And just in time for the holidays, she engages in a bitter feud with Donald over his pardoning of party queen Miss USA Tara Conner that was reminiscent of sixth-grade recess name-calling. Ro, who brought the chatfest its highest ratings in years, finally departed in May after the infamous split-screen, "Who are the terrorists?" argument with Elisabeth.

And she will surely be missed. By Joyce Eng