ROSIE O'DONNELL LEAVING 'THE VIEW'

Rosie O'Donnell on The View

Talk show queen Rosie O'Donnell said on Wednesday she will end her rein as wold co-host of ABC's "The View" in June when her contract expires, ending a nine-month run that saw her do battle with Donald Trump and other celebrities. O'Donnell, 45, said she and the Walt Disney Co.-owned network failed to come to terms on a contract renewal deal, but she would return to the show next season for special segments and as a recurring guest host. She said one unresolved issue in her talks with ABC had been the length of her contract, with the network seeking a three-year extension while she held out for just one year."It just didn't work, and that's showbiz. But it's not sad, because I've loved it here, and I love you guys, and I'm not going away. I'm just not going to be here everyday," O'Donnell said on the show, drawing applause. Barbara Walters, the daytime talk show's creator, co-executive producer and fellow co-host, said she was "sad" over O'Donnell's impending departure and that she was not involved in the negotiations between ABC and O'Donnell."I knew you were coming for one year, I hoped it would be more," Walters said after O'Donnell spoke. The weekday program, averaging 3.5 millions viewers in its 10th season, has seen the size of its overall audience grow 17 percent since O'Donnell joined the show in September. The actress-comedian, an activist for gay adoption and other social causes, has drawn frequent headlines for her brand of commentary. She has often skewered such powerful men as real estate baron Trump and Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly from her seat on "The View," a panel hosted by four women discussing news and gossip.

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GILLIAN ANDERSON FORCED INTO X-FILES

Gillian Anderson claims she was forced to appear in 'The X-Files' against her will. The flame-haired actress claims she didn't enjoying starring in the show that catapulted her to fame and only stayed on the series for nine years because she had to. Gillian - who played Special Agent Scully in the show - told Stella magazine: "I couldn't get out of it. I didn't have a choice. I had to sign a contract for five-and-a-half-years before I even went to my first audition - when I didn't know if I'd got the part. Back then I was all innocent and I thought, 'Wow that sounds wonderful.' "But then, when I started, I realised I'd be in a Canadian wood working 16 hours a day for nine months a year. And the reason I stayed so long was because the only way I could get more money was to commit myself to doing it for another couple of years." Gillian, 38, admits she found her sudden fame very "traumatic" and difficult to cope with. She added: "When I started on 'The X Files' I had no idea what it would involve. When fans used to ask, as they always did, 'Do you believe in aliens?' I literally had no idea what to say. I used to go, 'Um. could you repeat the question?' I found the whole process incredibly traumatic."

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GREYS ANATOMY'S HUSH HUSH EPISODE

The ABC hit show 'Greys Anatomy'

‘Greys Anatomy’ fans have been talking for weeks about the rumored 2-hour “special” episode of the show, which is set to air some time in May. Word is, this episode will be the jumping-off point for the potential spin-off series which will feature current ‘Grey’s’ supporting character, Addison Montgomery. The plot of this “very special” episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has been very hush-hush… until now. Zap2it.com got the goods on the episode and reported them in detail at their site. If you’re not interested in reading any ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ spoilers, read no further. According to Zap2it.com, Addison will travel to Santa Monica, CA to get some advice from her old med-school pals, Naomi (Merrin Dungey) and Jackson (Taye Diggs). She thinks Naomi and Jackson have the perfect life – happily married with a teenaged daughter and a successful health cooperative. As it turns out, things are just as unraveled there as they are at Seattle Grace. She also meets some of the other staff at the health cooperative, including a “self-doubting therapist,” a male gynecologist who doesn’t know much about women and a widowed alternative-medicine doctor. After weighing what she’d be leaving behind and the life she could have at the Oceanside Wellness Group, Addison decides to leave Seattle Grace and thus begins the spin-off (if it goes to series which is probably will because let’s face it, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is one of ABC’s cash cows so chances are, the network is going to try to breed this baby and see if they can double their weekly ratings with the spin-off). Also set to star in the spin-off is ‘Veronica Mars’ star, Chris Lowell, Amy Brenneman, Tim Daly and Paul Adelstein.

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RUTGERS FORGIVES SHOCKER DON IMUS

Rutgers Womans Basketball team forgives !

Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer said Friday the team had accepted radio host Don Imus' apology. She said he deserves a chance to move on but hopes the furor his racist and sexist insult caused will be a catalyst for change."We, the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight basketball team, accept Mr. Imus' apology, and we are in the process of forgiving," Stringer read from a team statement a day after the women met personally with Imus and his wife."We still find his statements to be unacceptable, and this is an experience that we will never forget," she said. The team had just played for the NCAA national championship last week and lost when Imus, on his nationally syndicated radio show, called the players "nappy-headed hos." The statement outraged listeners and set off a national debate about taste and tolerance. It also led to his firing by CBS on Thursday."These comments are indicative of greater ills in our culture," Stringer said. "It is not just Mr. Imus, and we hope that this will be and serve as a catalyst for change. Let us continue to work hard together to make this world a better place."Imus was in the middle of a two-day radio fundraiser for children's charities when he was dropped by CBS. On Friday, his wife took over the show and also talked about the meeting with the Rutgers players."They gave us the opportunity to listen to what they had to say and why they're hurting and how awful this is," author Deirdre Imus said."He feels awful," she said of her husband. "He asked them, 'I want to know the pain I caused, and I want to know how to fix this and change this.'"Deirdre Imus also said that the Rutgers players have been receiving hate e-mail, and she demanded that it stop. She told listeners "if you must send e-mail, send it to my husband," not the team."I have to say that these women are unbelievably courageous and beautiful women," she said. Stringer declined to discuss the hate mail Friday. Rutgers team spokeswoman Stacey Brann said the team had received "two or three e-mails" but had also received "over 600 wonderful e-mails."The team's goal was never to get Imus fired, Stringer said. "It's sad for anyone to lose their job," she said.The cantankerous Imus, once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was one of radio's original shock jocks. His career took flight in the 1970s and with a cocaine- and vodka-fueled outrageous humor. After sobering up, he settled into a mix of highbrow talk about politics and culture, with locker room humor sprinkled in. Critics have said his remark about the Rutgers women was just the latest in a line of objectionable statements by the ringmaster of a show that mixed high-minded talk about politics and culture with crude, locker-room humor. Imus apologized on the air late last week and also tried to explain himself before the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio audience, appearing alternately contrite and combative. But many of his advertisers still bailed in disgust, particularly after the Rutgers women spoke publicly of their hurt. On Wednesday, a week after the remark, MSNBC said it would no longer televise the show. CBS fired Imus Thursday from the radio show that he has hosted for nearly 30 years."He has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people," CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a memo to his staff. Sharpton praised Moonves' decision Friday and said it was time to change the culture of publicly degrading other people."I think we've got to really used this to really stop this across the board," he told CBS's "The Early Show."Some Imus fans, however, considered the radio host's punishment too harsh. Mike Francesa, whose WFAN sorts show with partner Chris Russo is considered a possible successor to "Imus in the Morning," said he was embarrassed by the company. "I'm embarrassed by their decision. It shows, really, the worst lack of taste I've ever seen," he said. Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern left for satellite radio. The program earns about $15 million in annual revenue for CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station WFAN-AM and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show nationally WFAN.The show's charity fundraiser had raised more than $1.3 million Thursday before Imus learned he had lost his job. The total had grown Friday to more than $2.3 million for Tomorrows Children's Fund, CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch, Deirdre Imus said. The annual event has raised more than $40 million since 1990. Imus' troubles have also affected his wife, the founder of a medical center that studies links between cancers and environmental hazards whose book "Green This!" came out this week. Her promotional tour was called off "because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under," said Simon & Schuster publicist Victoria Meyer.The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology in Hackensack, N.J., works to identify and control exposures to environmental hazards that may cause adult and childhood cancers. Imus Ranch in New Mexico invites children who have been ill to spend time on a working cattle ranch.

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JERRY SPRINGER HOTTER THAN EVER AND STEVE WILKOS IS ON FIRE !

'The cast behind 'Jerry Springer'

For 16 years, America has been riveted by the outrageous guests and topics that make up "The Jerry Springer Show." It showcases some of America's most colorful characters, wild relationships and truly amazing stories. Now, for the first time, viewers can see how "The Jerry Springer Show," dubbed "the worst show in the history of television" by TV Guide, is made as backstage cameras capture life behind the curtain with VH1's new docu-soap, "The Springer Hustle." This insider's look at how America's most controversial television show is made premieres Sunday, April 15, at 11:30PM EST. The half-hour series will focus on the dedicated team of producers in the eye of the Springer hurricane -- a tight-knit family charged with bringing the wildest American stories possible to television. There's Selina, the beautiful and obsessively driven producer who works relentlessly to make her shows shine; Toby, one of the show's top producers, whose recent run of bad luck has sent him into an emotional tailspin; Annette, one of the original producers, who left the show for a few years, only to be drawn back by the day-to-day mayhem she couldn't find anywhere else -- all work round the clock to impress their demanding boss Richard Dominick, who is stingy with the compliments, but loyal to the core. "Springer Hustle" will shift to a regular timeslot of Sundays at 11PM beginning April 22nd. "The Jerry Springer Show" is a tough place to work. The office is far from glamorous. The daily grind of making the magic happen takes its toll. Yet, this devoted crew digs deep to resent a rogues' gallery of the most outrageous people ever to sit down in front of a TV camera. At the center of it all is ringmaster Jerry Springer, the icon whose name has become synonymous with the never-ending parade of human oddities we've come to know and love. Springer is currently hosting "The Jerry Springer Show's" 16th season in national syndication and is slated to host NBC's "America's Got Talent" this summer. Richard Dominick serves as executive producer for NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution. Jim Ackerman and Michael Hirschorn are executive producers for VH1, along with supervising producer Christian McLaughlin and senior producer Jennifer Wagman. For additional show content, log onto VSPOT VH1's broadband channel.

In addition to the Springer Hustle, The Jerry Springer Show has spawned another show - a new, syndicated talk show hosted by Steve Wilkos (the tall bald head of security). This show has already created major buzz and has been picked up for syndication in almost every major market. Expect this hot show in the fall !

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