'Fringe' Gets Full Support; 'Do Not Disturb' Is Shown the Door

"We want to show people that variety can be done in a new and inventive way for 2008," NBC's alternative programming exec veep Craig Plestis said in the announcement. "It's going to be the YouTube of variety shows."

Really? Let's recap:

Celebrity host -- check.

Live -- check.

Musical production numbers -- check.

In-house rep company doing comedy bits -- check.

Music performances by hot artists -- check.

Celebrity guests -- check.

Prize/money giveaway -- check.

NBC is not the first network to take a stab at bringing back the prime-time variety show genre. ABC tried out a show hosted by Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, and Fox has made a deal with Ozzy Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, to co-host a six-episode variety show some time this season.

O'Donnell was last seen giving Barbara Walters the vapors on ABC's daytime talk show, "The View." She lasted only a brief time before she and the series parted ways. For six years before that, she hosted and exec-produced the Warner Bros. syndicated talk-variety program "The Rosie O'Donnell Show."

"This is a dream come true for any performer -- old-time variety, live from New York with a nod to Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett and memories of Sonny and Cher," O'Donnell said in a canned comment.