Rosie O’Donnell On Oprah Winfrey Departing Daytime & Possibly Competing With Sarah Palin

Rosie O’Donnell may be heading to daytime talk television in Fall 2011, just as Oprah Winfrey leaves, but the funny lady isn’t promising to fill Lady O’s shoes.

“I don’t think anyone can fill her shoes,” Rosie told Access Hollywood on Monday night in New York City. “For [25] years she’s been No. 1 and I don’t think there’s anyone that can come close to having the affect she’s had on our culture and society. I often wish that when I was a child, there was an Oprah Winfrey show to deal with the death of my mother and children and grieving. Now, it’s almost a colloquialism, ‘Oprah’… so I don’t think there’s anyone who can come close but to try to follow in her footsteps.”

Rosie said Oprah, and another particularly famous talk show host who came before Ms. O, really set an honorable template for daytime talk TV.

“To try to live up to the standard that she set, to move through daytime with grace and dignity as she has, those are lofty goals and I look at the time when Phil Donohue was on,” Rosie continued. “He was sort of groundbreaking and people thought there was no way anyone could ever compare and out came this local newscaster from Baltimore and she blew away the world for [25] years, so I will never compare myself to her. I don’t think anyone ever could, but there will be a huge void when she goes, I will tell you that and I don’t know. All I can say is I can try my best.”

When asked about reports that former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may be in the running for her own daytime talk show, Rosie said she isn’t worried at all.

“I don’t know that she has any track record in daytime. I’ve got a bit of a track record,” Rosie giggled. “I’ve done it before and I sort of know the terrain, I know the audience and luckily I was allowed to executive produce my own show as I will be allowed to do [with] this one, so I’m not really worried about whether the people will show up. I think Sarah might have more of a challenge.”