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With the writers' strike finally upon us, a nation of panicky couch potatoes nervously scanning their TV Guides in search of whatever available, non-scripted programming might prevent them from succumbing to an organ-seizing bout of TV withdrawal, we bring you a small measure of hope: According to the NY Times, Rosie O'Donnell is in talks to launch a nightly, primetime MSNBC talk show:

Under one scenario, Ms. O'Donnell would be given the 9 p.m. slot each weeknight on MSNBC, where she would go head-to-head with two heavyweights of cable talk: "Larry King Live" on CNN and "Hannity & Colmes" on Fox News.

Ms. O'Donnell alluded somewhat cryptically to a possible new job in a speech she gave at a book-signing on Sunday night in Miami, according to a report that appeared on a website, lyingonthebeach.com. A podcast on that site described Ms. O'Donnell as saying that she would soon begin competing against "the guy with the suspenders and the long, long face," an obvious reference to Mr. King.

The one sticking point to what could become a welcome addition to the talk show circuit remains O'Donnell's insistence that she appear behind the desk exclusively in the Queen Elizabeth I drag she recently donned on a Halloween visit to The Martha Stewart Show--her reasoning being that on Straight Shooters with Queen O'Donnell, the constipated, foghorn-like tones of her regal alter-ego would be the only sound capable of cutting through the cacophony of conservative voices currently clogging the political-spin airwaves.