Raven-Symone joins 'The View'

After a few dozen appearances -- 37, in fact -- and an equal number of tabloid reports predicting this news, Raven-Symone has finally joined "The View" as a full-time host. 

The quotes: 

"I have a lot to learn within this new arena, but being the apprentice of these spectacular women will only make me a better person and talk show host," she said, in part.

And show creator Barbara Walters:

"She is happy, amusing and well informed, and has already brought a unique perspective." 

Raven-Symone has spent a lifetime in front of the camera and as a result has built a multi-generational fan base, comprised of young kids who happily remember her on "That's So Raven," and much older kids -- in fact, technically adults by now -- who  happily recall her many years on "The Cosby Show," as Denise Huxtable's stepdaughter, Olivia Kendall. There was, much later, a long run on the ABC sitcom "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper," but kids' TV would be the sweet spot: as a Cheetah Girl, Raven Baxter, and much much else. The Cheetah Girls albums from the middle of the last decade alone were huge hits.

She also landed a cameo on TV's hottest primetime soap, "Empire;" has had a run on Broadway, and...has spoken about a return to the recording studio.   

She replaces Rosie O'Donnell -- who abruptly left the program in February -- and joins moderator Whoopi Goldberg and other co-hosts Nicolle Wallace and Rosie Perez.