The View: The best TV show you’ve never bothered to watch
Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters and Elisabeth Hasselbeck
The View is an American daytime talk show, currently featuring a panel of 5 female moderators of varying ages and backgrounds. The show premiered in 1997, a long time goal of creator and American TV legend Barbara Walters who had always wanted to create a show whose voice was from a purely female point of view. The show plodded quietly along for its first few years, however in more recent years, controversy has never been far, making it compelling viewing for many. If you like drama, you’ll love The View! Below are a just a few reasons why you really should be making The View a weekly priority on your ‘to watch’ list.
The walk-outs
Of the 10 women who have hosted The View down throughout the years, two have very publicly left the show in messy circumstances. I’ll talk about Rosie O’Donnell below, but first lets take a look at original co-host Star Jones. Star gained a lot of attention from viewers for her rather dramatic and sudden weight loss (160 pounds over 3 years).
Claiming on air repeatedly that her weight loss was due to diet and exercise, and denying any surgical intervention, she quickly alienated regular viewers and her popularity waned. It was later revealed that she had indeed undergone gastric bypass surgery (a fact which her co-hosts were required to lie about on her behalf). And then of course came the circumstances under which she finally left the show.
Sherri Shepherd and her flat world
Sherri Shepherd joined The View as a regular co-host in September 2007. Previously an actor and comedienne, she described her career up until that point as ‘the black girl on all the white shows’. You may also remember her from her cameo in an episode of Friends (My name is Rhonda. And these aren’t real!). She quickly gained attention for some of her more, unusual, comments.
Remember, this is a woman who has a platform to speak to millions of people on a daily basis!
Rosie O’Donnell
Rosie O’Donnell joined The View in 2006 for the shows 10th Season. O’Donnell quickly established herself as a mouthpiece for the anti-war movement, using her platform on the show to criticise President Bush and the Iraq war on a daily basis. Rosie had daily arguments with conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, arguments which regularly became heated, and occasionally personal. While this resulted in an often tense studio atmosphere it also brought The View its highest ratings ever, with millions tuning in daily to see the latest in the ongoing spat between the two women. It all came to a head in May 2007, when an on air discussion degenerated into a full-fledged catfight live on air (complete with split screen action!). Rosie had previously announced her departure from the show at the end of that season, however she didn’t return to the show after that day, and didn’t see out her contract. Various comments were made by both sides afterwards however Rosie has since revealed that her relationship with both Walters and Hasselbeck has never been the same since that day.
Here’s the clip, things kick off around the 4 minute mark:
And this is Barbaras reaction the next day
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi brought a breath of fresh air to the show when she joined in 2007. Rosie O’Donnell had just left and Whoopi brought with her a new calm, educated and reasoned moderatorship to the show the contrast of which to Rosie’s style of discussion was immediately apparent. From patiently educating Sherri on certain issues, to intelligently debating Elisabeth without resorting to arguing or baiting Whoopi quickly established herself as a fan favourite. However she also proved that she is no push over and takes no shit from anybody. Just watch as she rips conservative social commentator Glenn Beck a new one!
And finally…
The View is produced by ABC, ABC of course being owned by Disney. As a result the show features interviews with some of the biggest stars of TV and film on a regular basis. Of all the interviews that have been conducted down throughout the years, there are too many classic View moments to pick from. So instead I’ll leave you with this recent interview with Sofia Vergara (of hit TV show Modern Family). The less said about this the better.
