Recently in The View Category

I've decided that Barbara Walters completely overreacted to some of Rosie O'Donnell's remarks in an interview this week. I think the truth might've gotten under her skin a bit quite frankly.
Anyway, I posted Rosie's hilarious Vblog reply. She talked about it more in-depth on Conan O'Brien's show the other night when she stopped by to promote her NBC variety special which airs on Wednesday.

"It's a little emotional, I have a little Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when I watch it," Rosie said of her year on "The View." "I get a little bit of flashbacks, like Vietnam vets. But it was a good experience, it wasn't something I regret doing by any stretch of the imagination. But it didn't end well, and people seem to remember that part."

Walters was irked when Rosie said claims that the co-hosts of "The View" are friends off camera are untrue, and responded on the program Thursday telling Rosie to move on with her life.

"Everyone's real good friends," a defiant Rosie said to Conan. "And they hang out together pretty much every day after the show. Barbara, Joy, Elisabeth, they all go to Friday's and have potato skins. They throw back a few beers on a Saturday, you know how it is. They're very chummy."

"She's a little angry," Rosie added. "In spite of the fact that she now loathes me, I still do enjoy her. I'm not sure I'm going to be a guest on that show again. But I tried my best... I told them when they hired me that I had never worked on a show before where I wasn't the boss, and that there was a chance that might cause some problems...[but] I don't wanna dump on the show in order to benefit my own career, to use it for publicity, because I didn't have a career before that show so I'm very thankful to 'The View' for the help that it's given me in my life."

Rosie said of Walters: "I never meant to hurt a journalist of her stature, in all honesty."

anyway, here is a clip of Rosie's appearance on Conan:

Good one Rosie!

Here's what Rosie said while doing press for her variety special: Barbara "wanted everyone to believe and think and act as if [the women on 'The View'] get along and are really good friends and happy and hang out together, and, you know, that's just not the reality. I'm not saying they loathe each other, but the fact of the matter is there was not a lot of camaraderie off camera."

She also addressed her abrupt departure from the show following an on-screen blow-up with Elisabeth Hasselbeck that producers allowed to go on - with split screen - for a good 10 minutes.

"For me what happened on the show was a personal argument with a friend that was publicly displayed... I didn't want to be paid to fight. When I started and took that job it was with the idea of speaking for the millions of mothers whose voices weren't heard on television. I did it for a year and I thought it was really great, right up until the day it went off the track. When you're on a football team and your own team won't support you, and your own guy tackles you, it's time to take off the uniform."
Barbara, while not mentioning anyone name, said this morning: "We're very proud of some of our alumni," Walters started on "The View." "Meredith Vieira who has gone on and has this wonderful job. And Lisa Ling. We take delight in people who have gone on. But there are some people who have done this show and then, for years, feel they have to dump on it. Maybe for their own publicity. And that not only hurts me, but I resent it. ... Ladies, get on with your lives. We are not perfect. We are not always happy. But we're pretty good."

Added Joy Behar: "We're like a semi-dysfunctional family. But there is no reason to go overboard about how we don't get along. We do get along pretty well."

And finally, Elisabeth Hasselbeck chimed in with this Rosie remark (also without mentioning her by name): "We've had incredible years, maybe one more difficult than others in the past. That's all I'm saying."

I think it should be pointed out here that Barbara Walters has spoken for DECADES about how she was mistreated at NBC on "The Today Show" by co-anchor Frank McGee then on the "ABC Evening News" by co-anchor Harry Reasoner. I realize she had to deal with a lot of sexism as she was crashing those glass ceilings but she seems a little too thin-skinned in this instance.

Whoopi Goldberg talks about her night marching in NYC last night and talks about what she learned. The segment is marred a bit by Elisabeth Hasselbeck who takes seriously her role to represent the counterpoint. She even had issue with the SIGNS the demonstrators were carrying! She would seem to be, once again, on the wrong side of history.

I'm a day late with this video but if you haven't seen it elsewhere, do check it out - mostly for Sherri Shepard's tearful reaction to Barack Obama's election: "Now I can tell my son, you don't have to have limitations."

I got choked up watching it but am puzzled at how a woman so emotional over Obama's victory could have been undecided as of last week! Meanwhile, staunch Republican Elisabeth Hasselbeck - who actually campaigned with Sarah Palin - had nothing but supportive words for the president-elect. They ring hollow though because 24 hours earlier, she was trashing him.

I give credit to Elisabeth Hasselbeck for having the stamina to keep standing up to her co-hosts on "The View." It's been great entertainment and a good example of how people can so strongly and completely disagree yet continue the conversation.She has been so anti-Barack Obama and went so far as to campaign with Sarah Palin a few weeks ago. It will be interesting to watch if Obama makes a return visit to the show anytime soon, Ratings will be boffo!

Oh, this is delish.

During the "Hot Topics" segment on "The View" this morning, things got heated (what else is new?) when Barbara Walters brought up the presidential campaign and asked Hasselbeck if there was ever a time when she doubred anything about the Republican Party which she staunchly defends.

Her response led to this exchange between Elisabeth and the very Liberal Joy Behar:

EH: I've sat here at this and talked about Rush Limbaugh.
JB: Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist! You heard ikt here folks (audience laughs).
EH: There was a time when Barack Obama could have actually potentially had my vote...
JB: Ah, c'mon!
EH: Are you calling me a liar?
JB: Not that you're lying. I just think you're being delusional. I just don't believe that....That's like saying I'd vote for George Bush.
EH: Want some more Barack Obama Kool-aid (audience boos).

Behar cannot be stopped, she's a comediane and knows how to get a laugh. Hasselbeck comes off as humorless and that does not make her very appealing in these kinds of situations. But, I did like her hair today.

I didn't think they could top themselves after last week but it's happened. The topic: the presidential candidates. The players: Elisabeth Hasselbeck vs. Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters and a suddenly very passionate Sherri Shepard.

The ratings must be going through the roof!

This very funny and very smart woman turns 66 today.

It is so inspiring to see someone enjoy their biggest professional success after the age of 50. Joy had been kicking around as a comic and an actress for a long time before Barbara Walters wisely picked her to be a part of "The View." Along with Barbara, she is the only original panelist who has been on the show for 11 years. Joy, who previously worked as a teacher and as a secretary at "Good Morning America," no regularly fills in for Larry King.

And to top it all off, she's very pro-gay rights which makes us love her all the more.

EARLIER POST: My Interview With Joy Behar

Whatever you think of her conservative politics, Elisabeth Hasselbeck has nerves of steel during the Hot Topics portion of "the View." Especially this morning when Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters AND Sherri Shepard came down hard on her. Her usual nemesis, Joy Behar, was absent from the show today.

This, you gotta see.

If you not a fan of Elisabeth Hasselbeck on "The View," brace yourself for more of the conversative member of the always lively morning chatfest.

Elisabeth, who had a tense exchange with Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters and Joy Behar earlier this week over GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin, had been rumored to wanting to leave the show and move over to FOX News.

Her rep has put out this statement clarify things: "While Elisabeth has a great relationship with Fox News, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that she is leaving 'The View.' Elisabeth is passionate in her beliefs and enjoys being a part of this dynamic group of women and engaging in daily conversations."

An ABC rep said, "Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie, executive producers of 'The View,' consider Elisabeth to be vital to the program."

Rosie O'Donnell is gonna love this.

Her "View" nemesis Elisabeth Hasselbeck got into it on today's show with Barbara Walters, a woman who has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon. Elisabeth is the lone staunch conservative on the show and no one would have a real problem with her if she had reasoned, well thought-out opinions.

Today, she defended GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin who did not fare at all well in recent her interviews with Katie Couric. Walters - in a discussion about how Palin is being prepped for Thursday's debate against Joe Biden- finally asked her to back up her opinions with some facts. This is the exchange:

BW: It bothers me that one has to be prepped so much for a debate and crammed full of material. I'm not sure -- and I'm talking about everybody -- that prepping so that you just pass a debate and don't make a huge mistake is necessarily what makes a great president."

EH: "To say that, to reduce [Palin] to that level of mind, I think is unfair."

BW: We love you on the program. You are the counterpoint. But every single day you never ever say, 'Maybe there's another point.' So here's your chance. ... Tell us now why you think that Sarah Palin would make a very good president.

EH: Well, since I've been studying for this pop quiz forever, I -- tell me why Barack Obama is qualified. I mean, give me three tangible things he has done.

After being booed by the audience, Hasselbeck goes on to cite Palin being governor of Alaska, being an expert on energy and being the commander of her state's National Guard during a time of war and said: "She's actually governed."

I watched former President Bill Clinton's lengthy appearance on "The View" yesterday. His charisma, intelligence and grasp of issues reminded me of why this man was elected twice. Why George Bush was elected twice? This I will never understand.

I am posting all three parts of his appearance. Part one s above with two and three below.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck must have a glass of Republican Kool-Aid along with her orange juice in the morning so she can spout the party lines during the Hot Topics portion of the show. While she is obviously entitled to her opinion which she spouts out in the clip above, in the second clip (below), I think she crosses a line at the Republican National Convention:

When Neil Patrick Harris greeted the ladies of "The View" on the show this morning, he gave Whoopi Goldberg and extra loooooong hug.

Then he explained why: "Whoopi popped my theatrical cherry," he explained, referring to their 1988 film "Clara's Heart."

Whoopi made the movie after she was nominated for an Oscar for "The Color Purple" but before she won for 'Ghost." NPH had not yet begun his run on "Doogie Howser M.D."

"Whoopi showed me how to hit a mark and what the camera was like. 'You really were an exemplarary role model,' he said to her.

She musta been. Look how extraordinary NPH turned out!

That Tony Awards hosting gig last month musta given Whoopi Goldberg the Broadway bug again.

Whoopi said this morning on "The View" that she is going to be spending her month off from the morning chatfest in August as a cast member of the musical "Xanadu."

"I always wanrt to be on a stage somewhere and I wanted something fun," Whoopi said. "If I have vacation, it's dangerous."

Whoopi's role in the roller-skating musical "Xanadu" is as one of the show's evil sisters, Caliope. Her previous Broadway stints were her own one-woman show as well as in revivals of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

She begins her six-week "Xanadu" run on July 29.

Until Brooke Shields paid a visit to "The View" recently, I had forgotten that Sherri Shepherd had spent some time co-starring with her and Kathy Griffin on the NBC sitcom "Suddenly Susan" in the late 90s.

So when Sherri and I gabbed last week at an pre-Emmy party, I asked her to dish on the D-lister thinking maybe I'd start some kind of little feud or something. But Sherri had only good things to say about the Emmy winning "this award is my God" comedienne: "Kathy Griffin! That's my girl! We don't see each other as much but we always text each other. I was just at her show, I was sitting in the back row cuz i knew she was gonna talk about me. Kathy is unlike no other, I think she's brilliant and I admire Kathy's work ethic. She works hard. She busts her behind."
I don't know if we'll be seeing these very funny ladies together on "The View" anytime soon. Kathy has said on several talk shows lately that she has been banned for now for remarks about Barbara Walters. She at one time seemed to be in the running for the spot on the panel that ended up going to Sherri. It's just as well though. i like the idea of Kathy being out there on the D-List left up to her own devices. She's much better as an outsider.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Backstage after the Emmy broadcast, Sherri and fellow co-host Cameron Mathison (sigh) came backstage for some questions. Sherri talked about how happy she was for Ellen DeGeneres winning yet another Emmy because there was a time when Sherri couldn;t get herself booked on any of the talk shows. But Ellen was such a fan and ended up inviting Sherri on so many times that she holds the record for the most guest spots on the program. That, of course, led to guest hosting on "The View" and the rest is history.

Sherri, as you recall, was guest hosting the day that Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck famously had it out on live television. Kathy sat in the next day when Rosie was gone and Barbara had returned. Here is a clip and it may indicate why Kathy has not been asked back!

Sherri Shepherd is just loving the unexpected perks of being one of the co-hosts of "The View."

When we spoke a few days ago, she was still on cloud nine over Janet Jackson showing up at the ABC studios in New York where the show is taped and personally presenting Sherri with a pair of tickets to one of her concerts.

"She walked out and it was like the angels started singing," she said of the moment.

Janet had heard Sherri's on-air story about how when she was working as a legal secretary in her pre-fame days, she had slept outside all night in line to get tickets to the singer's concert during her tour for the "Control" album.

She didn't get tickets - that time.
"Someone made some phone calls and had her sitting downstairs," she said. "What law firm would do that? I remember being a legal secretary and the orders were, 'Go file that document! Get me coffee!' I'd watch soaps and daydream about having a talk show and going to the awards. To actually be living this dream, I keep thinking someone is gonna say it's all just my imagination."

It's been several years since Sherri, 41, has worked at a law firm. She became a successful stand-up comedienne and scored regular or recurring roles in the sitcoms "Less Than Perfect," "Suddenly Susan," "The Jamie Foxx Show," and "Everybody Loves Raymond."

But "The View" has made her a household name and a gig she earned after numerous stints as a guest host. She joined the show last fall along with Whoopi Goldberg.

"She thinks I'm joking when I say it, but it's a dream come true that I'm sitting next to Whoopi," she said. "It's every female comic's dream to have the same path that Whoopi has walked."

They joined longtime panelists Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Barbara Walters, the show's creator and a producer.

"It is truly a blessing to work with a woman who has opened so many doors," she said of Walters who memoir "Audition" recently topped the best seller lists. "I love Barbara's book. It's 700 pages of things I didn't know about Barbara."

The co-hosts on "the View" have changed over the years with Meredith Vieira, Rosie O'Donnell and Star Jones, among the show's famous alumni. But two things have remained constant: they get nominated for best talk show host at the Daytime Emmys every year and every year, they lose.

But Sherri, who is co-hosting the June 20 awards show with "All My Children" hunk Cameron Mathison (pictured, right), badly wants some Emmy gold.

"I want to win so badly," she admitted. "Every day I've been lighting candles, I've been fasting."

Famous for her various hairstyles on "The View," I wondered what Sherri picked out first for her hosting duties: the dress or the wig.

"The wigs!" she said. "I have three dress changes and I have three wig changes and some extra wigs just in case someone needs some."

She plans to go for laughs on the show and even being a little naughty.

"I'm planning on grabbing Cameron's butt," she said. "He's still got a lot of that 'Dancing With the Stars' booty. I am so looking forwards to seeing all these hunky men from the soaps. I've seen them in bed with everyone already."

Joy Behar is not only a very funny woman, but the longtime co-host of "The View" is never without an opinion. So it was a real kick having a phone chat with her Wednesday morning after she finished taping that day's episode of the chatfest she has been a part of for 11 years.

The most popular part of "The View" is the Hot Topics segment where Joy and her fellow co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd and on some days Barbara Walters tackle the biggest issues of the day in spirited fashion. So I tossed out various hot topics for Joy to comment on during our chat:

Hillary Clinton's campaign for president: "It's a terrific thing for young women and little girls to see. When I was growing up, I never gave it a thought that I could be president. When girls were asked what they wanted to be, they would say a nurse or something which is very laudable profession but no one reached as high as the presidency. Now we look at this and say, 'Yeah, we can do it. Even if (Hillary Clinton) doesn't do it, she's setting the stage."

The gay-marriage battle in California: "I don't particularly want to get married myself but if people want to do it, I say go ahead and do it. When gas goes up to $8 a gallon this summer, very few people will care if gays get married or not. It's absolutely a non-issue to me. The idea that it is is beyond my comprehension.

On maybe winning an Emmy after 11 losses in the talk show host category: "We never have won it and I don't believe we will win it. No one on a talk show with a partner has ever won. The votes get split. Regis (Philbin) won the year he was alone. I don't really put a lot of stake in awards. I won the spelling award in junior high school. That's when I peaked."

On the popularity of "The View": "You never really know what's going on out there. You get on television and say a certain thing and there's no way to judge the impact. It has been rather surprising and illuminating that we've been this influential."

On Whoopi Goldberg: "I like her very much. She's a doll, she's a nice person, very amiable, generous, easy to get along with. Not tempermental."

On political opposite Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a staunch conservative: "I don't feel that we are actually fighting. Elisabeth and I have been doing this for years and never, ever had an unkind word. We are friends and it's been a very nice ride with her. She's not a mean girl. She has these particular politics that don't agree with mine."

On Barbara Walters' best-selling memior "Audition": "I thought it was very well done. She's a better writer than I ever thought. Who knew? She writes for television but to write a whole book like that, it was so illuminating and honest. She's had a most interesting life."

Joy is now the pitchwoman for Kraft Bagel-fuls. I reminded her that the last time she endorsed something, it was the Jenny Craig weight loss program! So now she's eating carbs?

She laughed and pointed out that "they're not fattening, especially the whole wheat ones. I've kept the weight off pretty much."

Barbara Walters, one of the best TV interviewers in business, must be rubbing off on her "View" co-hort Whoopi Goldberg who really raked Denise Richards over the coals this morning after the friendly chit-chat subsided about her new reality show which features appearances of her two daughters with ex-hubby Charlie Sheen. Charlie is against the little girls being on television right now.

Whoopi: I cannot get past the fact that you want to protect your children as you say you do, you're their mom and you want to keep everything private, why would you take a reality show? Is it the money?
Denise: I've had everything out there, even if I stayed quiet, things are out there...

Whoopi: ...These are little kids. So if you want to keep them private, keep your life private, do you not think this is a little extreme, to open it up?
Denise: ...They are in it very minimal and. the thing is, I've been singled out. There hasn't been one reality show with a family where there's no kids ....every reality show has children and mine are (in it) very minimal."

Whoopi: But you're going through this huge thing (battle with Sheen) and I wonder if the timing might not have been as great?
Denise: For me, the timing's good. I've been approached the last few years. I've had a horrible, horrible three years. I don't know if anyone's lost a mother to cancer. I've watched my mom die. So my mom was really wanting me to do the show. She was wanting the public to see me as I really am...

Once Denise pulled out the mom card, Whoopi backed off. Unlike Barbara Walters, she doesn't want to make her interview subjects cry!

I have not been able to put Barbara Walters' book, "Audition," down all weekend. It is an awesome read so far. To go along with Barbara during the 60s and 70s when she was breaking down barriers and traveling the globe snagging exclusive interviews left and right, you realize what an epic life she has had - really historic. People who mainly just know her from "The View" and "20-20" and the celebrity specials are in for some really fascinating stuff.

But even I gotta admit that after picking up the book at The Grove on Saturday, I sat at the Barnes & Noble and first looked at all the pictures then went straight to the chapter in the book on "The View" before even leaving the store! What was Star Jones pitching a fit over? Barbara is very fair to her in this book. Star has problems. It is Rosie O'Donnell who is written about extensively in the chapter and not always in a flattering light. Here are some excerpts:

Rosie's moods: "In the early weeks of the program, we were all rather anxious about what kind of mood Rosie would be in when she entered the dressing room. One day she would be upbeat and smiling , the next day dark and subdued. Gradually, we learned to go with the flow..."

Teamwork: "Rosie had originally said she wanted to ride the bus, not drive it. But this backseat role simply was not her nature. Rosie is a big talent, funny, smart, opinionated, passionate - and controlling. ... The premise of 'The View' is that of a team working together, but for Rosie it was more like Diana Ross and the Supremes, as little by little she took over. Still, she was such a talent that we lived with it."

On Rosie's book 'Celebrity Detox' in which she slammed Barbara: "...Harsh and insulting accusations, some logical, some off the wall, filled page after page. Miszed up in the criticisms were protestations of love...I am not a Pollyanna, but I truly believe that Rosie did not intend to hurt me. She herself must have come to regret what she'd written, because she canceled most of her television interviews promoting the book. She also sent me a series of long, tender e-mails. I was touched by them and finally did respond. I can't be mad at Rosie for long."