Watching The View

This is part three of a four-part series. For the rest of the interview, click on the appropriate link below:
Part One: The Early Years
Part Two: Coming into View

What is it it like to be one of the hosts on The View? Is it as chaotic as it seems?

Before we walk out to sit down, I’m in the green room holding my stomach. I’m so nervous, I can’t even see straight. I am usually panicking thinking “Sherri what the hell are you doing?” I always think that my funny is a “well,” and that one day, my “well” will be all dried up. But once I sit down at that table, open my mouth and hear that first laugh, I’m good. It is so much fun, because the ladies are actually very giving (even though we sometimes sound like a bunch of hens cackling over each other!) Initially the producers were concerned that three comics (Rosie, Joy & me) would be too much at the table, but we each have a different sense of humor. I couldn’t say any of Joy or Rosie’s quips and get a laugh, and they can’t say my stuff and get the reaction I get, so it works very well. I actually have the most fun during the commercial breaks. The ladies are very supportive of me. Is it chaotic… yes right before we go on… everyone is getting wired up and Barbara’s nudging us to be standing at the entrance (she is a very prompt person) so that we can walk out as soon as they say “Welcome to The View”.

Do you have any future dates planned to be a guest host on the The View?

I do if they ask me to come back!

Is there anything funny that happened back-stage or during commercials that you can share?

All of the co-hosts use to wear an ISB in their ears to hear the producers talking (example we’d hear in our ear “Joy go to Question #4… Barbara end this segment… Sherri hit Question #2… Elisabeth take us to commercial”) to us. One day before we’re about to walk out, I scream “where’s my ISB?”, and Rosie says to me that I didn’t need it… she said I’d be more spontaneous without it (WHATTTTT!!!!!!) So if it looks like I’m stepping on other people’s questions, it’s because I’m being spontaneous.

Also before we interview our guests, they get pre-interviewed by The View’s producers - who then give us a summary of the pre-interview. This is so we know what type of questions to ask. Well one day we were interviewing Samuel Jackson and Christina Ricci for their movie “Black Snake Moan”. My question to Christina Ricci was to ask her if her idea for her clothing in the movie was a blend of Jessica Simpson and Brittany Spears. Well this day, my girdle was just too darn tight, and I wasn’t focused. I felt Barbara Walters nudge me in the side to ask my question and I blurted out “Christina… I hear you channeled Jessica Simpson and Brittany Spears in your acting.” The look of horror on both Christina Ricci’s & Samuel Jackson’s was priceless. Thankfully, Barbara covered for me and fixed up the question. If I was a white person, I would’ve been beet red. Thank goodness Miss Ricci had a great sense of humor.

Any truth to the rumor that you might be named as a permanent host in the future?

I’m not sitting in that chair everyday, so I guess the rumors are false.

For more about Sherri visit her website, where you can purchase her comedy DVD.

Sherri Shepherd, the View, Rosie O’Donnell, Christina Ricci, Samuel L Jackson, Barbara Walters

This is part two of a four part series. To read part one of the interview, visit Part One: The Early Years.

What is your most memorable role and what makes it memorable?

My most memorable role… hmmm… I had to play Jenny McCarthy’s best friend on a pilot of hers. They’d (the producers) fired an actress and had me audition to take her place. I booked the role, but the rehearsals for the show had been going on for a week before I’d gotten there. I came down to the set and learned that I’d be doing a choreographed karate dance with Jenny to the song “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting”. Needless to say I was so very nervous… I think I pulled a muscle from all the times I jumped in the air screaming “Ha!” This role was also memorable because at the time I was in my 30’s. On Jenny’s show, I was playing her 25-year old roommate. The week before I’d auditioned to play a 25 year old on another sitcom. I kept getting callbacks, but the producers of the show called my agent and were concerned that I “looked” the part of a 25 year old. They got me so stressed out. I ended up putting my hair in ponytails… someone told me to wear pink lipgloss… I went to Abercrombie & Fitch and bought out their selection of cargo pants (cuz’ that’s what I thought a 25-year old would wear). I ended up not getting the part, because they said I was too old. That didn’t bother me - what bothered me- was how I let Hollywood turn me into a raggedy mess… how I let them dictate who Sherri should be, and the fact that I jumped through such hoops. It was a vindication to me, when I booked that next week, the Jenny McCarthy pilot playing the very age which the other producers thought that I was too old.

How were you first approached to do a guest spot on The View?

I actually have my publicist to thank for The View. She beat down The View’s doors for about 3 years. She wasn’t even trying to get me a co-host spot. We were trying to get me on the show to promote the sitcom I was doing at the time, “Less Than Perfect”. The producers at The View said no, and continued to say no, because they didn’t know who I was. They also didn’t think I’d be able to sit on the couch and go back and forth with the ladies. Even though my publicist told them that I was funny, quick on my feet, etc., the producers continued to turn my requests down. But the persistence paid off. One day Star Jones had to go out of town on something last minute, and the producers couldn’t find anyone to fill in. We’d just happen to call that day, and they said that if I could co-host the show that next day… at the time I had just gotten off bed rest because I was 5 months pregnant. Against my doctor’s wishes, I got in a wheelchair and hubby rolled me on that plane. I prayed for the next 5 hours that I wouldn’t go into labor in the air. I co-hosted the show, flew back home, got back on the couch, and then Johnny Cochran died, so Star had to leave again. The producers called me back, and I flew out 3 days later… the rest is history. I think I’ve co-hosted maybe 10-12 times.

How has having a child changed you?

My priorities have definitely changed. Before I had Jeffrey, I was a hustler (which is why I flew to co-host The View knowing I should’ve been laying on a couch). I lived, ate and breathed my career. I was always chasing the next job. I was flying out of town every weekend to do standup. Once I had Jeffrey and almost lost him, I had to put Sherri, the actress, on the shelf and be a mom. I watched my son fight for his life for 3 months in the NICU ( he was born prematurely at 25 weeks, weighing 1lb 10oz). I went through a lot of guilt for not taking care of myself. When I was put on bed rest, I didn’t realize how serious my pregnancy was. I thank God all the time that He allowed my son to live. I love what I do, but it’s not the most important thing. The most important thing to me now is what I leave my son - teaching him character, integrity, a belief in the power of God, compassion, laughter… I didn’t have Jeffrey in my 20’s, I waited late to have him, so my little window for “imparting things” is closing!

Part Three of the interview is now available here, where you can read some behind-the-scenes gossip from The View and hear her response to the rumors of a more permanent role at The View.

Be sure to visit Sherri’s website, where Jeffrey will convince you to purchase his mother’s comedy DVD!

Sherri Shepherd, Jenny McCarthy, The View, Star Jones

You all know Sherri Shepherd as the frequent guest host on The View (she has been on at least 10 times!), but do you know about how she got her start? Read below for part one in a four part series, exclusive to Watching The View.

You lived in Chicago and then moved to Hoffman Estates at age eleven. What was that change like and how did it impact your life and/or your future in comedy?

My dad & my mom moved my sisters and I to Hoffman Estates during the middle of the epic “Roots”… I think we finished unpacking right when they cut Kunta Kinte’s foot off… needless to say, everyone in my 6th grade class wanted to know if I had someone named “Toby” in my family. There were probably 3 black people in my entire elementary school. It was very racist. My sisters and I heard the N word daily. I think this is where I really developed my ability to make people laugh. My sisters fought all the time. Me - instead of fighting, I used my humor to hide the pain of being called a N___ga. Even know when I go through difficulties or painful stuff, I get onstage and make people laugh.

What do you think was the turning point in your career when you knew you could make a living with comedy?

Even though I started out in 1990 or 1991, I actually never made a living doing standup comedy. Living in California with hundreds of up & coming comics, one needed to go on the road to make a living. I chose to stay in town to pursue acting. I knew that I could make a living being an actress when I booked my first sitcom on the WB Network. It was called “Cleghorne” (starring Saturday Night Live alum, Ellen Cleghorne). I was terrified to quit my nice, steady job as a legal secretary to pursue the acting and standup comedy, but someone said to me “if it was all about stability, then you wouldn’t need faith”. So I stepped out on faith and gave notice at the law firm where I’d worked for 5 years. My last day at work was March 1, 1995 and I booked “Cleghorne” March 12, 1995!!!! Even when that show was canceled after 13 episodes and I had to go back to being a legal secretary, I knew that I had what it took to make it as an actress.

What is your most stand-up experience and what makes it memorable?

When I opened for Richard Pryor. After I got off the stage, Mr. Pryor told me that I was going to be a star. I also did standup and didn’t know that Martin Lawrence was in the audience. He came up to me afterwards and told me that I was going to be a star. When I was riding the bus trying to figure out where the next $20 is going to come, those words carried me through some really difficult times.

Part two of the interview is now available here.

Sherri Shepherd, Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, The View, Ellen Cleghorne, comedy, stand-up

Barbara Walters plugged her interview with Judith and Rudy Giuliani, which airs on 20/20 tonight. Judith refused to say where she and Rudy met. Rudy mentioned that he that if wins the presidency that Judith can sit in on cabinet meetings. Rosie said that was surprising and maybe he met meant cabinet redecorating meetings in the kitchen.

Joy said that she wants Rudy to answer questions about why there was so much chaos on 9/11 and why the different departments in the city (fire, police, etc.), were not effectively working together. Rosie mentioned as an aside that there a firefighters that are ill and dying from respiratory disease from 9/11.

The ladies revealed their vacation plans for next week: Elisabeth is headed to Barbados, Joy is going to Sicily, Barbara is going “somewhere warm,” but refused to say if it was with “someone special,” and Rosie is headed to Miami as usual.

Rosie talked about a new sewing machine that she got, from
Janome, that is like the older machine her mom used to have and is very easy to use.

Camryn Manheim, who is currently appearing on Ghost Whisperer, appeared on the show. She has a six year-old son who has a crush on her co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt. He has a photo of the two of them that he has next to him bed. Camryn wrote a book about her mother and surprised her with it at a reading at Barnes and Noble. Not to leave her father out, she took him to a movie theater and surprised him with a film all about his life.

She said that it was hard to play Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s mom in Elvis, when all she “wanted to do was French kiss him.” She said that she would love to appear on Boston Legal and “kick James Spader’s ass.” She will be doing Shakespeare in the Park this summer in New York City, playing the nurse in “Romeo and Juliet.”

Rosie and Elisabeth then made Easter crafts. Rosie taught the audience how to “blow an egg.” Take an egg that is not hard boiled and make a small hole with a pin on each end. Then take a larger embroidering needle and make the holes bigger. Then blow in one end to get yolk out. Take empty egg and put it on a wire hanger for an egg stand (unbend the hook part and put the wire through the holes in the egg). Then use glue to put on various appliques or use stickers. She said that you can get larger ostrich eggs online at ostrich.com. To hang up your eggs, buy a tassel, use a crochet hook to put it through the holes in the egg and then hang it up.

Elisabeth likes to make egg versions of celebrities, using googley eyes, yarn, and sharpies. This year she made Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Sanjaya from American Idol. Rosie made one of Donald Trump, complete with comb-over, and then smashed him.

The latest Bachelor, Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D., also appeared on the show. He said that he is “so glad” he did the show and that he has met the love of his life. He is “so in love” and “can’t get her out of (his) head”. He admitted that he is engaged to the woman that he chose on the show.

He said that he watched The Bachelor in the early days, but never in a million years thought he would be on it. He previously appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine and Outside Magazine, which featured the work he did with children in Laos. His friend Shawn nominated him and he did not know anything about it until ABC called him.

Camryn Manheim, Ghost Whisperer, The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck Barbara Walters, Janome, bachelor, Andy Baldwin, ostrich eggs

After her comments during Thursday’s View (check out a partial video here), many media outlets are calling for Rosie O’Donnell to be fired. Interestingly, although she clearly states in the video that she does not think that 9/11 was a conspiracy hatched by the United States government, many of the media outlets are misquoting her as saying just that.

Like when the Donald Trump controversy first began, this latest event is coming immediately before a planned vacation. Today’s show is previously taped and next week’s episodes are all re-runs. Rosie stated on her blog that she will not return from vacation until April 10th. Certainly though, media folks will see the absence of new programming as some sign of ABC trying to shut her down, when, in reality, this vacation has been planned for some time, likely to coincide with her children’s spring break.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Iran, 9/11, Donald Trump, World Trade Center, WTC 7, Gulf of Tonkin

Best Week Ever has posted a video of part of the discussion from today’s View hot topics segment about 9/11 and World Trade Center building 7, which I discussed here. They have edited out some parts of it, but it has the gist.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Best Week Ever, WTC 7

Watching The View was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview frequent View guest host and comedian Sherri Shepherd. The interview will appear on this site in a four-part series, starting on Friday March 30. Be sure to check back to learn about Sherri’s early years, her most memorable experiences in the business, and some behind-the-scenes gossip from The View!

Sherri Shepherd, The View

Academy award winner Marcia Gay Harden appeared as guest host. She said that winning the Oscar was “such a high” and the best part was that her mom and dad were in crowd. Marcia’s daughter Eulala was in the audience of The View today. She has appeared in two movies herself. Marcia also has twins. Marcia is currently appearing in the film Hoax, which is about a “charming liar,” played by Richard Gere, who faked the autobiography of Howard Hughes and received a million dollar advance from the publishing company.

Rosie O’Donnell said that she watched Donny Osmond’s new show The Great American Dream Vote. She loves Donny Osmond, but called it “the dumbest show I have ever seen” and said it should be called “see people beg for stuff.” Elisabeth Hasselbeck said she watched it on mute. Rosie suggested they should cancel the show and they should re-do the Donny and Marie Osmond show instead. She said it would be, “a little bit country…a little bit rock and roll…a little bit bipolar.”

The next hot topic was the ongoing issue of the British soldiers taken hostage by the Iranians. The Iranians claim that the British ship was in their waters, the British and Iraq governments are saying they were not. The Iranians have offered to release the hostages, if Britain admits they were in Iranian waters. The soldiers were shown on Iranian television, which may violate the Geneva Convention. Elisabeth said that some people are speculating that the Iranians are retaliating because Iranians were arrested in Iraq for selling arms illegally.

Marcia Gay Harden said that everyone needs to exercise diplomacy and that you have to give something up to achieve peace. Elisabeth pointed out that in the country these days people are more apt to trust our enemies than our allies. Joy said that is the fault of the Bush administration. Rosie asked Elisabeth if she trusted the Bush administration now as much as she did when he first took office. Elisabeth said that, in a time of war, you have to trust them. Rosie asked how she could trust them, when everyone in the administration is under suspicion for wrongdoing.

Marcia pointed out that she believes that the “war on terror” is propaganda. She added that capitalism has run amok and that it is no longer the ideology about community and helping your neighborhood and country. She said it is more like imperialism now. Rosie agreed, saying that in America we are fed propaganda and that you have to look to media outside of the country to find out what is happening in our country. She added that democracy is being threatened in a way that it hasn’t been in the past 200 years. Rosie also said that if the United States goes into Iran, it will be for money.
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Barbara Walters has interviewed Judith Giuliani, wife of Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. You may recall that Rudy Giuliani was married, with children, when he met Judith. The interview is expected to cover issues such as whether Judith broke up his marriage and her relationship with his children. Political analysts have suggested that many people in the Republican Party may have difficulty supporting Giuliani because of the lingering questions about infidelity. Barbara Walters has admitted before that she is friends with the couple, so it will be interesting to see whether she does another “softball” interview. The interview will air Friday night on 20/20.

20/20, Barbara Waters, Rudy Giuliani, Judtith Giuliani

On Monday, March 26th, Rosie O’Donnell won a media award for “Outstanding Documentary” from GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) for her documentary All Aboard!: Rosie’s Family Cruise. The film chronicles the first gay cruise for families, which was run by R Family Vacations, which is the company owned by Rosie and her wife Kelli.


Rosie O’Donnell accepts the award for “Outstanding Documentary” at the GLAAD Media Awards with director Shari Cookson.

GLAAD, All Aboard: Rosie’s Family Cruise, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelli O’Donnell, Shari Cookson, r family vacations

Jacque Reid appeared again as guest host. They discussed American Idol and Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that they received “Blaker girl” shirts from current American Idol contestant Blake. They talked about Sanjaya’s wacky hairstyle last night. Joy Behar wondered if the hair is to compensate for his lack of talent. Jacque said that Sanjaya seems to be getting more confidence lately. They also talked about Dancing With the Stars and how it is a bit of popularity contest, so the lesser-known contestants are at more of a risk for getting kicked off.

Monica Goodling, senior adviser to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is taking the fifth amendment and won’t be revealing anything about the firing of the U.S. Attorneys. Elisabeth said that they are “criminalizing political differences” and she said that is what happened with the Scooter Libby case. Joy said in the case of Bill Clinton you could argue the same thing. Jacque pointed out that now the big issue is that Gonzalez previously said that he didn’t know anything about the possible illegal motivations for the firings, but now some e-mails have come out that show that he was aware of the situation.

Rosie said that if she were Monica Goodling, she would take the fifth too, because she wouldn’t want to be the fall guy. She said it is like the soldiers at Abu Ghraib who are in prison, while Donald Rumsfeld is off scot-free. Elisabeth said that Rumsfield did not authorize urinating on prisoners and other tactics. Rosie said that his handwriting is on the torture memo. Elisabeth said that he wrote “standing on a box for 10 hours is not so bad” on the “interrogation memo.” Rosie pointed out that it was not like the standing on a box that Elisabeth had to do on Survivor, but it was with a bag over their heads and electrodes attached to their bodies.
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Rosie O’Donnell answered some of her readers questions on her blog today in video form, while she was getting her hair done before today’s show. You can watch the video here. Word of warning, she curses at the end.

Rosie O’Donnell, The View, Rblog, blog, video

Howard Stern’s fiancee, Beth Ostrosky, sat in as guest host. She met Howard seven years ago at dinner party. Prior to meeting him, he used to scare her. When she met him in person, however, she saw his beautiful eyes and realized that he is not scary. She said that away from his show he is very sweet. Howard Stern used to criticize Rosie O’Donnell on his show, but they have since become cordial with one another. Rosie said that he ruined six years of her life because his fans would yell things at her at the mall and scare her. She said that she admires him now because he tells the truth.

Beth said that after she met Howard, she called her mom to tell her. Her mom hung up on her and then went to church everyday for two weeks to pray. Beth said that she went to a dinner party recently and was very excited because Barbara Walters was going to be there and she is a big fan. She told Howard that they should position themselves near Barbara so that she could talk to her. Howard spent the whole night talking and laughing with Barbara and could not stop talking about her on the way home. Beth joked that even though Howard is around models and strippers for his radio show, the one woman she was jealous of was Barbara Walters!

Beth said that Howard Stern is having his fans vote for Sanjaya on American Idol and she believes that is why he hasn’t been voted off yet. She is mad at Howard for this because it is mean to vote for someone you think is bad. She said the only other fight they have had is when Beth went to a male masseuse after promising that she would not. Beth is a spokesperson for the Northshore Animal League, which is the world’s largest no-kill animal shelter and saves 10,000 animals a year.

Rosie brought out a six week old baby, who is starring on All My Children. She ran into the mom and the babies coming off the elevator this morning. Rosie joked that she wanted to take the baby home with her. She has hinted on her blog that if Kelli was willing, she would want another baby. I am sure that holding the little one today just reinforced that feeling.

The next topic was that Katie Couric is coming under scrutiny because of the somewhat hardball attitude she took in her interview with Elizabeth and John Edwards. Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that Katie asked the questions that everyone is asking, but that people expected her to have some emotion about the situation because she has been through a similar situation when her husband died. Elisabeth suggested that she did not want to get emotional, so she didn’t compare their situation to her own.

Joy Behar said that the criticism is because Katie is a woman. She said Katie was a bit harsh and that she looked a bit uncomfortable in that role. People are often criticizing her for being a softie and now that she is acting tougher, she is being criticized for that, too.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck brought up a bill that has been proposed in Texas where the government will give pregnant woman who are consider abortion, $500 to not get the abortion. Elisabeth, who is pro-life, said that since abortions are often “based on convenience,” maybe the money would be an incentive for people to consider adoption instead. Rosie pointed out that there are thousands of unwanted children in foster care and to add more unwanted children through this legislation would be bad.

Beth brought up a Newsweek article that she said had really touched her. The article presents the words of soldiers killed in Iraq, through their letters and e-mails to their family. You can read the series of articles online here.

John Lithgow appeared on the show to talk about his latest children’s book Mahalia Mouse Goes to College. Like the mouse in the book, Lithgow also went to Harvard and he wrote the book in honor of the graduating class when he was asked to give the commencement speech. Lithgow said that he was impressed by John and Elizabeth Edwards coming out with her illness and that it is very courageous. He added that having that passion is the best curative there is.

Here are the spring cleaning tips from today’s show:

Use Clorox disinfecting kitchen spray to clean the top of your refrigerator. Then place wax paper on top of the surface. The next time you go to clean, you just have to remove the wax paper.

To get rid of dust mites, put your linens in your freezer for at least 4 hrs.

Put clean white socks on your feet to clean dirt out of the corners of your floors.

To clean the toilet, use flat soda. The acid will eat the hard water stains.

Use baking soda and vinegar to clean bathroom sink fixtures.

To clean windows, put a towel around neck, use lots of soap, soap window, use a squeegee, and then wipe it on the towel.

To remove water stains from a coffee table, use toothpaste.

Beth Ostrosky, John Lithgow, Elizabeth Edwards, The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Howard Stern

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On today’s show, Joy Behar said she had a fight with her longtime boyfriend Steve. They never fight and only have had about five fights in over 20 years. Steve had a fit because she finished his crossword puzzle. She said that he is feeling she doesn’t understand his “little needs.” She declined Barbara Walters’s offer to do a public apology to Steve.

During hot topics, the ladies talked about John Edwards wife Elizabeth and her announcement that her breast cancer has metastasized and is now in her bone. Despite his wife’s diagnosis, Edwards is still going to continue his run for President. They have small children and some people are questioning whether she should continue to campaign. Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that when her own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she struggled with the decision of whether to go off to college or stay with her mom. She said that often the person who is ill wants everyone else to go on with their lives.

Rosie said that she looks at it from the perspective of the children, because her own mother died of cancer when she was 10. However, she added that no one can make that decision for another family and they have to decide what is best for them. Rosie’s friend said that she would be more likely to vote for Edwards because of this issue, while Rosie said that she would not want him to win, because she feels he should focusing on his family. What do you all think about this issue? If you were in Elisabeth Edwards position, would you want your husband to continue the campaign? Would you continue to campaign yourself?

Elisabeth Hasselbeck went to Florida over the weekend. Since she got the fake spray tan last week, she forgot to put enough sunblock on and got sunburned.

Prince Harry was photographed being drunk and possibly attacking the paparazzi. Joy said that people forget that he is a kid whose mom was killed when he was young. She thinks that he may be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and should go to therapy and not to Iraq with the army.

Rosie said that there has been so much news about the pet food recall and the pets that have died, yet we have learned less about the 29 soldiers who have died since the pet food recall began. She also briefly talked about the British ship that allegedly went into Iranian waters and 15 British sailors were taken prisoner. Rosie encouraged everyone to google “Gulf of Tonkin.” This refers to an incident wherein Vietnam vessels attacked two destroyers from the United States. Since that time, it was revealed that the event did not happen as originally thought and may have been provoked by the U.S. Rosie is suggesting, without saying it directly, that this latest incident with the Iranians may be an intentional action on behalf of the British (who are America’s biggest ally) to help build a case to go to war with Iran.

They also talked about whether the Bible should be taught in public schools as an optional course. Since there is a separation of church and state, public schools cannot force the teachings of the Bible on students. Elisabeth said that from a literary standpoint, it is the best-selling book of all time. Joy said that it should be taught as fiction and as stories that have morals, although not all of them are good. Then she said “and people still masturbate anyway.” The other hosts weren’t sure what to make of that. Rosie then went on to say that she has been studying the Old Testament on her own because she wants to be educated about it.

Actor and comedian Gene Wilder appeared on the show and said that he has stopped acting because a lot of the roles he is offered have a lot of swearing or special effects and are not about the script. He said those roles are not right for him. He wrote a book called My French Whore: A Love Story. He first began work on the book 39 years ago and then put it aside because he thought it was bad. He said when he had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, he was scared for his wife to have to live without him. He is now in full remission and after he got well, he went back to work on the book and his wife helped fuel his writing.

Willow Bay appeared on the show to promote her special called “Spotlight 25,” which is airing on Lifetime tonight. It is about women in their mid-20s. She said that the women are disconnected from the political process, but do care about social issues and want to change things in the world. The special also talks about relationships, dating, and sex.

What did you think of today’s episode? Don’t forget to comment for your chance to win a View mug!

Rosie O’Donnell, The View, Joy Behar, Barbara Walters, Prince Harry, Gulf of Tonkin, Iran, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards, gene wilder, willow bay, spotlight 25