Watching The View

Today’s recap will not be up until later tonight. Feel free to comment here on the show if you watched it today.

Also, don’t forget to enter the latest Watching the View contest!

Today was Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s last day on The View before her maternity leave, so the audience was filled with other moms-to-be. One woman in the audience had her water break prior to the start of the show. Sherri Shepherd joked that she wished that they would have let them deliver the baby on the show.

Whoopi Goldberg was back after yesterday’s sick day, but Joy Behar was absent, also due to a cold (she said yesterday that she had a cold, too, and she felt bad that she was in Elisabeth’s presence with a cold).

They discussed how Marie Osmond passed out on Dancing with the Stars last night. For the video of the incident check out Reality Dancing. Whoopi said that Marie was bouncing up and down before the fainting and maybe she was dehydrated or maybe she had something to drink before the show. Sherri and Elisabeth both thought she was joking at first because she is a ham. Elisabeth said fainting is a good strategy on the show. Sherri said that is why she passed out on a previous show: job security.

Elisabeth announced that she will be posting on a blog on the Dreft website. I wrote about this in July and I thought it was going to be a pregnancy blog, but apparently it will be a baby blog. There is one entry up already in which she talks about getting a “big girl bed” for Grace. You can check it out here.

(more…)

Since the last contest I had may have been a bit too challenging, I decided that this contest should be easy.

The Rules:
Leave a comment on this blog naming who you would pick to be a View guest host for Elisabeth Hasselbeck in her absence. You must also say why you would think that person would make a great guest host.

The best answer (completely subjective from my point of view) will win a View fall mug. Feel free to name someone who has already guest hosted, but in terms of creativity points you may want to select someone new.

Everyone else who enters will have their name placed in a hat and two randomly selected people will also win a View fall mug.

You must use a valid e-mail address when you leave your comment or I will not be able to contact you if you are one of the selected winners.

Deadline for entries is October 30th at 5:00 p.m. central time. One entry per person.

Questions? Leave a comment or e-mail at winnieblogs(at)gmail.com (Replace (at) with @)

Whoopi Goldberg did not appear on The View today because she has a “little cold” and was worried about getting Elisabeth Hasselbeck sick.

Tomorrow is Elisabeth’s last day before her “temporary” move to Arizona (She’ll be back January 6th) for her maternity leave. She has been packing all week and is not nervous about the move, but is worried about “birthing on an airplane.” Barbara Walters said the Elisabeth should give birth on the show tomorrow. Elisabeth said that Barbara could be her doula and she could have Ricki Lake set up a birthing tub on the set.

This morning there was a roach in the make-up room. Sherri Shepherd said it was the size of a cat. Apparently all the ladies starting screaming and running around. Elisabeth was going to stomp it, but Joy told her to have a man do it because that is their job, in addition to taking out the garbage. Elisabeth was shocked that Joy would say such a thing. A female producer ended up killing it.

Sherri spoke at a March of Dimes event over the weekend and she got to borrow $33,000 of jewelry to wear to the event. She put the jewelry in her underwear at the airport so that it would not get stolen. She slept with at the hotel. Barbara borrowed diamond earrings one time and lost one when she was trying on hats. She has never borrowed jewelry again.

There was a GOP debate last night and it was pretty contentious, according to Barbara. She said that when they were not attacking each other, they were attacking Hillary Clinton. Clinton, along with the other New York Senator, wants $1 million of tax payer money to have a museum to commerate Woodstock. John McCain called Woodstock a “cultural and pharmaceutical event,” which he did not attend because he was “tied-up” at the time…in a prisoner of war camp. Joy said that the Republicans want even more money to make a “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska. Elisabeth acknowledged that the Republicans have been overspending in the last four years and that they are trying to correct that.

Sherri didn’t know what Woodstock was before today. I realize that she is not old enough to have gone to it, but how could she have missed every cultural reference to the event throughout her entire life?

(more…)

ABC has released what we should expect from The View in November.

Some highlights:

Guests: Jerry Seinfeld, Peter Krause, Keri Russell, Johnathan Rhys Meyers, Ethan Hawke, David Spade, Teri Hatcher, Jessica Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Jason Bateman, Jorja Fox, Molly Shannon, Marcia Cross, Celine Dion, Brooks & Dunn, Trisha Yearwood, and Andrea Bocelli.

Guest host: Jessica Simpson, November 15-16.

Every Thursday, starting November 1st, the couple voted off of Dancing with the Stars will dance on the show.

November 1st: Sherri Shepherd explores New York City.

November 5th-9th: A showcase of “must-have” items from each of the co-hosts.

November 12th-16th: Budget Week: affordable fashions from top retail stores

Tuesday, November 13: Whoopi’s birthday. Bill O’Reilly is the featured guest.

Thursday, November 15th: The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout

Barbara Walters attended the New York City premiere of American Gangster last Friday. The movie stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Here are some photos of her from the red carpet.

Does anyone know who the man is? Could it be her boyfriend, Dr. Robert N. Butler?

Barbara Walters, American Gangster, Dr. Robert N. Butler, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe

ABC has announced that Dancing with the Stars host Samantha Harris is confirmed to guest host on The View this Thursday and Friday, October 25th and 26th.

Harris recently returned to DWTS from maternity leave after giving birth about one month ago.

Samantha Harris, The View, Dancing with the Stars

The View has announced the first of the guest hosts to be taking the place of Elisabeth Hasselbeck, whose maternity leave starts next week. One Life to Live star Kassie DePaiva will guest host next Wednesday October 24th.

Kassie guest hosted in May of this year. I do not really remember her that well, and my recap does not really indicate whether I liked her or not.

Here is a blurb about Kassie from the press release:

Mrs. DePaiva recently released her third CD “I Want to Love.” In addition to her music and playing one of daytime’s most entertaining troublemakers Blair Manning on “One Life to Live,” Mrs. DePaiva is also the host of the PBS series “Knit & Crochet Today.” Her 10-year-old son JQ was born profoundly deaf and the singer/actress remains committed to hearing health awareness.

Mrs. DePaiva and “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd are both to attend the 12th annual “ABC Super Soap Weekend” at Disney-MGM Studios at The Walt Disney World Resort, Presented by Colgate® Total® November 10-11. The weekend will feature over 30 ABC Daytime stars, autograph sessions, celebrity motorcades, talk shows, interviews and the chance to purchase one-of-a-kind memorabilia from each of the shows. The Colgate Total Street Jam will close the event each day with live musical performances by some popular Daytime stars.

The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Kassie DePaiva, One Life to Live

The first topic on The View today was how the Dalai Lama often speaks about ways to be happy. Barbara Walters interviewed him and he said that the purpose of life is to be happy and the way to do that is warmheartedness and compassion. She said that for three days after the interview she followed those principles, but her crew told her that she was boring.

Joy Behar says that sometimes if you are too happy, the other shoe will drop and something bad will happen. Whoopi Goldberg said that you can be happy, but you have to recognize that sometimes you will have not-happy moments. Sherri Shepherd said that sometimes she is so happy she thinks that she will wake up and it will have been a dream.

Barbara spoke with the governor of New Jersey, who thought he was going to die following a traffic accident. He said that it changed his outlook on life, realizing that tomorrow might not come. Elisabeth said that is too bad that it takes an incident like that for people to appreciate life.

Joy said that she had a near-death experience and following that got a divorce and went on to be a stand-up comedian. Barbara then told a joke, which I won’t bother to write out here, but it was actually funny, unlike her previous joke attempts.

There is a middle school in Maine that will be dispensing birth control pills and patches. The kids need parental permission to use the health center, but not specific permission to get the birth control. Elisabeth said that it is a prescription drug that can interfere with other drugs and has side effects, so the parents should need to know. She also said that it may provide a false sense of security for the child, who may not remember to take the pill at the same time everyday. She said that it also puts a bigger wall between parents and children.

(more…)

The first “hot” topic on The View was that a woman in New York found a seven foot python in her toilet. Sherri Shepherd talked about how Whoopi Goldberg has a toilet at her house that has a built-in bidet, a dryer, and a heated seat. It is made by Toto.

The next topic was whether the perfect woman exists. Joy Behar said only in the movies, like Juliette Binoche in her latest movie Dan in Real Life, which co-stars Steve Carrell. Juliette is on the show today. (Have you noticed that they are integrating the guests into the hot topics more lately? Maybe to get people to stick around for the interview segments? I think it always seems forced when they do it).

Whoopi’s daughter Alex was in the audience of today’s show. She revealed that Whoopi used to be a big Jerry Springer Show fan, but now she goes to bed by 2:00 in afternoon because of the radio show and this show. Whoopi said that she liked the show because they were people you could never find anywhere else.

French President Sarkozy is splitting from his wife after 11 years of marriage. The divorce may be unconstitutional because French laws prohibit legal action against a sitting president. Barbara said that the wife was with another man in New York and did not go to his inauguration. She said that it did not hurt his campaign at all, but it would here. Sherri said that people who don’t have integrity in the bedroom and cheat on their spouse cannot be expected to run a country. Whoopi said that what they do in their personal life is their business, unless it affects the country. Joy agreed that what happens in their bedroom is none of our business.

(more…)

Sherri Shepherd will appear on the Martha Stewart show today. She and Martha will be making a child’s pumpkin Halloween costume out of a pillowcase.

Sherri Shepherd, Martha Stewart, Halloween, children’s costumes

Here is next week’s schedule for The View, subject to change.  I will let you know if I hear anything about who the guest hosts will be in the second half of the week after Elisabeth Hasselbeck departs for maternity leave.

MONDAY, OCT. 22 – Ricki Lake (“Matters of Life and Dating”); musical guest The Wiggles; “Whoopi’s Kickin’ Butts: How to Quit Smoking.”

 

TUESDAY, OCT. 23 – Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s last show before maternity leave; Mariah Carey; Lance Bass (author, “Out of Sync”).  

 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24 – Guest co-host to be announced; George Carlin (“All My Stuff”); James Lipton (author, “Inside Inside”); musical guest Feist. 

 

THURSDAY, OCT. 25 – Guest co-host to be announced; Julianne Moore (“Freckleface Strawberry”); couple voted off ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

 

FRIDAY, OCT. 26 – Guest co-host to be announced; Bob Saget (Broadway’s “The Drowsy Chaperone”); Deborah Norville (author, “Thank You Power”).

Sherri Shepherd appeared as a guest on The Martha Stewart Show today. Before Sherri came out, they played the clip of when Martha Stewart was on The View and Sherri had the drink with rum in it and “passed out.”

In the interview segment, Sherri said that things are going well at The View and they all get along and do not argue. Martha said, “Too bad,” meaning that it would hurt the ratings. Sherri also said that sometimes she cannot believe that she is sitting on the couch with Barbara Walters, so she will inch closer to Whoopi Goldberg.

Sherri said that she is a real New Yorker now because she bought a Metro Card and is riding the subway all over town. Martha admitted that she has not been on the subway in over six years. They agreed to do a segment in the future where they ride around on the subway. Martha thinks that more people will recognize Sherri than her.

They then turned an orange pillowcase in a pumpkin costume. I expected Sherri to be a little silly during the crafting part, but she actually did a good job, although she did get in some one-liners. I don’t normally watch the Martha show, so I am unsure if the audience was not laughing or if the show just does not have microphones in the crowd the way The View does.

For the instructions on how to make the costume, modeled by Max, the son of the Martha Show’s attorney, visit Martha’s website here.

Sherri Shepherd, The View, Martha Stewart, The Martha Stewart Show

Today The View finally had a topic more relevant than fall fashion or Britney Spears, but the first 2/3 of the show were unfortunately preempted by President Bush. As of right now there are not video clips of the episode available on the ABC website, but I will let you know if I see them pop up there. Below (in blockquotes) is the official recap from ABC. Below that are my thoughts on the part of the episode that I was actually able to see.

We welcomed the woman who wrote the Bible for women battling breast cancer, President and Medical Director of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and author of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, Dr. Susan Love. She joined the ladies at the Hot Topics table. For more information about her foundation, go to dslrf.org.

Then, newswoman René Syler, author of the book Good Enough Mother, came by to reveal why she made the controversial decision to have a double mastectomy even though she didn’t have breast cancer.

Next, we welcomed Lori Benson, who was loving life as a mom of a 14-month-old baby when she suddenly found herself fighting for her life. As a love letter to her daughter, she decided to film her battle with breast cancer. Now, that love letter has turned into the award-winning documentary Dear Talula. For more information, visit deartalula.com.

I caught the tail-end of the segment with Lori. Her daughter, now almost six, was adorable and had made cards for each of the hosts. They showed a clip from the movie in which Lori made a joke while reading the side effects of treatment. She said that you have to find humor in situations when you can. They also showed a clip of Lori’s devastation when she could no longer breastfeed her daughter following her mastectomy. She said that she felt that it took some power away from her as a mother to no longer be able to have that part of their relationship.

Donna Bruck was 24 years old when she heard a commercial saying that women over 20 should do self-breast exams. That night she did so and found a marble-like lump which was later diagnosed as breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and five months of chemotherapy. She does not know if that will prevent her from having children in the future.

After her diagnosis, her mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer. Dr. Love said that it is not common for women in their 20s to get breast cancer, although in women who have it in their family, like Donna, it is more common. Donna’s grandfather also had breast cancer. Dr. Love said that the average age of breast cancer patients in this country is 64.

Donna has been recognized as a Yoplait® Champion for helping other people to fight breast cancer. She has a team called “Fight like a girl” that raises money for the American Cancer Society. She also has a local project called “cancer connection” where she goes with people to their treatment appointments.

For more information on breast cancer awareness, check out Discussing Breast Cancer.

Donna Bruck, The View, breast cancer, Dear Talula , Lori Benson, Rene Syler, Dr. Susan Love, breast cancer awareness

Today’s episode of The View is a special about breast cancer awareness.

I will have my full recap up tonight.  Please feel free to comment here about today’s show in the meantime.