Watching The View

Today on The View, all five hosts were at the table. Joy Behar said she still has a bad cold, but is not contagious. She said she “croaked through 45 minutes” at her stand-up performance with Whoopi on Saturday.

Barbara Walters went to see Celine Dion last night at Madison Square Garden. She said Celine is “just the nicest lady” and does a great act. Sherri Shepherd said if you think about the sound of angels singing, that is Celine’s voice. Barbara ate a whole box of popcorn. Barbara gained three pounds from eating the popcorn. She had lost weight, almost 15 pounds and it took a year to lose it. Whoopi joked she was “looking a little chunky” and joked she only weighed 21 pounds to begin with. Sherri said Barbara’s butt looks good. Joy said Barbara gains her weight in her boobs and that is what her husbands liked. She said if a man likes flat-chested woman, you should see if he is gay.

Whoopi revisited yesterday’s topic of she and Sherri getting poor cable service. DirectTV and Time Warner (she did not say the names today) came to the rescue. Whoopi said that the companies should treat everyone with the kind of service they gave her and Sherri yesterday. Sherri said they sent the cutest guys to her house to work on her cable. Whoopi said “desperate women will accept anything” and then said she meant desperate for cable.
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Following the John McCain and Cindy McCain interview on The View on Friday, there has certainly been a lot of response, both positive and negative. This will no doubt make Barbara Walters very happy. I am predicting that if she is on The View today, she will certainly bring up all the attention that The View has garnered over the weekend, perhaps showing some newspaper headlines. Part of me wonders if she may also feel compelled to make a comment about how she is a journalist and it is her role to ask tough questions, in order to stave off criticism that she was too harsh. I hope she does not make such an apology, but that type of statement might be necessary in her eyes in order to one day get Sarah Palin on the show.

Here are some highlights of the View/McCain aftermath:

ABC, Cindy McCain criticized the interview that took place on The View on Friday. She told supporters that the hosts of The View, “picked our bones clean.”

Watching the View received a record number of visitors in one day on Friday, including a large amount of new visitors and commenters. The amount of negativity and hate against the show and its hosts beat the positive comments about 5-1. Many of the comments were not approved due to vulgar language, racist comments, and overall disgusting-ness. Others were not approved because they violated our comment policy right off the bat. I figure if someone cannot follow the rules on their very first comment, they should not be permitted to post.

The Nation asked: “Thank God for Barbara Walters?” in their article on the John McCain interview. (Thanks to several of you who sent me the link).

The New York Times asserted: “The View Couch Not So Cozy for McCain.”

Hannity & Colmes headline: “Claws Come Out.” (That link also has a video of the discussion on that show).

John McCain, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Cindy McCain, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Sherri Shepherd, Watching the View

Here are some more photos of Elisabeth Hasselbeck at the US Weekly party for the “25 Most Stylish New Yorkers.” Although I originally (incorrectly) reported to the contrary, Elisabeth made the 2008 list of the most stylish. Her husband Tim Hasselbeck also appears in one of the photos below.

EDITED TO ADD: My earlier version of this post was inaccurate. I had looked at the 2007 list of US Weekly’s 25 Top Most Stylish New Yorkers. Elisabeth Hasselbeck IS on this year’s list. You can see the 2008 list here. Thanks to reader Vegas for the correction!

View host Elisabeth Hasselbeck attended US Weekly’s “The 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers” event Friday night in New York City.

Here are a couple of photos of Elisabeth at the event:

Despite the fact that it is Friday, a day that is usually pre-taped, today’s episode of The View was live. All five hosts were present for today’s episode. They were all wearing black and white.

The first topic was Sarah Palin’s interview last night. Barbara said that John McCain said that he will get Palin to come onto The View. Sherri thinks that Palin is a “formidable woman,” but the interview reminded her of being in the principal’s office. She noted that Palin spoke well and did not use any “ahhs” or “uhhs.” Elisabeth said that some people are saying that the interview was too hard, but it should be hard, because it is not a date. Joy wonders if they would say it was “too tough” if she was not a woman? Barbara said she was “very well briefed.” She said she did not know what the “Bush doctrine,” is but everyone in government does not. Joy said that everyone in government is not running for VP. Joy said saying you are ready does not mean it is true. She could say that she (Joy) is ready to be a model, but it isn’t true. Elisabeth said she has run a state. Barbara said that we need not go through the whole litany again.

Whoopi said the interview didn’t do anything for her and did not feel engaged in the conversation. She doesn’t like that they split the interview into 48 parts. Barbara said she doesn’t know whose decision it was to break it up into sections of sitting and walking. Whoopi thought it was too tense and rehearsed and there was no relaxed part of it. Joy said it was very strict and severe, but they tried to act like it was relaxed by having them walking. Whoopi wants to tell Palin that if you aren’t sure of the answer, do not keep repeating the same phrase over again. Elisabeth said all the politicians do that. Whoopi said she is supposed to be different kind of politician. Joy wants to see the interviews unedited. Barbara saw the unedited version and they didn’t take out anything important, but that Palin had a really long answer which was not shown prior to Charlie Gibson saying he got lost in all the words.
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Today on the September 11th episode of The View, all five hosts were present. They began the show by acknowledging the anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Whoopi asked where they all were that day. Barbara Walters had an assignment that day to talk to families of the survivors. Elisabeth was in Los Angeles. Joy was in make-up room that day at The View. She noted that she is losing her voice today and joked it was God’s will. Sherri said that God wants her to scream from the mountain tops. Joy said that she still gets chills every year and pointed it out that it is always a nice day on the anniversary. Sherri did a comedy show that night and it was the most crowded it had ever been because people needed to laugh. Whoopi was doing interviews in LA following the completion of taping of Hollywood Squares. When she first saw it on the television, she thought it was a movie. She stayed in LA, but let people use her bus to get back to NYC.

Elisabeth was in the park with the kids last week and heard shouting. It was 100 Army people working out. Elisabeth yelled “woo!” at them. She explained to Grace that they were working to protect us. Grace asked why they needed protection. She told them that they have been working seven years to keep us safe. She didn’t want to give her fear because children will have their own fears. Grace then turned and said, “Woo!” at the Army people. Sherri said she held Jeffrey a little closer today. Joy’s daughter was on a plane on 9/11 getting ready to go to Canada. Joy called her and told her to get off the plane and she did. The stewardess did not know or was not telling the passengers. Whoopi said today is the day that you recognize that we are all American. Barbara said that although many people are critical of President Bush, whatever has happened, we have not been attacked in the past seven years and they should give credit where credit is due. They all agreed.
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Today on The View, Barbara Walters was absent. They talked about how the set background changed from purple to yellow which they liked better. (I liked the purple, personally, but no one asked me)

Whoopi Golberg’s last night at Xanadu was last night. She is exhausted. Elisabeth Hasselbeck pointed out how close Whoopi had gotten with the cast. Joy recommended community theater to people, as did Whoopi, because it is a great experience and you can meet interesting people. Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters went to see Whoopi in the show together. They also had lunch together and it messed with Sherri’s head that she was having lunch with one of the top 100 most powerful women. Barbara told Sherri not to read bad press and gave her advice on being a single mom. She wants to have a pajama party with Barbara.

Joy will be on Larry King Live tomorrow night as a guest.

The Video Music Awards were last night. Whoopi thought Britney Spears looked “terrific.” Sherri said for awhile there people were worried about her but she looked “so good.” Joy jokingly asked if she had a baby on her lap. They showed a clip of her winning an award, thanking her beautiful children. Joy said she is waiting for someone to come on TV and thank their “ugly children.” They then talked about cute babies and ugly babies. Sherri said Jeffrey had such a big forehead, it was a “fivehead,” but he grew hair so he looks better now. Whoopi said her daughter looked like Mao when she was born and she kept trying to give her back to her real mother. Joy said her daughter is beautiful now but looked like Nikita Khrushchev when she was born. Elisabeth said that Grace looks just like Tim, but that Taylor looks Elisabeth’s grandfather.
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Although the ABC website lists the September 12th episode of The View as “to be announced,” People Magazine has reported that the guests that day will be John McCain and Cindy McCain.

From People.com:

Then on Friday, John and Cindy McCain will sit with Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd on the chat-fest’s couch for an entire show. Their appearance will kick off The View’s “Red, White and View” campaign of programming aimed at getting the vote out in November.

The People article also discusses how many were labelling Elisabeth Hasselbeck a “rock star” at the Republican National Convention and that she also “scored a one-on-one meeting the GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.” Elisabeth also handed out “vintage-style “McCain ‘08″ T-shirts she designed herself” and reportedly gave one to friend Sean Hannity.

You can read the full article at People.

The View, John McCain, Cindy McCain, Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Here is the tentative schedule for The View for September 8th-12th, subject to change. As expected, there will be a segment with Elisabeth Hasselbeck recorded at the Republican National Convention. I guess it is a McCain-themed week as John McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, will be appearing on Tuesday to promote her book about her father.

I will update this post again once they decide what Friday’s episode will be about. (Currently listed as “to be announced”) EDITED TO ADD: It may be even more McCain-themed than I thought. People magazine is reporting that the guests on Friday are John and Cindy McCain.

Monday, September 8th: Brad Garrett (’Til Death); Elisabeth Hasselbeck behind-the-scenes at the Republican National Convention.

Tuesday, September 9th: Judge Judy (Judge Judy); Meghan McCain (author, My Dad, John McCain); 2008 Olympic individual all-around gold medalist Anastasia “Nastia” Liukin.

Wednesday, September 10th: Jamie Lee Curtis (author, Big Words for Little People); Natalie Cole.

Thursday, September 11th: Jessica Simpson; Tyler Perry (Tyler Perry’s The Family that Preys).

Friday, September 12th: To be announced

The View host Elisabeth Hasselbeck will appear on Hannity & Colmes tonight to talk about Sarah Palin and the election. The description of the show says, “Has Sarah Palin ushered in a new era for women in politics? We ask Elizabeth Hasselbeck for insight!” (Note they spelled her name wrong again, although this time they got the last name right and the first name wrong)

The show airs on Fox News Channel at 9:00 p.m. eastern time tonight. I am not sure I will be able to watch it, but, if I do, I will post a recap. If not, I may be able to get a transcript or a video clip to share with all of you. If you watch, feel free to comment here about what she had to say on the show.

Thanks to Sunny for posting the info about the show in the comment section.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sarah Palin, Hannity & Colmes, Fox News

Here is a partial video of the Cindy McCain tribute luncheon at which Elisabeth Hasselbeck served as the MC today. (Courtesy of C-SPAN) I am not sure how long the luncheon lasted before the part that is at the start of the clip and am I not sure if we missed anything in that earlier part. For those of you who don’t want to watch the video, here is a brief summary.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck appears at the beginning of the clip and introduces country singer Clay Walker. He jokes that he has never been on The View and hopes maybe if the audience likes him that he will be invited to her show. He then sings “I’m proud to be an American.”

Elisabeth then returns to the podium and says that it felt good to sing that song. She then tells Clay that he is going to be booked on The View. Then she introduces actor Jon Voight who speaks. (I don’t know what he said, I fast-forwarded through it).

A video tribute clip to Cindy McCain then plays. Following that, Elisabeth introduces Todd Palin, husband of VP-candidate Sarah Palin, which I wrote about earlier today. Elisabeth says that Sarah Palin “knocked the cover off the ball last night” and she “knocked the wind out of the liberal smear machine” and she showed “grit and passion.”

Todd Palin then spoke. (I fast-forwarded again, but his remarks are summarized here). Todd Palin then introduced Cindy McCain who spoke for several minutes. When she left the stage at the end of the speech, she got a big hug from Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Cindy McCain, John McCain, Clay Walker

As I wrote previously, Elisabeth Hasselbeck is at the Republican National Convention today to host a luncheon for Cindy McCain, which was called “A Tribute to Cindy McCain.” According to ABC News, Todd Palin, husband of VP candidate Sarah Palin, spoke briefly at the luncheon.

Elisabeth introduced Cindy McCain and Todd Palin as “the next First Lady and future first Second Man.” She also reportedly told Todd Palin, “You better get your game face on because America fell in love with your wife last night.”

More information on his remarks here. I will post pictures of Elisabeth at the event if any become available. (Be sure to let me know if you see photos or video of her at the event anywhere!) EDITED TO ADD: I found video of the event on the C-SPAN website. I have posted it here: Video of Elisabeth Hasselbeck MC’s Cindy McCain Luncheon.

The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Todd Palin

The official View website has an “Elisabeth Cam” video posted. It follows Elisabeth Hasselbeck on this past Tuesday leaving her building and going back to work for the first day back from hiatus.

It shows her greeting audience members waiting in line outside, as well as greeting the other hosts when she arrives late to the dressing room. It also shows Sherri Shepherd enthusiastically shouting “PALIN!” before they go out on stage.

Click the photo to head to the ABC page to see the video or click here. Be sure to check out how they incorrectly spelled Elisabeth’s name in the caption of the video. EDITED TO ADD: They corrected the spelling. It had been “Elisibeth.”

Thanks to the person who emailed me the information. I would thank you by name but you didn’t leave your name in the message! (You know who you are!)

Elisabeth Haselbeck, Sherri Shepherd, The View

Today on the September 4th episode of The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck was not present because she will be at the Republican National Convention later today. Sherri Shepherd was absent yesterday because it was Jeffrey’s first day of school. He was fine, but she didn’t want to leave him. She felt a “pang” that he didn’t cry or anything and it took her six tries to leave. When he got home, he kept saying he wanted to go to school. The school is for children who have developmental delays and she feels good leaving him there.

Sarah Palin gave her speech last night at the convention. Barbara Walters said she was “just wonderful” no matter what her views were and it will be tough for Joe Biden to debate her. Sherri was disappointed that she made fun of Barack Obama’s job as a community avtivist, which he did when he could have taken a high paying job instead. He was serving his country. Sherri broke down when Palin said that people who have a special needs children have a friend in her. Joy said she was great and could be a comedian because she has great timing. Joy thinks that men are attracted to her and she is like a librarian who has the hair up and then takes it down and “va va va voom.” She said that might be sexist, but that men did not find Hillary Clinton attractive.

Whoopi thought it was a good speech and she came out strong. She gave information we would not have known before. She was also bothered by the slighting of Barack’s role as a community organizer. Whoopi was really aggravated when Palin said she had to explain to her opponents what a mayor is and that community organizers don’t have actual responsibilities. Whoopi said that it is often the activists who are getting information back to the mayor about what is going on in the city. They liked the clip of the little daughter holding the baby and fixing his hair with spit. Barbara said it may cost her an interview, but read from an article that said that as governor, Palin raised taxes, pursued pork belly projects, looked into banning books, and thinks the Iraq war is God’s will. Palin also recently cut funding for teen mothers who don’t have a place to live. Barbara said that none of those things were addressed in her speech.
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In lieu of my complete written recap please enjoy these videos from the September 3rd episode of The View. There are four videos of the extended hot topics that they had today. Prior to the videos I have written a brief recap of what happened before the discussion in the first clip. The last video is the musical performance by singer Adele. Although Maura Tierney was scheduled for today, I guess that she got bumped or canceled at the last minute. If anyone was looking forward to her appearance, I will let you know if she is rescheduled.
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Today on The View, Sherri Shepherd was absent because she was taking her son Jeffrey to his first day of school. They talked about how school starts younger these days. Joy Behar said she had to sing Italian songs in Kindergarten to get cookies and milk.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck went to see Whoopi Goldberg in Xanadu last night and had a lot fun. Whoopi is only in the show through Sunday. Elisabeth said that Whoopi shares a dressing room and bathroom with her cast mates there, even though she is famous enough to have gotten a trailer. Joy was skeptical of a trailer at Broadway. Whoopi said that it was love that Elisabeth went to see Whoopi rather than stay at home and watch the Republican convention.