Watching The View

I thought about making this a gradual thing and sort of petering off my involvement with this site, but then I decided it was better to just pull off the band-aid and be done.

As of today, I am leaving Watching the View.

Now before your minds start churning with ideas of corporate take-down or external pressure, you should know that this decision was all mine. I have just reached the point where I don’t like having to watch The View or write about it or even think about it.

When I started this site in January 2007, it was for one specific reason: Rosie O’Donnell had made the show the very essence of must-see-TV. And not because of the “feuds” or the arguments, but because she is one of the most engaging personalities in the world of television and she does not hesitate to give her (real, honest, not spoon-fed or prefabricated) views.

After her departure, I stayed with this site after some hesitation, mostly because I enjoyed the community that had been created here. Because of you. That and because I really thought that The View would get better than it was in the initial wake of her absence. Two years later I am still waiting.

The show unfortunately has been extremely predictable and a caricature, with each host fitting in her pigeon-hole saying things we expect them to say, whether they truly believe it or not. When I think of the show I no longer think about anything positive, but dwell on Whoopi Goldberg’s disinterest in the guests, whining about taxes and running out on the stage to steal food in EVERY FOOD SEGMENT, the fact that Joy Behar does not even write the stale one-liners she is so fond of and cannot stop telling Monica jokes, the fact that Barbara Walters might no longer be remembered for being a TV icon, but rather for being that aging journalist who has stayed on way too long and doesn’t realize that she is embarrassing herself, Sherri Shepherd spending the majority of the time she speaks talking about how she needs a man when really she needs to be focusing on loving herself and determining what is truly important to her and not letting her religion or others tell her what to believe, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck . . . well she never did have any bright spot for me to begin with. The joy in View-ville is long gone and I do not think it is coming back.

Although the amount of money I make on this site is a barely minimum wage level given the amount of time I have to put into it, I have stuck with it anyway because of a desire to maintain the community and because others seemed to enjoy it more than I did.

Most of you have no idea what goes on behind-the-scenes, but running this blog is no easy feat. I have tried not to care about keeping the peace, not bother weeding out the negativity, ignoring all the hate e-mail and bickering, but I just cannot become detached enough from the blog because I know that what others write can affect many of you negatively and I do not want that.

I know that many of you will be saddened to have lost this place to vent, communicate, and share ideas. You are welcome to continue to post here, although I do not know if they will be hiring a new writer. You can also post comments at my other View blog which will remain up for now, although I won’t be posting there either. (I will be re-posting this entry there as well in case the powers that be here take this down for some reason).

While I am certain those at ABC who are aware of this little blog are happy to see me go because it means more people have to actually watch the show to know what happens on it, I hope that you all think about whether you need The View in your lives anymore. There are many other ways you can spend your time that will be healthier, more enlightening, or at the very least more entertaining.

Thank you all for your support over the years. My e-mail address is: winnieblogs @ gmail.com

Sometimes it can be difficult to break away from something that as been a part of your life for so long, even if that thing is no longer good for you. If you want to stop watching The View, reading about the The View and talking about The View, try one of these things for an alternative way to spend your time. I know that I will be trying out a few of them myself.

1. Write a letter to a friend or family member that you haven’t spoken to for awhile.

2. Go to the library or read a book you have at home that you haven’t gotten around to reading.

3. Look into something online you always wanted to learn about, but didn’t have the time for.

4. Think of something you could invent. I have often heard of the best inventions are improvements on existing products, so that might be a good place to start.

5. Go through your closet and pull out clothes to donate to charity. Then actually follow through and donate. There are organizations that will even come by and pick up the items.

6. Go for a walk. Even just around the block.

7. Call or IM a friend and discuss your own hot topics.

8. Find another show on television and give it a try. Who knows, it might be something you like more than The View.

9. Bake, Craft, or Cook something new.

10. I know this site has a lot of passionate, intelligent, and insightful readers. Focus that and use it to change the world, change something in your town, or maybe just something in your life. It is clear that ABC and the folks at The View aren’t going to change their ways, despite how reasoned your analysis and suggestions to them happen to be. Find a cause you believe in, put all your energy into it and just imagine how much you can accomplish.

11. Relish in the calmness that you feel now that you are no longer being annoyed by [insert here the host(s) name who annoys you]. It does indeed feel like a weight has been lifted.

Today on The View the scheduled guest was supposed to be Harold Perrineau (ABC’s The Unusuals). However, I just checked the schedule and it now says: Marlee Matlin (author, I’ll Scream Later); How to lose 5 pounds on fast food with Keri Glassman. I love this picture I found of Harold and his daughter, though, so I am leaving it up.
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Today on the April 29, 2009, episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg was “off” again today. Joy Behar said that everyone needs a day off once in awhile.

Sherri Shepherd went to the WWE last night and hung out with MVP and “got to know each other a little bit better.” He is single and has a good job, which makes her not worry about his credit score. I saw pictures of her online that I will post a little bit later today where she was in the ring and smacking MVP’s opponent. I am not sure if that was a rehearsal or if the Friday WWE show is taped? Sorry I know nothing about WWE and how that works.
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Joy Behar was on Good Morning America this morning. It was a pretty funny interview. She talked about her new book, the SNL impersonation of her, and the rumors about getting married. Check it out at ABC News.

Thanks to Susieq for the link!

Joy Behar, Good Morning America, The View, SNL

Today on this prerecorded episode of The View, the four main hosts were present. (Ever notice how Barbara Walters is a lot more scarce when she doesn’t have a special to promote?) The first topic was the fact Clint Eastwood said in a recent interview that he missed the days that he could make jokes based on ethnicity. Joy Behar said that he said that he gave the interview to a German newspaper and talked about Jews. Sherri Shepherd said that she would like to know what the minority feels about the jokes as a measure of whether it appropriate. Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that causally tossing around racial terms or sexist terms, there is not a place for that. Whoopi asked what about comedy, saying Don Rickles does it well. Sherri said that the person at butt of the joke might not think he does it well. Elisabeth said at least you know where people stand as opposed to when people are PC and hiding what they really feel. Whoopi said that do we all have certain feelings like that, noting that she was driving in her car and screamed at an old person who was driving too slow. Sherri said that no one can say they have not said something bad when they are alone. Joy said it is okay for her to joke about Italians because she is one, but it is not okay for others to do so.
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Today on The View, Barbara Walters acted as moderator because Whoopi Goldberg is on her way back (via bus) from Los Angeles, where she participated in the Academy Awards. They all thought she looked great last night. (I disagree. You can see pictures in a post I did last night). They all complained how about long the Oscar ceremony was on. Joy Behar liked Tina Fey and Steve Martin. Elisabeth Hasselbeck thought Hugh Jackman did a great job. Barbara thinks that Joy and Sherri should do the show. Sherri said that the show had the “Obama effect“ because there were a lot of Black people participating in the show. Barbara said that is because there are so many more than there were before. (Black people?) Joy said that she did not notice. Sherri said that she noticed because she is used to seeing the lack of Black people.
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Today’s scheduled guests are Patricia Arquette (”Medium”) and Emily Osment (”Dadnapped”). All five hosts were present.

They started the show by showing a clip of “Lil’ View,” from the “Talkshow with Spike Feresten.” It was Joy, Elisabeth, Whoopi, and Barbara played by little kids. It was pretty cute. Whoopi wondered if they could not find a second black child to play Sherri. Sherri said that she has two nieces that could have played her or she could have done it herself.

A president ages at a rate of two years for every one year he is in office. Joy said that Obama aged during the campaign, too. They showed pictures of him and previous presidents that showed how much they aged. Elisabeth said people might be offended if they did that to women, if they ever get in office. Barbara said that she saw Hillary Clinton getting off a plane in Tokyo and she looks heavier. Sherri said that Obama should quit smoking for his health, but also because it can age you. Joy said that she heard that nicotine is an anti-depressant. Whoopi said that people don’t talk about how bad alcohol is for you. Barbara said that why do things that are bad for you taste good, like a cookie. Whoopi said that things don’t taste like themselves anymore and even cookies are flavored to taste like cookies.
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Whoopi Golberg appeared on the Fox News show Hannity last week. Here are the videos of her appearance.

Thanks to Roger from Ohio for the heads-up.

The View, Whoopi Goldberg, Hannity, Fox News

Today on The View the scheduled guests are Julianne Moore, Whitney Port, and musical guest Peter Cincotti. I will be posting my recap at the end of the episode, but feel free to comment here during the show as well, if you are so inclined.

UPDATE: Actually, sorry, but no recap today. It is Friday, though, so I probably am not missing much. If it was being taped live today, I am sure they would be talking about Rod Blagojevich being removed from office late yesterday afternoon. Barbara Walters would no doubt mention that the prosecutor, in his closing argument, argued that Blagojevich talked more about the evidence with Barbara Walters on The View than he did in the Senate. I am sure that Barbara would say something like she was flattered to be mentioned and she is glad he said her name, unlike that news photo the other day that left her name off. Whoopi would say something like, “Affidavits! Affidavits!” and Joy would joke that Blagojevich’s hair still looks perfect.

Alas, it is a prerecorded episode which probably means a discussion of some sex survey or article that no one cares about. I think I should start a campaign to bring back five days of live shows. As it stands now, Friday’s hot topics are even less relevant than the rest of the week.

The View, Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Julianne Moore, Whitney Port, Peter Cincotti

Today on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck was back and it was just the four main hosts. Elisabeth had been gone due to the death of her grandmother. She said that her “Mama” as she called her, was a very special person in her life and helped raise her and her brother. She showed a picture of her and her brother with her grandparents from her childhood. She joked that she was surprised to see her natural hair color in the photo because it has been so long. Elisabeth’s brother gave an “amazing eulogy” at the funeral and showed great strength in doing so. Joy said that when your grandmother dies it is different than when your mother dies because a grandmother gives unconditional love and your mother disciplines you. Elisabeth said her Mama was known to go after her with a paddle.

Elisabeth said that they had a traditional Italian wake and funeral and ate a lot of food and “stuffed ourselves silly.” Her grandmother would be happy because she cooked all the time. Whoopi said that black funerals and Italian funerals are similar. She said that someone always says, “I wanna go with her.”
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Today on The View was another day of hot topics. Today’s guests were Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Nancy Grace. Elisabeth Hasselbeck was not present because her grandmother died. Whoopi Goldberg had a tiara on, I guess because Miss America pageant was this past weekend and she congratulated Miss Indiana on her victory. Barbara Walters appeared on a television by remote because she was in Los Angles to work on the Oscar special. They had the television sitting at the table in the spot where she would be sitting. Sherri Shepherd kissed the screen. It was pretty odd to see the television sitting at the table.
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Here are some photos of Sherri Shepherd at two recent events. The first two are from the Trumpet Awards in Atlanta on Saturday, January 24th. She is pictured with honoree Chris Tucker and actress Kym Whitley.

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The rumor that I posted this morning is true! ABC News just announced that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his wife Patti will appear on The View this Monday, January 26th. He will also be on Good Morning America earlier Monday.

The View, Rod Blagojevich, Patti Blagojevich

Today on this pre-taped episode of The View, it was four hosts again, with Sherri Shepherd being absent. She will be back on Monday.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck had a “major problem” with The Bachelor this week, which she just watched on TiVo. She is pulling for one woman who lost her husband and is a single mom. However, the woman’s little girl, who appeared in the episode, was not in a car seat or even buckled in the back of a car leaving their date with the bachelor. Barbara Walters thought maybe she was in the car for a moment for the shot only. Elisabeth said that there is a higher risk of death for toddlers not in car seats or booster seats. Joy said she wondered what the truth of all of it is, because women used to drink while pregnant, and smoke, and didn’t buckle seat belts.
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ABC has begun airing full episodes of The View online. The shows will be available by 4:00 p.m. eastern time on the day the show airs. It may require you to download a plug-in to view the videos. The most recent five episodes will be available on any given day. There is a link on the main View page or you can go directly to the ABC TV page.

(Disclaimer: I personally have not been able to get the videos to work because it keeps telling me I need to install plug-ins and updates, etc. and then it doesn’t work even when I do. Let me know if you have better luck!)