Watching The View

Here are some just released photos of Barbara Walters, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Joy Behar at Barbara’s Walk of Fame ceremony!

Barbara Walters, The View, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck

According to Planet Gossip, Kathy and Nicky Hilton are among the spectators at the Walk of Fame ceremony for Barbara Walters! I know that the event is open to the public, but I have no doubt that Barbara invited them personally. They need to show some support for Barbara after she worked so hard this week to attempt to single-handedly improve Paris’s image in the public eye.

I will post more information on the ceremony, as well as photos when they become available.
UPDATE: Photos of Barbara, Joy Behar, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck are here. Photo of Nicky and Kathy Hilton (with Joy in the background) here.

Barbara Walters, walk of fame, The View, Kathy Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Paris Hilton

I do not know how much reliability the story has, but according to Star magazine, Whoopi Goldberg will be given the role as host to replace Rosie O’Donnell on The View. The article quotes a “network insider” who says that, “as far as everyone at ABC is concerned, she has the job.” According to the “insider” Whoopi won everyone over and is expected to join the show full-time in the fall. However, no agreement has been reached at this point.

For the full-story, check out Star Magazine Online.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Star Magazine

According to Page Six, Rosie O’Donnell’s writer and friend Janette Barber (the “Ja” in Jahero) was escorted out of ABC studios on Wednesday because she allegedly drew mustaches on photographs of Elisabeth Hasselbeck that hang in the studio. According to the article, ABC did confirm that:

photographs at The View’s offices were defaced. Rosie O’Donnell was not in the building. ABC Legal and Human Resources are investigating the matter.

Can this really be true? Janette is a long-time friend of Rosie O’Donnell and I could see her wanting to do something to support her friend, but would she really stoop to such a low?

Rosie O’Donnell, Janette Barber, Page Six, The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Lisa Ling, former co-host on The View, is working with Oxygen network’s Mentors Walk. The event, whose tagline is “Bringing Along the Next Generation,” provides an opportunity for young women to walk and talk with high-profile women from a variety of professions. Mentoring is often seen as one of the best ways for young women to get ahead in their profession of choice. The walks are being held in cities around the country, including Chicago this Friday and Washington, D.C. on June 19th. For more information, or if you want to register for the event, visit the Oxygen webpage.

Special thanks to E.V.A. for the tip!

Elisabeth Hasselbeck announced today that she is pregnant with her second child! Elisabeth and her husband Tim have one daughter, Grace Elisabeth, who just turned two.

On today’s episode of The View, Rosie asked Elisabeth if there was anything new. Elisabeth said, “Like I’m totally three months pregnant.” Elisabeth said that she will be lonely without Rosie, so she and Tim decided to “get together and make a co-host.” Barbara mentioned that the baby will be born in November, which is sweeps month.

Rosie said that she has known for two weeks and she has managed to keep it a secret. She is normally very bad with secrets and that is partly why Elisabeth hadn’t told her sooner.

Elisabeth doesn’t want to know the gender of her child and the “not knowing” gets her through the labor, because she will have a surprise at the end.

People has a short video clip of Elisabeth’s announcement on their website.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, pregnancy, pregnant, The View, Tim Hasselbeck

Unfortunately I was right in my prediction on my podcast that Rosie O’Donnell was going to leave The View. Rosie just announced live on The View that she will not be returning to the show as a host when her contract ends at the end of June.

Rosie said that she could not reach contract terms with ABC and although she will not be coming back in the fall as an everyday host, she will be back for guest hosting duties. She will also be doing one hour specials on topics that are important to her.

She said that it came down to ABC wanting to tie her down to a three year deal and she only wanted a one year deal. She added that this latest development is “not sad” and she is “not going away,” just that she will not be on the show everyday.

What do my readers think about this announcement?
I, for one, am sad today.

Below is the video of her announcement, from Best Week Ever.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell

The LA Times has a new review posted of The View

Here is an excerpt:

It is an unusual and often disconcerting mixture. Historically, talk shows have either devoted themselves to politics or avoided the subject altogether. Women-run talk shows especially have most often restricted themselves to social or personal issues — racism or the war might be addressed but through individuals’ stories rather than discussions of policy, which TV execs have tended to leave to the wonks.

The women of “The View” are anything but wonks. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a few things to say on most any subject. This is the attraction and the limitation of the show — they offer opinions on a welter of issues with little or no expertise.

……..

Many media outlets seem more concerned with riding the news cycle than reporting the news, as if dwelling on the war or the environment would seem like harping. O’Donnell is not afraid to harp — on the casualties that occurred while America was “distracted” by less important though more titillating topics, on the current American policy on torture, on the infringement of civil rights under the Patriot Act.

For the full article click here.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, LA Times, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Barbara Walters

For those of you who have seen Rosie O’Donnell’s documentary All Aboard about R Family Vacations inaugural cruise for gay families, you know that they encountered several large groups of protesters when the ship docked in the Bahamas in 2004. This seemed to have a profound effect on many of the passengers, especially since the point of the cruise is to ensure that the gay families can vacation together without judgment from others.

According a letter from founders Kelli O’Donnell and Gregg Kaminsky on the cruise website, they fear that the same thing will happen if they return to the country again, so they are eliminating Bermuda as a port of call for this summer’s cruise. According to the letter posted on the website, the Prime Minister of Bermuda told them that they would be welcomed to the country and they also received e-mails from hundreds of residents of Bermuda encouraging them to come. Despite this, they still had concerns about several churches conducting protests again upon their arrival. They offered to meet face-to-face with the leaders of several churches, but none of them agreed to meet.

Gregg and Kelli added:

Please note that we feel that Bermuda is welcoming to gay and lesbian tourists. However, there is a minority of vocal churches who do not welcome us. Most residents of Bermuda and the government have been extremely respectful to our group, and we do not want our change of plans to be interpreted, as anything, but a response to a few local (but vocal) church groups.

You can read the full letter here.

Rosie O’Donnell, R Family Vacations, All Aboard, Kelli O’Donnell, Bermuda, Gregg Kaminsky

Barbara Walters said on Monday’s show that she had spent her vacation in St. Martin. She had been hesitant to give details prior to the trip and refused to answer when Rosie O’Donnell asked her if she was going there with “someone special.” Now Page Six is reporting that Barbara did, indeed, have some romance on her vacation. She reportedly went to St. Martin with Dr. Robert N. Butler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and gerontologist.

Barbara Walters, page six, Dr. Robert N Butler, St Martin

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

Ken Tucker, of Entertainment Weekly, recently gave the The View a stellar review. He said that the beauty of the Rosie version of the show is that the other hosts are taking a hint from Rosie and saying how they feel, too. I certainly believe that this is true with Joy Behar. She is getting more vocal, and caring less about what people think, every day. This makes for compelling television. You can read the whole article at the EW website.

Entertainment Weekly, The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters, Ken Tucker

Sherri Shepherd, frequent guest host on The View, spoke with Watching the View about her current project. She is currently filming 14 hours a day for her recurring guest role on the new David E. Kelley show The Wedding Bells. She will play Debbie Quill in the “dramedy” about a family-owned wedding planning business. The show will air on Fox on Friday at 9pm/8c. If you can’t wait that long, there is a sneak peak of the show on Wednesday March 7th at 9pm/8c, following American Idol.

The View, Sherri Shepherd, Wedding Bells, David E Kelley

ABC has just announced that the Friday March 9th episode of The View will focus on depression. The special, entitled “Understanding, Treating and Living with Depression,” will feature Linda Dano as guest host. Rosie O’Donnell has been very open in the past regarding her own personal battle with depression and has lobbied for a special on the topic.

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depression, The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Linda Dano

I excitedly turned on my TiVo last night to see what the Valentine’s Day edition of The View had to offer. According the schedule posted on The View website earlier this week, the main guest was supposed to be Courtney Thorne Smith. However, what I had on my TiVo instead was President Bush’s press conference, which lasted the entire length of the show. Not wanting to let my readers down, I went to The View website so that I could at least post a link to the official recap. As I was reading the recap, however, I started to experience a little deja vu. I soon realized that the episode they chose to air was a re-run, and a recent one at that. The show, which featured Whoopi Goldberg and Kevin Bacon first aired on February 2nd. You can read my previous recap here.

Rosie posted this on her blog:

why no live show today…valentine’s day?

we were prempted by the president
so ran a repeat

Since there was no Valentine’s Day episode, here is a photo of the valentine that Rosie made for her daughter Chelsea during Tuesday’s craft segment: