Watching The View

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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Just a reminder that Rosie O’Donnell’s new Lifetime movie America airs Saturday, February 28th at 9:00pm eastern time.

Rosie has been on television the past week promoting the show. I just watched her on The Bonnie Hunt Show and I thought it was a great interview. It lasted several segments and included conversations about her family, the movie, as well as her new crafting obsession: Munny.

During the interview she said that she discovered the young actor who plays America in the film when she saw him eating a diner with his family. He had no previous acting experience, but she convinced him to audition and he nailed the part.

She also talked about how her daughter Vivi apparently has a great gift for gymnastics.

Rosie was also on The Tyra Banks Show, but for some reason my DVR taped different episodes of Tyra and I am confused how that happened. Instead of Rosie, I got some sort of dating episode. I have found some clips of it online, but not the whole interview.

Feel free to comment here about any interviews you have seen with Rosie or about what you think of the movie after it airs tomorrow!

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Bonnie Hunt, America, Lifetime

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’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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Rosie O’Donnell will be appearing in a Lifetime movie on Saturday February 28th at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. She plays a psychiatrist who helps a sixteen year old foster boy. Here is the full description and a video advertisement for the movie.

Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her newest patient, a sixteen-year-old bi-racial boy named America. Through their sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America come to terms with his roller-coaster life, which began when he was taken by authorities from his crack-addicted mother, and placed into foster care as an infant. Dr. Brennan works to help him open up about his painful past and discover the support and courage he needs to get his life back on track. “America” premieres Saturday Feb 28th at 9pm|8c on Lifetime.

Thanks to Rain for the link!

Rosie O’Donnell, America, Lifetime movie

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, it was the four main hosts, with Joy Behar returning from her absence yesterday. No specific explanation of her absence was given.

The first topic was the announcement of the Golden Globes nominees. Joy’s favorite movie was Slumdog Millionaire. Sherri Shepherd was happy to see Tom Cruise and Robert Downey, Jr. were nominated for Tropic Thunder. Heath Ledger was nominated posthumously for The Dark Knight. Joy thinks the best performance was Sean Penn in Milk. Whoopi liked Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Elisabeth said she needs to catch up on all the movies because she hasn’t seen many of them and wants to go to Whoopi’s house because she gets all the screeners.

The show was then interrupted because Barack Obama was holding a press conference. The purpose of the press conference was to announce the nomination of Tom Daschle to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Most of the questions at the press conference were about the Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, however. When they said “one last question” and the reporter said that she wanted to actually talk about healthcare, ABC cut-away from the press conference in favor of talking more among themselves about the governor. Anyone else annoyed by that?
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Here is a video of Rosie O’Donnell performing with Rosie’s Broadway Kids at the Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony last Wednesday. Video is courtesy of YouTube user jennacarter2003. Thanks to Watching the View reader Darlene for sending me the link!

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie’s Broadway Kids

Rosie O’Donnell announced on her blog that any hopes that her variety special Rosie Live would be turned into a series have been dashed. The show, which just did not work, had poor reviews and low ratings.

Rosie wrote last night:

there will b no more

no ratings
bad reviews

yet still - a thrill 4 me

I, of all people, wanted this show to work, as it is no secret that I have been a big Rosie fan for many years. I was disappointed more than anything else, because I know she is capable of producing a better show than this. It looked just sort of thrown together and unrehearsed and I am not quite sure how that happened, as she had been preparing for some time, as I understood, and had been essentially planning a show like this her whole life.

In my opinion it was not just the odd comedy bits that did not work (did she really have to mention Donald?), even the guest performances seemed strange. Alanis Morissette, of who I am a fan, seemed strange looking and stood awkwardly the whole song like she could not move. Add to that the strange lighting and camera angles and the show never had a chance, even aside from the content.

I also found it strange that in the short stand-up portion that Rosie did herself, she used recycled material. She told that same joke about Chelsea and moms with no high-heeled shoes at the autism awareness special last April. She is a capable and funny comedian and should have come up with some new material considering the scope of the show.

I hope that Rosie did enjoy herself as much as she has asserted over the last couple of days because I doubt she will get a second bite at the variety show apple.

Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Live, rblog

Rosie O’Donnell posted a great video on her website, which describes what Rosie’s For All Kids Foundation has done in the past few years, including giving grants to early childhood education providers, as well as her successful Rosie’s Broadway Kids program.

Although it seems like many of her other blog entries immediately show up on Access Hollywood or Extra, I doubt they will deem such a positive story “newsworthy.” Perhaps during this Thanksgiving week, however, they could find it in their hearts (if they have one?) to post this positive video about the ability to overcome obstacles and reach your dreams.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, For All Kids Foundation, Rosie’s Broadway Kids

On her blog, Rosie O’Donnell posted this video response to the comments that Barbara Walters made about her on The View today.

Thanks to Holly for mentioning the video in a comment. I loved it.

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Barbara Walters, rblog

Here is another commercial for Rosie O’Donnell’s variety show, which will air next Wednesday, November 26th.

According to LA Times blog, while publicizing her upcoming (Wednesday, November 26th) variety special, Rosie O’Donnell was asked about her time on The View. Rosie stated that Barbara Walters, “wanted everyone to believe and think and act as if [the hosts] get along and are really good friends and happy and hang out together, and, you know, that’s just not the reality. I’m not saying they loathe each other, but the fact of the matter is, there was not a lot of camaraderie off camera.”

Rosie also stated that arguing about politics is not the best use of her talent and her variety show will be “an hour of fun, laughter, singing and dancing. No politics. No arguing. No talking about controversial things. That, to me, is what is needed now.” Scheduled guests on the show include Liza Minnelli, Alec Baldwin, Ne-Yo, Alanis Morissette, Gloria Estefan, Kathy Griffin (Yay!) and Jane Krakowski.

You can read the entire article, which also addresses Proposition 8 at LA Times Blog.

The View, Barbara Walters, Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Live

Here is a promotional video for Rosie O’Donnell’s upcoming variety show, called Rosie Live. It will air November 26th on NBC at 8/7c. The commercial makes brief reference to Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Video from YouTube user blazinbimmer

Here is what we can expect from the show, according to the NBC website:

Emmy Award winning talk show host, producer and TV personality Rosie O’Donnell will host this hour-long variety special featuring a wide array of celebrity guests, musical acts, comedy skits and a giant primetime giveaway for both the in-studio and home audiences!

The special will feature a topical monologue, musical production numbers and hilarious comedy sketches from Rosie and her in-house acting company, as well as performances from today’s hottest artists. In addition, the special will showcase a spectacular array of guest celebrities and many surprises…and it’s all live!

The View, Rosie O’Donnell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie Live

Today on The View, all five hosts were present for the “Day of Hot Topics.” The first topic was the death of South African singer Miriam Makeba. She died following a performance last night. Whoopi Goldberg knew her and said that she was one of the first to bring attention to the issues in South Africa

Joy went to Vancouver to give a speech last week. At the airport, there was a guy with shifty eyes, who was sweating. The man came over to her and asked her if she was Bette Midler. Then she knew that he was not a terrorist. Then they played a clip of Joy’s appearance on Jay Leno, in which she said she doesn’t fight with Elisabeth off-stage. (It was the same clip I posted earlier)

Elisabeth’s son Taylor turned 1 year old this weekend. Grace helped her make a “dirt” cake. They had a construction theme and Joy asked if it was a dedication to Joe the Plumber. Elisabeth said that Taylor loves Chris Brown and danced to his music. She said it was the first day since his birth that was only about him because of older sister Grace.
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