Watching The View

Victoria Recaño from The Insider appeared as the guest host, on what apparently is “tabloid co-host” week on The View. She said that The Insider has “an amazing newsroom” and embedded sources. Her 24-year-old brother lives with her and her husband.

They discussed the death of Tammy Faye Baker. Victoria thinks that she had faith that she would beat the cancer and that is why she went on Larry King Live just a few days before her death. Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that she wanted to show her faith and positive thinking and to spread that to others. Elisabeth asked who do you know that in their lifetime were both a voice for the Christian community and a gay icon? Victoria said that she wanted to be remembered for being a gracious human being.

They talked about whether celebrities should go out on top or wait until their fame peters out. Jay Leno is supposed to end his time at NBC in 2009, but he is so popular he may stay on. Joy Behar said that as long as someone has a nice head of hair, you will continue to watch them. Elisabeth said that she loves a bald man, no doubt in reference to her own (balding) husband.

None of the women on the panel have read any of the Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling has said that she may do a whole different series of books, although this is the last in the Potter series.

The New York Times did a big story about children on airlines. Three-quarters of the people surveyed favored a “family section” of the airplane where for children and their parents to sit. Joy joked that you should also drug the children or put them in the dog carrier under the seat. Elisabeth supports the idea of a kids section that had kids-friendly movies, snacks, and Disney characters. She said it is more difficult to be the parent of a screaming child than sitting next to them. Victoria suggested that if we get rid of the children, you should also remove the loud snorers.

There is a new town in Florida called Ave Maria, which is a Catholic community. It was founded by Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who also had a Catholic law school in Michigan of the same name. The town has specific rules, like the pharmacists should not carry birth control pills or condoms. Joy said growing up without other people that are different from you does a disservice to the children. Victoria hopes that if they are genuinely following Christian values, they will be teaching the children about other cultures. Joy expressed concern that this kind of closed community does not really subject itself to checks and balances and if there is a problem with molestation or other issues they won’t be dealt with, because it can become a kind of cult.

There will be a debate tonight where the questions have been submitted by people through YouTube. The debate will air on CNN. Elisabeth wonders if CNN will allow the questions that people want to hear.

Amanda Bynes appeared on the show to promote the movie Hairspray. She plays the role of Penny Pingleton, best friend to the main character Tracy Turnblad. Amanda can relate to the quirkiness of the role and believes she is a combination of Penny’s quirkiness and Tracy’s confidence. Amanda was never shy as a child and has been acting since she was seven. She said it was surreal to work with all of the stars in the film, like John Travolta, Christopher Walken, and Allison Janney.

There were a lot of late night shoots on the film and one night, John Travolta started singing “Grease Lightening” and “Summer Lovin’” from Grease to boost morale. Amanda and her other co-stars sang along with him, which was very exciting for her. Their shooting schedule did not begin until 11:00 a.m. because Travolta likes to stay up late and sleep-in.

Amanda has a clothing line called “Dear” which will be sold at Steve & Barry’s. She said that she has goals in her life and has “her eyes on the prize,” which is why she does not act wild like some of her contemporaries. She wants to have a long career and not get caught up in the party life.

Amy Finley, winner of the “Next Food Network Star” competition appeared on the show. She is a mother of two from San Diego. She was out of the competition earlier, but got back in when one of the other contestants admitted that he had lied about his past. Joy wanted to know what he lied about, but Victoria said “It’s a long story” and they moved on to talking about food. For more on the finale, check out this link. Amy showed off a pomegranate/vodka cocktail, saying that the secret ingredient was rose water. She then displayed how to make a goat cheese and mushroom stuffed chicken breast.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I found it interesting that Barbara said that she left 20/20 on top, but she seemed oblivious to the fact that she appears to have lost her spark in her role on The View. I think that her role could be improved if she gave opinions from the perspective of an older woman, rather than trying to be “hip” and attempting to talk about things that she does not know anything about (like the internet).

What did you all think of Victoria Recaño? She seemed knowledgeable and opinionated. I liked how she managed to get in what she had to say and stood up well to Barbara doubting some of her points (like about Tammy Faye).

The View, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Victoria Recaño, Amanda Bynes, Hairspray, Next Food Network Star, Amy Finley, Food network, Tammy Faye Baker, Tammy Faye Messner, Jay Leno, Harry Potter, Steve & Barry’s, Dear, grease, Allison Janney, Christopher Walken