Watching The View

The View was back to four hosts for this episode, with Barbara Walters returning to the table. Whoopi Goldberg went to Cantor-Fitzgerald on September 11th and acted as a trader. The company was one of the hardest hit companies in 9/11. The money made by her and the other celebrity traders went to charity.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck went to a “freedom concert” which benefited FreedomAlliance.org, who gives scholarship money to fallen soldiers families. She saw Oliver North and he patted her daughter Grace’s head as he walked by. Grace asked her, “Mommy, why is that man touching my head?”

They next talked about whether fast food restaurants should list nutrition information about the products. Sherri Shepherd said that when she is eating a Big Mac, all she wants to know is that it tastes good. Barbara said that, for kids, they should offer baked fries. Sherri said that kids can tell the difference. She said she should do baked fries or apple slices (then she rolled her eyes).

Whoopi said that she wants her fried chicken made in the worst trans fat possible, but she also knows that she cannot have it all the time. She said that she has grown up to be 52 years old so that she can choose to get that if she wants it.

Barbara expressed confusion (outrage?) over the fact that a woman was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight for being too scantily clad, which Marc Jacobs latest fashion line reveals a woman’s bra intentionally. Elisabeth pointed out that the original outfits for Southwest Airlines stewardesses included short-shorts. Joy joked that she was glad an evening gown with a bra showing is trendy because now she can wear dresses that she could not wear before because she was worried about her bra showing.

They talked about recent stories in the news about a fourteen year old girl who escaped from a polygamist society. The HBO show Big Love, which deals with Mormons who are polygamists is very popular. Barbara asked whether, even though polygamy is outlawed in the Mormon church, does this spill over onto Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is Mormon?

Sherri said that since Romney does not talk about Mormonism, she is often wondering whether he has “a Lakisha” in the background somewhere. Barbara said that was an unfair statement. Elisabeth asked, then, if the fact of the Catholic priest abuse scandals affects Rudy Giuliani’s campaign because he was raised Catholic? Joy said that was “quite a jump,” to which Elisabeth replied, “This white girl can jump.”

When Sherri mentioned “Lakisha” again, Elisabeth suggested that if you are talking about other women, the name “Monica” might be more appropriate. Whoopi asked Elisabeth to do her “a favor” and not bring up Monica, because they are talking about a man and his religious beliefs and not talking about Bill Clinton. Barbara then defended Monica again (she has done it at least twice before), talking about how she has gone on to get a Master’s degree and made a productive life for herself.

Barbara asked Elisabeth if there is any Democratic candidate that she likes. Elisabeth said that Barack Obama is “an incredible man and I am curious about him. Do I think that this is the time to have him as our President? I am not sure yet.” She added that this does not have to do with politics.

David Hyde Pierce appeared on the show. He won the Tony Award for best actor in a musical for Curtains, which he is still appearing in. He said that it is “mixed bag,” because he can’t help but thinking of those who did not win who were deserving.

David does not like to do movies because he likes having an audience and to hear people laughing as he performs.

He said that a lot of strange things happen while you are on stage. He said that he saw a family in the front row of the theater passing a bag of potato chips back and forth. He said that there was a woman who threw up on the person in front of her.

David cannot imagine doing another television show that will be as a good as Frasier. He added, “Never say never.” Joy joked that he could be in the show about polygamy. He quipped that the ladies could “all be his wives.”

He works with Alzheimer’s Association and they have a new “Champions” campaign. They are reaching out to Americans to raise money for research and to care for people with the disease. The association is having “purple parties” for World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21st.

Trainer Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser appeared on the show to show off exercises you can do while pregnant. Sherri donned a pregnancy belly to participate along with Elisabeth and a pregnant audience member.

She gave three simple rules to abide by:
1) Keep your Heart Rate below 70% of your maximum heart rate
2) Keep your body temperature below 102.6 degrees
3) Stick to low-impact workouts

They then demonstrated a series of exercises using the body ball. Sherri fell off of hers and then assured everyone that the “baby” was fine. They rested their backs on the ball and Jillian told them to lift their pelvis. Sherri joked, “This is how you get pregnant in the first place!”

The next exercise involves sitting on the floor, legs outstreched. They used a stretchy elastic band around their feet and pulled it toward them to work back and biceps. Sherri chanted, “We must. We must. We must increase our bust.” They then leaned back on two pillows on the ground. They then used light weights to do bicep curls.

The best part of the segment was how Jillian could not stop laughing at Sherri and had trouble concentrating on what she was supposed to be showing the “real” pregnant women.

The cast of the Broadway show Xanadu performed. I didn’t really get it. I am sure it makes more sense in the context of the entire show.

The View, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, David Hyde Pierce, Jillian Michaels, The Biggest Loser, Xanadu