Watching The View

Today on a pre-taped, but new, episode of The View, Barbara Walters was absent. Sherri Shepherd was sporting some silver leggings that looked straight out of the 80s fashion show from earlier this week.

A new survey says that 35% of PDA and Blackberry users would chose their device over their spouse. Joy Behar said her addiction is “getting bad” and she sleeps with it next to her. Sherri Shepherd said the only way to get a hold of her is texting her and she will check it at 2:00am if it vibrates. Whoopi said it used to be that the last thing you did at night was your husband, now it is checking Blackberry. She is not going to get on the Blackberry bandwagon herself and asked Joy if she takes it to the bathroom. Joy said, “of course.” Elisabeth agreed you need to maximize your time on the can. She also sends texts while she is jogging. Joy said she cannot text while walking because she would fall. Elisabeth said she has to be careful to not ignore the children in order to check the Blackberry. Sherri said that people don’t really get mad anymore if you use it at the dinner table anymore. Whoopi said she better not have dinner with her.

Sherri said she stopped using her iPod on the subway because she likes to talk to people there. Joy told her not to even make eye contact with people on the subway. Joy suggested that she could ask for money on the train and she might get some put in her brassiere.

Should politicians write their own speeches? Joy said that if they write their own, who will they blame for the lying? Elisabeth said that they all use speech writers for the most part and even comedians have people write for them sometimes. Sherri said that the politicians do not have time to write all those speeches because they give so many during the campaign. Joy said that you need talent to edit a speech, even when someone else wrote it. Whoopi thinks it would be nice to know what the candidates really believe and not what is written for them. Joy said that Sarah Palin was asked a question at a Town Hall meeting about what her foreign policy experience is and she just said that she was ready to lead. Rather than address Joy’s point about Palin not answering the question, Elisabeth proceeded to talk about Palin’s experience running the national guard. Whoopi said she wants to know what she is going to do for the country, not what they have done or not done in the past.

Elizabeth Edwards said that she focused on her children and health care issues to cope with John Edwards’ cheating. She said that the hardest part will be being able to trust again. There is apparently a pill you can take to be monogamous. Whoopi said that an expert on Oprah Winfrey said that men cheat because they feel unappreciated. Whoopi laughed and thought it was funny because the woman might be working hard to raise the kids. Sherri doesn’t think it is the woman’s fault, but men have fragile feelings and do need to be appreciated. Whoopi thinks it is “garbage” that it is the woman’s fault and the men are doing it because that is what they want to do. They went on for a bit with this conversation, but I got bored and realized I stopped paying attention for a moment or two.

The next topic was a survey that shows that more 20-somethings are going on group dates rather than individual dates. Whoopi did not know what group dating was, so Sherri explained it to her. Joy said they used to have mixers, which is similar. Elisabeth said it is different to date people now because you can research them on the internet prior to the date and then you have nothing to talk about. Joy’s friend said a good question to ask is how long their longest relationship was. She added that what is on their MySpace or Facebook might be lies. Joy said that things happen so fast these day and a lot of people have sex on the first date. Elisabeth said, “Really?” Joy said, “Well, not the Christian Coalition.” Elisabeth said, “Christians are sinners too.”

David Schwimmer and Josh Lucas appeared on the show to promote their Off-Broadway show called Fault Lines. Schwimmer is directing the play, which stars Lucas. Joy said that Lucas looks like a combination of Paul Newman and Matt McConaughey. She added that Schwimmer is cute, too, and if he had glasses he would be just her type 30 years ago. Lucas asked if she would have sex with him on the first night. She said back then, maybe. Lucas said that men cheat because they can and they think they can get away with it. Schwimmer doesn’t think men cheat because they are not appreciated and thinks that is “a load of crap.” He thinks that monogamy is harder for men because they are programmed differently. He said he been in a monogamous relationship and is happy. Joy said how long and he said two years. She said “Big deal!” His longest relationship was five years; seven for Josh.

The play Fault Lines is about fidelity and friendship. Lucas spends three minutes of the play using a Blackberry to annoy someone. He is turning 40 and joked that he contemplates his prostate more because of this play. Joy asked what he thinks about when he is contemplating his prostate. He said that he has “good flow,” which is a line from the play. Schwimmer has directed theater for many years in Chicago, but this is the first play in NYC. It is in conjunction with a not-for-profit called Naked Angels and he has had a blast directing Josh. The play is a dark comedy and addresses many issues that men are grappling with.

Joy asked Lucas why he is nicknamed “Easy Dent.” He joked that it is probably the same reason she has sex on the first night. Joy took that as a compliment that she is menopausal, but still hot. Lucas got the name because his parents lived on an Indian reservation and they name the baby based on what happens during the birth. He was an easy birth and came out so quickly that the doctor dropped him a little, causing a dent on his head.

Lucas gained 40 pounds for his role in Glory Road. He noted that the music from that movie played at the end of the Olympics and at the end of Barack Obama’s convention speech, which he was at. Lucas said it is harder to do comedy than drama.

The next segment was called “Strange Symptoms” and addressed what symptoms should cause you to go to the doctor.

* A black and blue mark under your nail may be a sign of melanoma. Sherri had one and she looked worried about it.
* An enlarged tongue can be caused by a pituitary tumor.
* A black tongue can be caused by fungus or excess use of Pepto Bismol.
* If you have a sudden headache when you have an orgasm, it can be caused by an aneurysm.
* Not sleeping for several days in a row and you are not tired, is a sign you are manic. Whoopi said that she is not a sleeper. The doctor said it is more if it is a sudden onset of not sleeping.
* A smelly belly button can be a sign of a leakage in the intestine.
* Bad breath can sometimes be from a bacteria in the stomach.

Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl appeared on the show. She said that there are a lot of sex scenes on the show, but they aren’t reckless with it and show the consequences. She thinks it is a good show parents could watch with their kids to open up a dialogue. She said it is a heightened reality. The cast of show was named on People’s 100 Most Beautiful and the cast was on New York magazine. Both photos are the whole cast in a bed together. She said they are all friends, but it was a bit awkward.

Leighton said it is the nature of the show that she is going to be in the press more and on blogs. The press wants to believe they are like their characters. She doesn’t mind them writing about her fashion. Joy said that her character has been compared to Joan Collins in Dynasty, but Leighton does not draw inspiration from her. She did a duet with Tony Bennett on Entourage and said he is a living legend.

The View, David Schwimmer, Josh Lucas, Leighton Meester, Barbara Walters, Gossip Girl, Fault Lines, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck