Barbara Walters
Joy Behar
Elisabeth Hasselbeth
Whoopie Goldberg
Sherri Shepherd
There are also 5 former co-hosts of the show:
Star Jones
Debbie Matenopoulos
Lisa Ling
Meredith Vieira
Rosie O'Donnell
I decided to blog about the show because I watch it. I did not always make a point of watching it until the show heated up during the presidential political season. Up until that point I was a sometime viewer because the show was so unstable due to the constant changing of hosts. I always liked the premise: a group of ladies from various backgrounds, discussing issues with their unique view-points. The problem is that the women don't cover the spectrum (Latin, Indian, Bi-racial) and all of the choices in hosts have not always been women who represent the average woman well.
Barbara Walters is qualified to represent the celebrity class without question. Not only is Barbara a celebrity but it's been her business to keep an ear to the ground on celebrity going-ons throughout most of her career.
I thought that Meredith Vieira was an excellent choice to represent the average White woman but of course, she was too good and therefore scooped up by another network.
Lisa Ling was an outstanding representative of Asian women but she was young, talented and ambitious and couldn't be expected to sit for too long engaging in arbitrary chatter, the likes of which, the show specializes in. She moved on to bigger things.
Star Jones was very well respected in the Black community until she did the show, though she was never a good representative of the average Black woman. None-the-less, until Star's weight was made an issue and regular topic on the show, she was doing well.
I don't even remember Debbie Matenpoulos being on the show so that says all that needs to be said.
I don't know what the hell they were thinking with bringing in Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie is a good representative of no one - not even lesbians - and she is a lesbian.
Sherri Shepherd is one of the current co-hosts and apart from the fact that she is cute and funny, I have no idea why she's on the show other than to ensure that Elisabeth Hasselbeth does not have to fend for herself: Joy is ferocious.
Speaking of Elisabeth Hasselbeth; she is a good representative of the old standard and represents well what used to be the average White woman's view-point. It's very ironic that Barbara Walters, as old as she is, has a more current and foward-thinking mindset than the young Elisabeth Hasselbeth.
Whoopie Goldberg is her own breed of animal and truly only represents herself. In a sense, she's like the referee of the show because she rarely has anything but a greyish view-point on the issues.
Joy Behar is the best thing the show has going for it right now though she also isn't the average White woman. Joy, perhaps due to the blunt manner in which she speaks or perhaps due to her very well considered view-points, is probably the most relative personality on the show.
If you've never seen the show, this is generally how the discussion goes: A topic is tossed out by either Whoopie or Barbara - let's say it's politics. Either Joy or Elisabeth will be the first to tongue in on the subject and they generally take opposing sides (Joy-Center Left; Elisabeth-Far Right). They battle one another while Sherri squeaks out a center-right position in the middle of the gun smoke from time to time. Whoopie interjects, carefully balancing herself down the middle, just to keep actual flames between Joy and Elisabeth from incinerating the set. Then Barbara slams the gavel when the voices in her earpiece tells her that the audience is edified. It is very theatrical and cool to see. I like all of the co-hosts, some more than others though I do believe that it is enivetable that the show will undergo at least one more change.
When the change comes I hope they keep Joy because I just like her. She's so cool, she should have been born Black. She has clear, intelligent and well reasoned positions and she has a unique personality.
I don't think Sherri needs to stay because she contributes very little. She is a single mother and a former Jehovah's Witness and that's a unique view-point but I don't think it's adequate to justify her holding a seat on the show. Sherri is an excellent sitcom actress and I would like to see her go back into television full-time.
While I don't like Elisabeth because of her view-points, hers are clear and she is a personality. She's stubborn, closed minded, somewhat extreme and sees in black & white but there is a substantial segment of our society who thinks just like her and it is only fair that they have a voice on the show.
There really isn't a question that they should keep Whoopie. She is a good ref, a thoroughly experienced person in her field(s), likeable and she has a clear personality though her positions might seem a little grey.
Obviously Barbara isn't going anywhere, it is her show afterall but I don't think Barbara should be a regular host. Barbara should be out getting the one-on-one exclusive interviews that only she can. The fifth seat should be occupied by someone different, perhaps an Asian, Latin, Middle-Eastern or bi-racial woman. Barbara should show up every now again to restore order as needed, besides that, she should supply the exclusives.
Anywho, that's my view on the view.
