Us? Dysfunctional? [November 1st 2006]
In this episode from last year Joy and Elisabeth got into another one of their regular liberal vs conservative debates. The issue was John Kerry and his disparaging comments about people in the military. Elisabeth proclaimed "John Kerry talks like he's God." I'm sorry Elisabeth, are you not familiar with Dictator Bush? She spoke in support of the war, with Joy countering that people who support the war are stupid. Elisabeth took offense to the comment but Joy stood by it. As tensions got higher Rosie broke into song with Streisand's 'People'. When Rosie and Barbara tried to wrap things up Joy banged on the table declaring "I am not done!" Barbara stepped in and reminded everyone why she created the show: "I always wanted to do a show with different people of different generations and different points-of-view". Joy replied, "Ohhh. Barbara, stop it. It's old news okay?" The ladies then decided this was a good time to remind everyone to vote. Joy was brilliant as usual. And what was Elisabeth's pearl of wisdom for people going to the polls? "Either fight the war on terror or fight Republicans. Pick your battle." In the world according to Elisabeth everything is very simple. To check out a clip of this argument visit YouTube.
"Elisabeth, calm down dear" [August 2nd 2006]
Elisabeth became very passionate in a debate about the contraceptive pill which can be taken 72 hours after the fact. She got very hot under the collar and clashed with Joy about the sanctity of life. Elisabeth got louder and more worked up forcing Barbara to intervene and tell her in the most motherly way, "Elisabeth, calm down dear." Elisabeth wasn't having it and fired back that she was "emphatic" about her beliefs on this issue. Poor guest co-host Lisa Loeb was left looking on from the sidelines. Barbara was forced to explain to Elisabeth that there is a certain level of acceptable behaviour when having a discussion. Barbara told her not to "go so crazy" whilst giving her impression of what going crazy looks like. She explained that she had barely started talking - and rarely gives her opinion on these controversial issues - when Elisabeth fired off. Elisabeth wouldn't calm down leading Joy to put her hands on her head in frustration. Barbara tried to get through to Elisabeth that there are many opinions on the issue and explained that "we have to have a way of discussing this without exploding." Elisabeth smugly refused to take Barbara's comments onboard, claiming she has passion about this issue. The segment wrapped with Elisabeth tearing up her notecards. Not so unusual, but I'm sure somewhat symbolic of her frustration at being reprimanded by Barbara. You can watch a low quality version of this clip at YouTube.
"After much prayer and counsel..." [June 27th 2006]
Star Jones departure was explosive at the time. The other ladies were expecting to get into Hot Topics when Star interrupted with her special announcment. It had been speculated about in the media for awhile so Star decided now was the time to make her announcement. This was much to the shock of everyone else at the View who expected it to come later in the week. Her "after much prayer and counsel" speech is one of the most memorable in View history. Rosie even did a send up the following season after rumours of her departure were swirling. The other ladies were all taken aback by Star's move - Barbara was particularly pissed. Joy's response of "I'm shocked" seemed half sincere and half sarcastic. Star made it clear that ABC was not renewing her contract - in effect she was fired. Barbara and the producers were so outraged by Star's move that they promptly ended her association with the show - after nine years - and removed her from the opening credits and ABC website. The tension between Barbara and Star - which had until this point remained unseen - came to a spectacular head and led to the immediate dismissal. To see a clip of Star's shock announcement and Barbara's response the following day visit YouTube. A better quality copy of Barbara's response is also available at YouTube. [IMO Star deserves a lot of credit for going out with dignity and doing it in style. Whatever the reasons the producers may have had for getting rid of her, I for one miss her presence on the show.]
Oh, we used to be friends [May 23rd 2007]
What started with Joy reading a long list of Bush's mistakes and flaws ended with the most bitter argument in View history. Elisabeth tried to talk over Joy, to which Joy responded, "I let you talk yesterday now I'm talking." After the audience reacted Joy continued, "And I love her, but just let me do this." After finishing the list and proposing that Al Gore would make a much better president than Bush, guest co-host Sherri Shepherd kept repeating Al Gore's name in disbelief, questioning how Joy could think such a thing. [Seriously, if she's given a permanent co-host role I will not be happy. Don't upset the gays. Cause we'll go there.]
Rosie kept quiet throughout until she felt the moment was right to challenge Elisabeth and the conservative views she attempts to justify. The real issue for Rosie was something that had occurred earlier in the week. Rosie had posed the question "who are the terrorists?" which the conservative pundits used to make out that she was calling American troops terrorists [this flies in the face of the fact she has been one of their most vocal supporters]. Rosie asked Elisabeth to step up as her friend and straightforwardly answer "Do you think I called our troops terrorists?" Elisabeth wasn't about to give a simple "No, Rosie" and the whole thing turned very, very personal. The two women went at each other - splitscreen and all. Joy and Sherri made attempts to break the argument up but to no avail. This was something that had been boiling for a while. In the end Joy disbelievingly demanded "who's directing this show? Let's go to commercial!" Hands down the worst fight in View history. It wasn't entertainment or debates anymore, it was just really uncomfortable and disappointing to watch. It was the last show Rosie filmed and led to her ending her contract three weeks early. You can view the entire debacle on YouTube [Various clips of this fight have been viewed over 3 million times]. In the segment following the fight Alicia Silverstone came on to promote a vegan lifestyle. She made a point of deliberately snubbing Elisabeth out of loyalty to her friend Rosie. This was definitely one tension-filled hour of television. To watch a clip of Barbara announcing Rosie's early release from her contract in the following week click here.
An honourable mention goes to the ongoing Rosie/Star conflict which included a tense episode [that I haven't seen] in which Rosie was a guest and upset Star with a sweeping racial comment. Same goes for the Rosie/Trump feud in which the tensions mainly played out off-screen. One thing's for sure: with Rosie around things were never dull.
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