The View: Breast Cancer "Special Edition" show

On October 17th "The View" will broadcast a live one-hour special edition theme show focusing on breast cancer. It will be dedicated to awareness, early detection, prevention and breast cancer survivors. In addition to this they are releasing a limited edition pink ribbon mug on October 1st. The mug features "The View" logo embossed on the front and a pink ribbon, ABC and Yoplait logos on the reverse side. 100% of the net proceeds of the $25 mug will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The co-hosts will use the mugs throughout October.

The View's ratings may not be so hot

The following article is from Rosie O'Donnell's blog. It was written by one of her associates on her behalf as a response to ABC's claim that the show is doing better than it was one year ago. Is she just being bitter, or is the network not telling the whole truth?

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING BABY!!!
Posted by ro on September 25th at 5:10pm

While im all about creative use of ratings, I think we need to do something with the lovely people at the view insisting that the ratings are up without rosie when in fact they are not. Please check out perez hilton from yesterday stating their ratings are up +16% versus YAG.

Here is the real data based on live plus same day viewing:

P2+ 3,576 + 7.8%
HH 2.8 rating versus 2.66 YAG + 5.3%
W 18- 49 1.47 versus 1.6 YAG - 8.8%
W 25-54 1.77 versus 1.92 YAG - 8.5%
W 18-34 1.03 versus 1.23 YAG - 19.4%
W 50+ 2.3 versus 2.13 YAG + 8.0 %

Note that the show is bought from an advertising perspective which is their only revenue stream on either the W 18-49 or 25-54 demo meaning they are LOSING revenue versus YAG. Also, the most valuable demo is the younger one 18-34 which is really hemmoraging. They are picking up older viewers 50+ which are of less value to advertisers.

Again - they should really use the ACTUAL REAL numbers in their press statements and if they don’t, then maybe we should...

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING BABY!!!

* YAG = year ago

Vintage View: The Original Cast

New poll

The new poll is up on the right side of the page. Have your say. What is your favourite line-up of co-hosts?

Upcoming Schedule: Week of October 1

1/10: America Ferrera (ABC's "Ugly Betty"); Chris Matthews (author, "Life's a Campaign"); Nick Kroll (ABC's "Cavemen").

2/10: Nancy Pelosi, current speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; musical guest Faith Hill.

3/10: Sarah Silverman ("The Sarah Silverman Program"); Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies").

4/10: Marcia Gay Harden ("Into the World"); Jack Cafferty (author, "It's Getting Wild Out There"); musical guest Annie Lennox.

5/10: Jason Schwartzman ("The Darjeeling Limited"); Ty Treadway ("Merv Griffin's Crosswords"); Cesar Millan (author, "Be the Pack Leader").

Talk show recaps

CNN has transcripts of Larry King's recent interviews with Kathy Griffin and Joy Behar.

And the official website for the Star Jones talk show has four clips of Whoopi Goldberg's appearance.

View news...

MSNBC.com has an article up entitled "What the hell is wrong with 'The View'? Morning gab-fest has nasty habit of turning well-liked women into pariahs". You can read it here.

Also some of you may have seen the View ladies making appearances on other talk shows this week. Joy appeared on Conan O'Brien and Whoopi joined Star Jones on her new talk show yesterday.

The results are in...

The poll is now closed. Here are the results...

How will Sherri's time end?

45% Departure after a feud (10)
27% Arrested by child services (6)
9% Booed off stage (2)
9% Evolved into another species (2)
9% Struck down by God's divine hand (2)

Sherri Shepherd was a trashy Oprah guest

TV Guide has done a very interesting interview with Sherri Shepherd. It's lengthy so I've only included the questions here that I think are the most noteworthy. To read the whole interview visit TVGuide.com.

TVGuide.com: Sherri Shepherd Discusses Her View Deal.

TVGuide.com: You were always a front-runner. Were you surprised at all that you got the Star Jones seat?
Sherri Shepherd: Yeah. I thought they would ask me to rotate with Kathy Griffin, but they said, "No, we want you to do it full-time."

TVGuide.com: The deal making took months and even halted for a while. What was the problem?
Shepherd: I was giving up a lot. I had to move to New York with my son, who has special needs. When you do sitcoms and movies, it pays a little bit more than doing a talk show. You know what the rents are like here in New York! That was a rude awakening. I was like, "Oh, we gotta go back to the table!"

TVGuide.com: Is it true you asked for $2 million a year?
Shepherd: If you ask for something too low and they go, "Yeah," then you sit here in New York paying a big old rent and you get evicted going, "Damn it! I'm doing The View and I'm homeless."

TVGuide.com: Somehow I don't see that. But you're saying you did throw out the $2 million figure?
Shepherd: Yeah! And there's nothing wrong with that. We came to a very, very happy medium.

TVGuide.com: Did Rosie or Star reach out to you?
Shepherd: Totally. Star was so supportive, and when I was wavering, Rosie said, "You gotta be able to tell your son you tried to do this."

TVGuide.com: Griffin really wanted the job. Still friends?
Shepherd: Actually, Kathy called and said, "Sistah, if they call you, you'd better take that job." And I said, "Oh my gosh, I don't know." And she said, "I'm going to kill you if you don't."

TVGuide.com: Where are you on the show's political spectrum?
Shepherd: I'm a Christian but that doesn't mean I'm going to vote Republican. I'm all about morals, but don't be talking about morals and then put your feet underneath somebody else's stall! This is very cool for me, because when I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, we were encouraged not to be involved in politics. So I'm having a lot of fun researching the candidates. I'm OK sitting at the table and going, "I don't know what you guys are talkin' about."

TVGuide.com: Who do you most want to meet on the show?
Shepherd: Oprah, of course. I was on her show many years ago, back when it was like The Jerry Springer Show. I was on there snapping my fingers and hollering and screaming. When I meet Oprah, that is not what I will remind her of. Don't want it in her head that I was one of her ghetto guests.

A few things...

* Does anyone actually believe Sherri when she says she misheard the question about the world being flat? The video is up on the official site. She goes into a detailed reasoning for why she won't commit one way or another including a) She's never thought about it and b) If her son asks her she'll take him to the library to learn more. Does that sound like someone who didn't hear the question "Do you think the world is flat?" She should be careful too. That's the same library that's going to have books filled with information (and lies!) about evolution. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason she tried to clarify her statements today was because the producers pulled her aside. They should be worried.

* Joy claims there are people who won't appear on the show because of it's liberal co-hosts. Interesting. Whoopi announced that Manilow will appear in the future though. We'll see how that goes. And Elisabeth claims Alicia Silverstone called her to say she didn't deliberately snub her a few months back. Whatever Elisabeth.

* Bitsy is featured in the current issue of Pregnancy magazine. You can see her on the cover below.

Star Jones new show

If you haven't checked out the website for Star Jones new talk show you can find it here. The tagline really sums it up I guess. She's...topical.

Star Jones Health Problems

This was reported at MediaTakeOut.com. Hopefully it's not true.

MediaTakeOut.com: Star Jones Deadly Health Scare!!!

MediaTakeOut.com has learned that Star Jones has developed a potentially life threatening condition. According to reports, the former View talk show host is suffering from a severe breathing disorder. And the problem, experts say, needs to be treated immediately.

One prominent doctor who saw video of Star Jones' breathing problems is quoted as saying, "I would advise Star to see a doctor as soon as possible." The doctor continued, "It appears she has a high pitched sound with aspiration. This would suggest damage to her upper airway."

Another doctor has a far more grim diagnosis. MediaTakeOut.com learned that Dr. Bruce Nadler suspects that she may have complications from her gastric bypass surgery. Dr Nadler states, "Star is taking short breaths because she lost her ability to take a deep breath." The doctor explains, "Your ability to take a deep breath is dependent on the flexibility of your diaphragm. After gastric bypass surgery, scar tissue can develop on the intestines just below the diaphragm. The scar tissue is hard and can restrict the diaphragm's mobility."

Best Friends Forever!

Best Friends Forever...or until the inevitable feud followed by a tell-all book.

Here's a couple of promotional pictures of Barbara and Whoopi. They've been released for a while but I haven't seen them anywhere. Poor Sherri and her prolonged contract negotiations...no cast photo for you.


Click the images to see them larger. Remember all images are subject to copyright and belong to the multi-national billion dollar company Disney/ABC. These images are used for promotional purposes only. Enjoy the show.

Larry King update

Star Jones will be appearing tonight to discuss the new OJ Simpson drama. Joy Behar will now appear on Friday. Three View* mavens in one week!

*I'm counting Kathy :P

How it is

Love me some Whoop.

Manilow fallout

Barry Manilow is now on Barbara's enemy list. On her radio show today she sang a mocking version of "I Write The Songs" whilst adding the word 'liberal' to the lyrics. Meow...biatch.

And here's what Bill Geddie had to say about Manilow on Barbara's radio show:

"He said, 'I'll do Barbara and Whoopi or I'll do Whoopi and Sherri or some combination, but I won't sit with Elisabeth,' and I said 'Well, then you won't be on the show. He's not going to call the shots. You're not going to tell me how to produce the show."

All I can say is bring on the celebrity snubs!

Sherri Shepherd is a joke

Sherri Shepherd is not a comedian. She is a joke. Today's discussion on evolution and the world has confirmed that Sherri is a complete idiot. What an absolute blunder on the part of the shows producers.

She doesn't believe in evolution. Ok so thats nothing new from her. But when it comes to whether or not the world is flat she won't commit one way or another? Come on. And she quotes from the bible like it's a historically factual document. Jesus Christ! Someone take her off the show, seriously. She needs to go. What an embarrassment. Where is the intelligent discussion?

Manilow will not appear because of Elisabeth

Barry Manilow was originally scheduled to appear this week however that will now not happen. According to TMZ this is due to his personal dislike for Elisabeth Hasselbeck. In a statement to TMZ Manilow said, "I strongly disagree with her views. I think she's dangerous and offensive. I will not be on the same stage as her." (Brilliant!)

TMZ clarifies that he will not appear because the show's producers decided against having him as a guest after his people requested Elisabeth be absent. You can read the full artile here.

I'm a Fanilow.

UPDATE: The IMDb reports a longer quote from Manilow...

"I strongly disagree with her views. I think she's dangerous and offensive. I will not be on the same stage as her... I cannot compromise my beliefs." He adds, "I had made a request that I be interviewed by co-hosts Joy Behar, Barbara Walters or Whoopi Goldberg, but not Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request, so I bowed out."

Image: Sherri Shepherd shakes it

Sherri Shepherd at The Blank Theatre Company Young Playwrights Festival 2006. Foxy.

Upcoming Schedule: Week of September 24

24/9: Jimmy Smits ("Cane"); 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden (author, "Promises to Keep"); Zachary Levi ("Chuck").

25/9: Jenny McCarthy (author, "Louder Than Words"); Joey Fatone ("The Singing Bee").

26/9: Kate Walsh (ABC's "Private Practice"); Christopher Titus (ABC's "Big Shots"); anti-aging products.

27/9: 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama (D Ill).

28/9: Jason Lee ("My Name Is Earl"), ABC News' Diane Sawyer ("Good Morning America").


Looks like a big week as far as politics goes. Senator Hillary Clinton was originally scheduled to appear on September 12th however that did not occur.

Rosie on Elisabeth: More from 'Celebrity Detox'

ETOnline: Rosie O'Donnell's New Book: The Inside Scoop

ROSIE O'DONNELL's blistering new tell-all, Celebrity Detox, is stirring up big-time controversy - and ET has a first look at what's inside!

In the book, out October 9, the former "View" co-host opens up about her relationship with BARBARA WALTERS, saying that they didn't always get along - and sometimes even fought over certain issues of control.

"I did not do whatever Barbara Walters asked," says Rosie on page nine. "In fact, I did very little of what she asked."

In the book, Rosie prints a letter that she wrote to her brother in which she clearly didn't feel she was allowed to be herself on the air. She writes, "There is no way I can stay on this show. It is everything I am not. It's called 'The View,' but that's a misnomer; it's really a view, one view, ABC's view, and I'm not a parrot or a puppet...I'm never going to be accepted here."

Rosie also sent Barbara an advance copy of her book, in which she suggests the "View" clan matron should retire, saying, "At some point, a person gets tired. It's inevitable."

Last May, Rosie exited "The View" three weeks earlier than her planned departure, just days after she and conservative co-host ELISABETH HASSELBECK got into a heated on-air dispute regarding the war in Iraq that, at times, turned personal.

On Elisabeth, Rosie writes: "Elisabeth, antiabortion, pro Bush, pro war, believes in everything I don't, and I believe in everything she doesn't. She's as slender as I am fat, as restrained as I am vociferous, as polite as I am frank," adding, "Right from the start I could see in this slip of a girl so different from me, I could see something fierce, a fist in the frill, and I liked that. But we had no language in common."

As for Rosie's much-publicized battle with DONALD TRUMP, she writes: "I started to feel somewhat sorry for him. I also started to see that he was not a man. He had once maybe been a man, or a boy, but that human spirit seemed to have gotten lost to a mechanical repetitive meanness, a push-button person with its circuits askew."

Another stunning revelation leaked from the book has Rosie writing about using a bat to break her own bones as a child, saying, "My hands and fingers usually. No one knew. It was my secret."

Why would she do such a thing to herself? Rosie writes that she did it as "proof I had some value, enough to be fixed." She also writes, "There were many benefits to having a cast. In the middle of the night, it was a weapon." But she never addresses why she might need a weapon.

Stay tuned to ET for more!

Reasons to watch Larry King

Joy Behar will be appearing on Larry King Live on September 19th. As previously mentioned, Kathy Griffin will appear on September 17th. Be sure to tune in.

Elisabeth and Sean Hannity really grate my cheese

How can Elisabeth admire and defend Sean Hannity? He just did a segment called 'Exposing Al Gore' which showed footage of Al Gore getting off a private jet. How can you tear someone down who's trying to fight for a good cause? Gore may have a big carbon footprint but is that not offset by the good that he's doing? Who knows how many trees Gore is buying to offset his carbon emissions or what other small things he's doing on a personal level. The guy is trying to promote change on a global scale. If all of our energy was supplied through renewable and environmentally friendly means it would make a huge difference. That's what he's promoting and campaigning for. Only a nitwit would seek to destroy someone trying to protect our future.

Rosie criticizes Barbara

People: Rosie O'Donnell Tells Barbara Walters to Retire

Rosie O'Donnell has some words of advice for Barbara Walters: Go, already.

In her upcoming memoir, Celebrity Detox, which sheds light on, among other episodes in her life, the TV star's tumultuous stint last season on The View, O'Donnell, 45, addresses Walters, 77, to say, "And Barbara. At some point, a person gets tired. It's inevitable," the New York Post reports.

"Barbara Walters is almost twice my age," the book (which is to be published Oct. 9) is quoted as saying. "At some point it becomes necessary to step back. Everyone has to go. Going is part of the gig."

O'Donnell also reportedly states, "I would be less-than-honest if I were to say that there is no trouble between Barbara and I. I mean, our differences are obvious."

O'Donnell writes that during commercial breaks on The View, audience members would sometimes shout out, "I love you, Rosie" – "and Barbara politely tells them in a schoolteacher tone, 'It is impolite to say I love you to one person when there are four of us up here.' "

In a statement on Tuesday, Walters says, "Rosie has written a very sad book, but I choose to focus on the happier times we had and hope to have in the future."

In the Q&A section of her Web site, O'Donnell responds to a couple of inquiries about the book. "[I]t hurt her feelings," O'Donnell answers about Walters's reaction. Asked if she's "ready for the storm that will surely follow the release," she advises, "engage deflector shields."

As might be expected, O'Donnell's book also tosses barbs at her old feuding partner, Donald Trump. Of their fight, which started when she commented on his handling of the Miss USA scandal, O'Donnell writes, according to the Post's Page Six column, "I honestly did not anticipate the malice of his response."

This time defending Walters, whom Trump called a "liar," O'Donnell reportedly writes, "I did not anticipate that he would be cruel enough to do what he did to Barbara. She should have been left alone."

Asked for comment on what her former co-host has written, Walters on Monday told Extra, "Rosie sent me the book with a note telling me how much she loved me. I have read the book – and I would like to concentrate on the love that she sent."

O'Donnell's publicist, Cindi Berger, is also quoted as telling the Post, "Rosie loves and adores Barbara and always will."

For her part, rather than scaling back, Walters is, in fact, stepping up her professional activities. On Tuesday SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced that, staring Sept. 17, she will host Barbara Live, a weekly live call-in show on SIRIUS Stars channel 102, Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. ET.

O'Donnell's blasts, meanwhile, arrive a week after Whoopi Goldberg, 51, made her debut in the chair vacated last May by O'Donnell and as the latest member of the show, Sherri Shepherd, 40, joins the panel.

Not that O'Donnell isn't squawking a bit about the book herself. As she posted on her blog last Thursday (spelling and punctuation hers):

so i just got my first hard copy of my new book
CELEBRITY DETOX
there on the front flap
in print

"when rosie odonnells mother was diagnosed with cancer in 1968, ten year old rosie thought fame could cure her"

i was born in 1962
my mother got sick in 1973

WTF !!!!!!!!!!

Meredith Vieira to appear on The View

Former co-host Meredith Vieira will appear on The View on October 8th to promote the forthcoming 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' DVD game. It will be her first appearance since she departed last year.

Kathy Griffin ROCKS!

As mentioned in Hot Topics today, Kathy Griffin is in hot water with Christians after her controversial Emmy Award acceptance speech. It included the following:

"A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

"Can you believe this shit? Hell has frozen over. Suck it, Jesus, this award is my god now."

Congratulations to Kathy on the win.

Barbara: Just Because

I just remembered this pic and thought I'd put it up again. She looks so proud.

FYI I didn't digitally alter her dress to make it off-the-shoulder. That chicken wing is all hers.

Sherri Shepherd's first day

I may have to eat my words...I'm actually coming around to the idea of having Sherri on the panel permanently. And I'm loving Whoopi as moderator. She's really together and considers things before she speaks. I'm looking forward to seeing the co-hosts gel together without Barbara. She's like Tom Cruise - total control freak. And poor Elisabeth...no one listens (you think she'd take a hint). Anyways, congratulations to Sherri Shepherd, I know she fought tooth and press-on nail to get the gig.

Upcoming schedule: Week of September 17

17/9: Mandy Moore performs; Mario Cantone's Emmy Wrap-up.

18/9: Joy Behar's new book; actor Dennis Haysbert. (Barry Manilow was originally scheduled to perform but will now not appear.)

19/9: Singer Gloria Estefan; Macy's fashion show.

20/9: Reba McEntire performs; Emmy dress look-alikes.

21/9: Actors Jessica Alba and Dane Cook ("Good Luck Chuck"); Leeza Gibbons.


President Palmer!

New poll

I've added a poll to the blog for the first time. Hope you enjoy it. Please everyone remember it's just a light-hearted thing, no real ill-will on my part. It's just a small way of protesting and entertaining at the same time. Keep it real :P

P.S. If you'd like to make any comments about the poll or the poll topic you can always post a comment reply to this blog entry.

Elisabeth's 'Glamour' interview

All we need is a strong gust of wind and...WHOOSH!

The latest issue of Glamour features an interesting interview with Elisabeth Hasselbeck in which she discusses - among other things - being a minority among liberals and the status of her non-friendship with Rosie O'Donnell. You can read the article 'How to come out on top' here.

Thanks but no thanks, Kathie Lee

Kathie Lee Gifford was approached to join The View. Is this interesting? If you think so then you can check out the article entitled 'Kathie Lee Shocker: The View Wanted Me' at The New York Post.

Coming soon

Sherri Shepherd wishes she was that shape! It looks more like Star Jones is returning after her successful gastric by-pass surgery.

New co-host to join The View on September 10th!

Barbara announced today that the new permanent co-host will be joining the panel from next Monday, September 10th. An insider has confirmed that the person will in fact be...Sherri Shepherd. Dammit. I so wanted Kathy Griffin.

Also read on for details of yesterday's ratings and Whoopi's response to the mini controversy surrounding her comments about dog fighting.

USA Today: ABC's 'The View' finds newest member

NEW YORK (AP) — Actress Sherri Shepherd will be introduced next week as a new cast member on The View, giving the daytime chat show its first full cast since before Rosie O'Donnell came and went.

The show's creator, Barbara Walters, said Wednesday that she would reveal the new cast member on Monday. That will be Shepherd, said a person close to the show who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Shepherd is no stranger to The View. She was a guest host more than a dozen times, many of them this summer as she tried out for a cast slot left empty since Star Jones Reynolds left last summer.

She appears in the upcoming film Who's Your Caddy. Her lengthy resume includes roles on Pauly Shore Is Dead and The Jamie Foxx Show. She even played God once on the CBS show Joan of Arcadia, although it's doubtful her new colleagues will give her the same voice of authority.

Published reports had Walters set to appoint Shepherd in late July, around the time Whoopi Goldberg was selected as the show's new moderator. But the announcement was delayed, perhaps a sign that hardball negotiations were taking place.

Meanwhile, preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings found that 3.4 million people watched Goldberg's debut on Tuesday. That's one million shy of O'Donnell's audience for her first show last September. O'Donnell's stormy tenure on The View lasted less than a year.

Goldberg created headlines of her own her first day by defending NFL star Michael Vick in his dogfighting case. Goldberg said that where Vick came from in the South, dogfighting isn't unusual.

On her Wake Up With Whoopi radio show heard on New York's WKTU-FM on Wednesday, Goldberg said she wanted to make clear she didn't condone Vick's actions. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback admitted he provided money for a dogfighting ring that operated on his property and helped kill six to eight pit bulls.

"I do not think what Michael Vick was smart," she said. "I am thrilled that the cops took care of it."

The first day of season 11

Goldberg already in hot water

New York Daily News: Whoopi Goldberg defends Michael Vick's dogfighting in first day on 'The View'

So much for the sedate alternative to Rosie O'Donnell on "The View." Whoopi Goldberg used her first day on the daytime chat show Tuesday to defend football star Michael Vick in his dogfighting case.

Goldberg said that "from where he comes from" in the South, dogfighting isn't that unusual.

"It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico," she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country."

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges last week, admitting that he provided money for a dogfighting ring that operated on his Virginia property and helped kill six or eight pit bulls. Vick grew up in Newport News, Va.

Goldberg was selected by series creator Barbara Walters to replace O'Donnell, whose stormy tenure on the ABC program lasted less than a year.

In the Vick discussion, Goldberg served notice that she won't shy away from controversy.

Co-host Joy Behar looked horrified at Goldberg.

"How about dog torture and dog murdering?" Behar asked.

For many people, dogs are sport, Goldberg replied, and it appeared it took awhile for Vick to realize that he was up against serious charges.

"I just thought it was interesting, because it seemed like a light went off in his head when he realized this was something that the entire country didn't appreciate," she said.

Vick has been suspended indefinitely by the National Football League and will be sentenced on the dogfighting charges in December. He apologized and asked for forgiveness upon entering his plea in federal court last week.

The 5th co-host will be announced soon

It has been officially confirmed that another new co-host will be announced soon.

Access Hollywood: As for the mysterious fifth co-host expected to join the show? Walters told Access Hollywood after today's taping, "We will shortly be adding a new member to the panel, and it's not George Clooney as some have suggested — but it is somebody the audience will know (already). That's all I want to say."

ExtraTV: With two comedians already on board, Barbara broke news to "Extra," revealing another one will soon join the permanent panel. "It will be somebody I think who will add to the humor," Barbara confessed. "I will give you no other clues."

Reuters: ABC confirmed Tuesday that the late-morning gabfest would have a fourth co-host by the end of this year. "We have a person in mind," executive producer Bill Geddie said Tuesday afternoon after the program had wrapped with only one guest, Danny DeVito, and the requisite talk by Goldberg, creator/part-time co-host Barbara Walters and co-hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Geddie said the new co-host could be on the set by the time Hasselbeck takes maternity leave in November.

These articles also reveal more details about Whoopi's first day on the job and the fact that she received phone calls from both Rosie and Star Jones before her debut. Access Hollywood and Extra also feature footage from the set.

The question is, who will the new co-host be? Given all indications the smart money is on Sherri Shepherd (aka Star Jones-Lite). Kathy Griffin seems like a long shot now since her name hasn't been mentioned for some time. Time will tell I guess.

Upcoming Schedule: Week of September 10

10/9: Dr. Phil ("Dr. Phil").

11/9: Susan Sarandon ("In the Valley of Elah"); Miranda Cosgrove ("Icarly").

12/9: Musical performance from Broadway's "Xanadu." (Presidential Candidate Senator Hillary Clinton no longer listed)

13/9: Martha Stewart ("Martha Stewart"); musical guest Kenny Chesney.

14/9: Michael Douglas ("King of California").

Regis and Rachel Ray followed by Dr. Phil and Martha Stewart. Who's next, Ellen and Oprah?

Whoopi Goldberg interview from TV Guide

You do movies, you have a daily radio show, you had your own talk show...so why The View?
I always liked the show. I always felt if there were a place for me, I'd love to be a part of it, but they always had their hosts. Then I started hearing little rumblings. It turns out that the timing couldn't be better and it all worked out.

Why is it a good fit?
I love to talk and I love these women. Because they have such diverse ideas about things, it's fun. Also it'll help me understand a lot more about what's going on in the world of pop culture. I don't know anything about American Idol or who's married to who and getting divorced from who.

Is there any subject you can't wait to sink your teeth into? Everything! We have an election year coming up, so to sit with all the candidates and hear what their thoughts are will be wonderful. There's a lot of great shows on television and some new ones coming up. There's so many exciting things happening out there.

Did Rosie's nemesis Donald Trump call you to congratulate you?
No, but Donald's nice.

You dress very casual. Will you change your style for the show?
Cleaner sneakers, neater shirts. That's me.

What's your catch phrase as moderator?
I am what I am. Me and Popeye.

More changes at The View

Details have been released about the new set and changes to the website.


From the Press Release:

Among the most highly anticipated and noted changes for the show this season is the addition of Whoopi Goldberg, a beloved star of television, stage and screen. Ms. Goldberg will serve as moderator, sitting alongside fellow co-hosts Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Additionally, "The View" set has been freshened this year with warm hues of yellow - both paint and fabric. The show returns to the signature wooden "Hot Topics" table from two seasons ago, replacing the recent acrylic table.

A new online destination for "The View" (abc.com/keyword: theview) rolls out Friday, August 31. Streaming video will be front and center so fans can watch "Hot Topics" clips and show segments while connecting with like-minded viewers in an intuitive and user-friendly way. Later this year the official online destination unveils progressive features and functionality that will serve the show's thriving and passionate online community.

A new stylized pop art designed official "View" mug will make its debut the week of September 10. Again this season the entire studio audience will receive giveaways and cookies courtesy of Keebler and juice courtesy of Apple & Eve.

The latest View-news

Both Barbara and Whoopi will appear on Good Morning America on Tuesday September 4th to promote the launch of the new season.

Also, People.com has an alternate cast photo, this one showing more of the co-hosts and Elisabeth's noticable baby-bump. There's an article that goes with it, which you can read here. It includes details about the photoshoot. The most interesting comment is from an ABC insider who says they're not focused on securing a fifth co-host immediately, "Right now, it's all about Whoopi."


And finally, if you're interested, here is a look at the fall 2007 mug:

New cast photo

ABC has updated The View's official site. Apparently they're "Whoopin it up". The ABC marketing people are so...is creative the right word? As for the new cast photo, what do you think? It's definitely very reminiscent of the one from last year.

Kathy Griffin returning to Larry King

Just a short note to say Kathy Griffin will appear on Larry King Live on September 17th. Be sure to check it out. I'm sure there'll be some mention of The View.

(Screaming like a maniac) I love you Kathy!

The View: E! True Hollywood Story is coming!!!

In some very exciting news it has been reported that The View will be the focus of an upcoming E! True Hollywood Story. The episode will air on E! this September 8th. The report of this news can be found at Black Voices Blogs. They also have up some sneak preview quotes from the special. Here's a sample:

Syracuse University Television Professor Robert Thompson on 'The View' – "The more we became invested in that family, the more interesting it became when they threatened to break apart, and, of course, the greatest moments of 'The View' are when the whole thing is going terribly wrong."

How true.