The View (talk show)


The View is an American talk show that was conceived by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. It has aired on ABC as part of the network's daytime programming block since August 11, 1997. In its 23rd season, the show features a multi-generational panel of women, who discuss the day's "Hot Topics", such as sociopolitical and entertainment news. In addition to the conversation segments, the panel also conducts interviews with prominent figures, such as celebrities and politicians. Production of the show was originally held in ABC Television Studio 23 in New York City. In 2014, it relocated to ABC Broadcast Center, also in New York City. As of May 2020, the series is broadcast remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout its run, The View has had a total of 22 permanent co-hosts of varying characteristics and ideologies, with the number of contracted permanent co-hosts ranging between four and eight women per season. The original panel comprised Walters, broadcast journalist Meredith Vieira, lawyer Star Jones, then-aspiring television personality Debbie Matenopoulos, and comedian Joy Behar, while the current lineup consists of Behar, entertainer Whoopi Goldberg, lawyer Sunny Hostin, and television personality Meghan McCain. In addition, the show often makes use of male and female guest panelists, including television personality Ana Navarro, who came aboard as a weekly guest co-host in season 22.
The View has won 31 Daytime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Talk Show, Outstanding Informative Talk Show, and Outstanding Talk Show Host. It has also received praise from The New York Times, Slate, Entertainment Weekly, the Associated Press, and the Los Angeles Times. Beginning in 2007, the show became subject to on-air controversies and media criticism due to frequent changes in its panel of co-hosts, subsequently causing a decline in ratings. In 2014, the show was transferred from the helm of ABC's entertainment division to that of ABC News, which led to viewership growth and warmer critical response. In 2019, The View was regarded by The New York Times as "the most important political TV show in America," and the following year, it averaged 2.5 million viewers per episode.

Format

The original opening credits for the show featured voice-over from the show's creator and executive producer, broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, explaining the show's premise as well as its co-hosts' credentials:
Walters described the show as "a talk show featuring four or five women 'of different backgrounds, different generations, and different opinions,' who would discuss the topics of the day, mixing humor with intelligent debate." The show begins with a segment where the panel engages in a discussion pertaining to subjects ranging from politics to social issues as well as pop culture, commonly referred to as "Hot Topics." Every episode features multiple "Hot Topics" segments, which take up to most–if not all–of the day's show. The discussions are frequently followed by an interview with a guest, often a celebrity promoting a project. The show also periodically conducts audience giveaways. Every show is ended by one of the co-hosts, primarily the moderator, delivering the closing remarks, "Have a great day, everyone, and take a little time to enjoy the view."
The 12th season of The View heavily focused on the events related to the 2008 United States presidential election and its aftermath. The show's 13th season saw the introduction of male guest panelists; among them were television personality Tom Bergeron, actor D. L. Hughley, journalist Bryant Gumbel, and television host Joe Scarborough. Male personalities have since begun serving as guest co-hosts more frequently, specifically on Fridays, dubbed "Guy Day Friday." After Walters' retirement, the show was perceived to have been veering away from political discussions. Leading to the 2016 United States presidential election, the show began refocusing on politics and has reincorporated it back into "Hot Topics" discussions since.

Production

During its first 17 seasons, The View was filmed at 320 West 66th Street in ABC Television Studio 23 in New York City. The original set for the first four seasons was a leftover set from a cancelled soap opera The City. As a co-executive producer of the show, Walters plays a part in the casting of the co-hosts. Longtime executive producer Bill Geddie was the lone recurring male persona, sometimes shown as stepping out from behind the camera to interact with the panel. The co-hosts wear IFB earpieces through which producers communicate with them.
The Views 18th season brought significant on-air and behind-the-scenes changes in what was regarded as a "reinvention" of the show. In August 2014, ABC announced that Geddie was departing the show and that he was to be replaced by Bill Wolff, who had served as vice president of primetime programming and as executive producer of The Rachel Maddow Show at MSNBC. Production of the show relocated to the ABC Broadcast Center at 77 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. During the season premiere on September 15, 2014, the series unveiled its new studio featuring a coffee table-style desk with low-arm chairs, a large video wall, in-the-round audience seating, and an on-camera social media station. Subsequent tweaks included a glass desk and high stools at center stage, as well as color adjustments in backgrounds and graphics.
On October 30, 2014, ABC announced that responsibilities for production oversight on The View would shift from ABC's daytime entertainment division to Lincoln Square Productions, an ABC News subsidiary, where the show will be grouped under the division's non-fiction programming umbrella. The move allowed the show to leverage ABC News' resources toward news-related segments. In August 2015, it was reported that former Late Show with David Letterman producer Brian Teta would be joining the show as co-executive producer. Later in the month, executive producer Wolff was announced to be departing the show. During season 19, the show introduced an aftershow entitled After the View, which was available through live streaming. In February 2016, along with the show being renewed for a 20th season, Candi Carter was promoted to executive producer after serving as interim showrunner for season 19, becoming the first African-American executive producer in the show's history.
During the 20th-season premiere on September 6, 2016, the show debuted an updated set design with muted colors, retooled opening titles with footage of the co-hosts in a loft-like space, as well as a new theme song entitled "World's Gone Crazy", written by Diane Warren and performed by Mary J. Blige. Hilary Estey McLoughlin was named senior executive producer in January 2017 after she was brought on as a consultant for season 19. In September, the show promoted Teta to executive producer ahead of its 21st-season premiere. As of September 2019, the series is directed by Sarah de la O. Carter departed the series in March 2020 to become the showrunner of Tamron Hall. In the same month, all of the co-hosts began broadcasting remotely from their respective homes as a precaution in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the remote broadcast, as of May, Teta still produces the series from the Manhattan studio.

Co-hosts

Timeline

Seasons 1–10

The View premiered with four co-hosts: Meredith Vieira as moderator, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos, and Barbara Walters. Joy Behar, who was originally announced to be occasionally filling in as the fourth co-host when Walters was unavailable, soon became a full-time co-host. Following Matenopoulos's departure in December 1998, broadcast journalist Lisa Ling was brought on as a new co-host in 1999. Ling departed the show in 2002 to host National Geographic Explorer. Former castaway Elisabeth Hasselbeck replaced Ling beginning November 24, 2003, after Hasselbeck, television personality Rachel Campos-Duffy, and actress Erin Hershey Presley each received a week-long on-air tryout.
On April 6, 2006, Vieira announced that she was leaving the show to become co-anchor of the NBC morning program Today, replacing Katie Couric; her final episode aired on June 9. On June 27, 2006, Jones announced her departure on air, stating that she would remain on the show through July. Despite this, Walters announced the following day that Jones would no longer appear with the exception of previously recorded segments, publicly claiming feeling "betrayed" by Jones for unexpectedly making the announcement two days ahead of schedule. In an interview with People, Jones claimed the decision to leave was not hers and that producers informed her that they would not be renewing her contract in April. Walters later stated that ABC executives had decided not to renew Jones' contract due to diminished approval for Jones through their market research.
During the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards on April 28, 2006, it was announced that entertainer Rosie O'Donnell would be co-hosting the show for its tenth season; she made her debut as the new moderator on September 5. On April 25, 2007, O'Donnell announced she would be leaving the show when her contract expires due to failed contract negotiations. On May 25, ABC announced that O'Donnell had asked to be let out of her contract three weeks before its expiration and that she had been granted permission to depart immediately.

Seasons 11–18

On August 1, 2007, Walters announced that entertainer Whoopi Goldberg would be replacing O'Donnell as moderator for season 11. Goldberg debuted during the season premiere on September 4. Actress Sherri Shepherd joined as a permanent co-host beginning September 10, marking the first time in the show's history that it featured two African-American co-hosts. Hasselbeck went on maternity leave from October 2007 to January 2008 and again from August to October 2009, with rotating guest co-hosts filling in during the latter. On August 30, 2009, Goldberg, Behar, Shepherd, Hasselbeck, and Walters won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Walters took a hiatus after undergoing open-heart surgery in May 2010 and returned on September 7 during the season 14 premiere broadcast.
On March 7, 2013, Behar announced that she was leaving the series at the end of season 16. The next day, reports surfaced that Hasselbeck was to depart alongside Behar due to market research finding both of their views too "polarizing", which Walters denied. On May 13, Walters announced that she would be retiring in May 2014 but that she would remain an executive producer of the series for as long as it airs. Despite an earlier denial from Walters, Hasselbeck announced on July 10 that she was indeed departing to join the Fox News morning program Fox & Friends and that it was her last day on the show. On July 15, Walters revealed that actress Jenny McCarthy would become a permanent co-host. Behar's final episode, a This is Your Life-style tribute to her, aired on August 9. McCarthy made her debut as co-host on September 9 on the season 17 premiere episode. Walters made her final appearance as co-host on May 16, 2014. The following month, Shepherd and McCarthy announced that they would not be returning as co-hosts following the conclusion of season 17, leaving Goldberg as the sole remaining panelist for season 18.
O'Donnell's return as a permanent co-host was announced on July 10. After making guest appearances in season 17, actress Rosie Perez as well as former White House Communications Director Nicolle Wallace permanently joined the series for its 18th season, establishing Perez as the series' first Latina co-host; the two debuted as co-hosts alongside Goldberg and O'Donnell during the season premiere on September 15. Perez took a hiatus from the show at the end of the year to rehearse for her role in the play Fish in the Dark and returned on February 3, 2015. On February 6, representatives for O'Donnell confirmed that she would once again exit the panel due to "personal reasons"; her final appearance aired on February 12. In June, actress Raven-Symoné joined the series as a permanent co-host after frequently guest co-hosting, and the following month, comedian Michelle Collins, who had also been a frequent guest co-host, was announced as a permanent addition for season 19. Perez and Wallace exited at the conclusion of the 18th season in August.

Season 19–present

It was announced in August 2015 that original co-host Behar was returning as a permanent co-host and that actress Candace Cameron Bure and broadcast journalist Paula Faris would be joining Behar, Goldberg, Raven-Symoné, and Collins on the panel for season 19. Collins departed on June 16, 2016. It was announced on August 3 that television host Sara Haines was permanently joining the show for season 20. Despite originally being announced as contributors, lawyer Sunny Hostin and television personality Jedediah Bila also joined as co-hosts. With a panel comprising Behar, Goldberg, Raven-Symoné, Bure, Faris, Haines, Hostin, and Bila, The View debuted a panel of eight rotating co-hosts. Additionally, Behar began moderating on Fridays in Goldberg's place. On October 27, Raven-Symoné announced her exit from the series to star in the That's So Raven spin-off series, Raven's Home. On December 8, Bure announced that she was leaving the program, citing the commute between coasts and her commitments to other television projects as reasons; her final episode as co-host aired the following day.
Despite initially stating that she was considering leaving after season 20, Goldberg remained on the series as moderator for season 21, with Behar, Faris, Haines, Bila, and Hostin all returning as co-hosts. On September 18, 2017, Bila announced her exit from the show on air. Television personality Meghan McCain was subsequently reported to be joining the show permanently after leaving her position at Fox News; she debuted as co-host on October 9. After giving birth to a daughter in December 2017, Haines returned from her maternity leave on March 12, 2018. Faris departed in July. In the same month, Haines announced on air that she would be exiting to co-host the network's new third hour of Good Morning America alongside Michael Strahan; she made her final appearance during the season's penultimate broadcast on August 2.
It was announced in August that broadcast journalist Abby Huntsman would be joining Behar, Goldberg, Hostin, and McCain on the panel for season 22. Huntsman made her debut during the season premiere on September 4, while McCain took a leave of absence following the death of her father. McCain returned on October 8. Television personality Ana Navarro joined the show as a weekly guest co-host the following month. Goldberg took an extended hiatus from co-hosting beginning February 7, 2019, due to pneumonia and sepsis; she returned on March 14. Huntsman began her maternity leave in May. Behar, Goldberg, Hostin, Huntsman, and McCain all returned as co-hosts for the 23rd season, which premiered on September 3. Navarro also returned as a weekly guest co-host. On January 13, 2020, Huntsman announced her departure to become a senior advisor to her father's 2020 Utah gubernatorial election campaign; she made her final appearance as co-host on January 17. Haines returned as a guest co-host beginning in March.

Notable episodes

In 2010, President Barack Obama appeared as a guest on the show during the July 29 broadcast, marking the first appearance on a daytime talk show by a sitting U.S. president. The episode also saw the return of Barbara Walters following her open heart surgery in May before she resumed her hiatus. On February 22, 2012, Star Jones came on as a guest and discussed her contentious exit from the show, marking her first appearance since said exit in 2006. On February 7, 2014, Rosie O'Donnell returned as a guest for the first time since quitting the show in 2007. All eleven co-hosts in the show's history appeared during Walters' penultimate episode as co-host on May 15 to celebrate her retirement. Walters' final appearance as co-host aired the following day; it featured several guests, including Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton.
On March 27, 2015, the show celebrated its 4,000th broadcast, with Walters and Joy Behar returning for the celebration. On September 5, 2016, prior to the premiere of season 20, ABC aired a documentary entitled The View: 20 Years in the Making, which featured notable moments from the show and several personalities involved in its history, hosted by Behar. On November 8, Behar, Jedediah Bila, Candace Cameron Bure, Sara Haines, and Sunny Hostin hosted a primetime Election Night special of the show, which aired on Lifetime. On November 11, the series aired a "Flashback Friday" episode, which featured the original panel of co-hosts comprising Behar, Jones, Meredith Vieira, and Debbie Matenopoulos as well as a Veteran's Day tribute.
In March 2017, the show had its first remote broadcast from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Five episodes were filmed in front of the Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom, featuring pre-recorded segments with Behar, Bila, Haines, Hostin, Paula Faris, and Whoopi Goldberg exploring Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Film director James Cameron came on as a guest on March 9, giving a preview of the themed area Pandora – The World of Avatar. Other guests included Sherri Shepherd, Tom Bergeron, actresses Ariel Winter, Audra McDonald, and Mandy Moore, actors John Stamos and Eric Stonestreet, and chefs Masaharu Morimoto and Art Smith, with musical performances by singer Andy Grammer and rock band Train.
On August 11, 2017, ABC re-aired the first episode of The View, which originally aired on the same date 20 years prior. On November 7, 2019, the series celebrated the airing of its 5,000th episode, with Bill Geddie, businessman Donald Trump Jr., and television personality Kimberly Guilfoyle appearing as guests. The following month, singer Darlene Love performed her song "Christmas " alongside singer Jason Derulo on the December 20 broadcast, which Love has done annually since 2015. On March 11, 2020, the series aired its first broadcast without a live studio audience since its debut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controversies

On May 17, 2007, O'Donnell criticized the Iraq War as well as the Bush administration's policies in relation to the war and rhetorically asked, "655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?" On May 23, a confrontation ensued between O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck due to O'Donnell taking issue with Hasselbeck's lack of willingness to defend her right to criticize the war. O'Donnell also stated that the media would portray her as "big, fat, lesbian, loud Rosie attacking innocent, pure, Christian Elisabeth" and that Republican pundits were mischaracterizing her statements; Hasselbeck responded by telling O'Donnell to "defend her own insinuations." O'Donnell exited the series two days later. She stated in 2008 that she felt set up when the show made use of a split screen during the confrontation.
During a discussion about the 89th Miss America pageant on September 14, 2015, Behar and Michelle Collins commented on contestant Kelley Johnson's monologue about her occupation as a registered nurse, during which Johnson had on nursing scrubs and a stethoscope, with Collins calling Johnson's monologue "hilarious" and remarking that she "read her emails out loud" and Behar questioning why Johnson wore "a doctor's stethoscope". The controversy resulted in an immediate social media backlash from the nursing profession, including the hashtag #NursesUnite. Two days later, Collins and Behar addressed the controversy on air. Consequently, pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson and egg company Eggland's Best pulled their sponsorships from the series, later followed by food company McCormick & Company, laundry brand Snuggle, and party store chain Party City.
On February 13, 2018, while analyzing television personality Omarosa's comments in regards to Vice President Mike Pence's religiosity, Behar stated: "It's one thing to talk to Jesus, it's another thing when Jesus talks to you. That's called mental illness, if I'm not correct, hearing voices." Content analysis organization Media Research Center subsequently launched a campaign demanding an apology from Behar and urging viewers to do the same, resulting in 40,000 calls to ABC as well as 6,000 complaints to the show's advertisers. Pence himself responded and accused the show of expressing "religious intolerance". The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger later stated that Behar has directly apologized to Pence. On March 13, Behar issued an apology on air, stating: "I think Vice President Pence is right; I was raised to respect everyone’s religious faith, and I fell short of that. I sincerely apologize for what I said."

Other media

Critical response

A New York Times review, published ten days after the show premiered, describes what critic Caryn James thought was distinctive about the show:
In 2002, Virginia Heffernan of Slate complimented the chemistry between Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar, and Barbara Walters, writing that the women "have eased completely into the stock sensibility of middle-aged talk shows, embracing the imperatives that one be healthy, careful, temperate, charitable, and moderately cutesy while at the same time skeptical, ribald, and world-weary." In 2007, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly praised the show, writing that it "does for daytime what The Daily Show does for nighttime: It reflects the pent-up frustrations, pleasures, and hostilities its audience has toward pop and political culture."
During her first run on the show, while regarded as outspoken, Rosie O'Donnell received criticism from conservative media outlets for oftentimes interjecting her own–often liberal–viewpoints and not acting as a moderator during discussions. Conversely, Helena Andrews of Politico praised O'Donnell for making the show "actually watchable—something no longer relegated to the ether of TiVo or sneaked through head phones at work when we should be watching CNN." In 2014, Michael Schulman of The New Yorker praised O'Donnell's tenures on the show, elaborating that she "pushed the limits of what cheery daytime chatter could sustain, and The View became more heated and more interesting as a result."
The appointment of Jenny McCarthy as a co-host attracted backlash due to her anti-vaccination views. David Freeman, then-senior science editor for HuffPost, wrote about science communicator Bill Nye's concern that McCarthy would "encourage parents to prevent their kids from getting vaccinated" as well has his hope that her views would be "discredited." Alex Pareene of Salon criticized the decision, writing that McCarthy "isn't just quirky—she spreads lies that hurt people." Writing for The Guardian, Jill Filipovic remarked that McCarthy "has no record of political activism or even serious engagement with the world" other than her anti-vaccination stance. Michael Specter of The New Yorker asserted that ABC executives "should be ashamed of themselves for offering McCarthy a regular platform on which she can peddle denialism and fear to the parents of young children who may have legitimate questions about vaccine safety" and that her hiring was a "strike against reason and progress and hope."
Following Walters' retirement, the show became known for constant changes in its lineup of co-hosts, including the brief tenures of McCarthy, Rosie Perez, Nicolle Wallace, and Michelle Collins. In July 2015, Daniel D'Addario of Time suggested that it was time for ABC to end The View, citing the show's inability to maintain a consistent panel as a factor. In 2016, Lisa de Moraes of Deadline Hollywood wrote: "The View’s revolving door has been spinning so dizzily on the show the past few seasons, that panelists these days do a lot of disagreement prefacing with 'You know I love you, but….' as a pre-emptive measure for inevitable 'They Couldn’t Stand Each Other' press reports whenever a panelist exits."
In 2017, David Bauder of the Associated Press attributed the show's resurgence in viewership to its political discussions. HuffPosts David Hinckley opined that the show has been successful in consistently implementing its original premise and maintaining "a balance in areas like ethnicity and ideology" in regards to its co-hosts. Writing for the New York Times in May 2019, Amanda FitzSimons noted that what sets The View apart from other entertainment and news programs is the fascination with the show's hosts and that it "remains one of the few places on TV where audiences can watch authentic human drama." Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times praised the series for being "one of the few places left on TV where liberal, conservative and moderate voices pose questions that real folks might ask" and for generating "raw moments that are as authentic as they are viral."

U.S. television ratings

In November 2008, the show's post-election day telecast garnered the biggest audience in the show's history at 6.2 million in total viewers, becoming the week's most-watched program in daytime television. It was surpassed on July 29, 2010, during which then-President Barack Obama first appeared as a guest on The View, which garnered a total of 6.6 million viewers. In 2013, the show was reported to be averaging 3.1 million daily viewers, which outpaced rival talk show The Talk. During Walters' final week in May 2014, the program averaged 4.1 million total viewers, with the episode featuring a farewell to Walters on May 16 garnering 5.2 million total viewers and ranking as the show's fourth most-watched broadcast.
The season 18 premiere in September 2014, which marked the return of Rosie O'Donnell, drew the show's second largest season premiere audience to date of 3.902 million viewers. In January 2015, it was reported that the show's viewership was down nine percent among its target demographic of women 25–54. In February 2016, Variety reported that The View was "ranked first in viewers for the second consecutive week". During the first week of November of the same year, the show averaged 2.94 million viewers, the fourth week in a row with year-to-year gains. Its 5,000th episode, which aired in November 2019, garnered 3.021 million viewers. In January 2020, it was reported that the series was averaging 2.5 million viewers per day and that it was one of the top five daytime talk shows in the U.S.

Accolades

Since debuting in 1997, The View has garnered numerous awards and honors, among them are 31 Daytime Emmy Awards, which include Outstanding Talk Show, Outstanding Informative Talk Show, and Outstanding Talk Show Host for Walters, Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Sherri Shepherd, and three NAACP Image Awards. In addition, the show has received nominations for three People's Choice Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, and a Critics' Choice Television Award.