As a nation, I’m proud that we’ve kept this fact under wraps for so long, but let a renegade/rogue cop say it: The View has become a horrible show. The View debuted in 1997. It was admittedly light fare in comparison to other news programming. The original line-up was Meredith Vieira, Joy Behar, Star Jones, Barbara Walters and Debbie Matenopoulos. First fired? You guessed it, the “kid.” Debbie Matenopoulos was relieved of her duties early on and if her recent stint on Good Day Live was an indication—she’s still burning over it. Debbie was replaced by the lovely Lisa Ling and the View hit its stride. After a few successful years Ling later got canned and was replaced with Style network's gripping, The Look For Less and Survivor: The Austalian Outback loser Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Let the downward trajectory begin.
At this point, the co-hosts, “acts” were defined to the point of parody. Vieira’s “working mom” shtick became tired. Jones’s rants were/are pure torture. Behar became a shrill clown armed with ancient Clinton jokes. Barbara Walters? She’ll never live down that awful Halloween episode where she made like a jerk and pretended to be Marilyn Monroe and stayed in character to the point of profound audience/co-host discomfort.
Of course not lost in this danger zone is “The Viewmaster” Bill Geddie. He’s often the “straight man” for the world’s unfunny segments. We’ve seen him in a tutu, dressed as a bear and now we want to see serve time--for being so lame.
A Near Rant- You know what gets me about this show? Some people complain about the View having a "liberal bias." That's probably why that right-leaning twit Hasselbeck was signed on, it couldn't be because of her "sparking personality." Despite the hurl worthy diatribes from both sides, this is an entertainment broadcast.
The Final Verdict: Meredith Vieira's the only one I can stand...
