TVSquad

If your TiVo or DVR can't get enough of the syrupy charm of the former Alaska governor, you might want to install a memory upgrade.

Barbara Walters will do a sit down with Sarah Palin on the heels of her new memoir, Going Rogue, in a five-part series starting Nov. 17.

Five parts? Seriously? Wouldn't one suffice? She's only doing ONE interview with Oprah Winfrey and Oprah is the supreme overlord of the female television universe. Does "a five-part series with Sarah Palin" meet the textbook definition of overkill?

It's always fun when Bill O'Reilly visits The View. Bob posted about it yesterday, too, talking about how weird Whoopi was acting.

My first thought whenever O'Reilly visits The View is Joy Behar. She always looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but sitting next to him. But I suppose she puts up with it -- and has no choice in the matter -- because O'Reilly and Barbara Walters have been friends for a long time, and Barbara, of course, has the final say on who gets on the show and who doesn't.

This is all speculation, of course. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Just reading the body language, which I've learned a little about while watching Tonya Reiman on O'Reilly's Fox show, The O'Reilly Factor.

One last Halloween post. Bill O'Reilly appeared on The View on Friday, dressed as Dracula. It's a basic costume, but it suits him. Of course, the talk turned to the Fox News vs. the White House story, and then O'Reilly, for some bizarre reason, calls Whoopi "jealous" because he has a best-selling book. But what's equally odd is Whoopi's response, where she lists the awards she has won. I think that has been boiling inside her for a while (that part happens about 7:48 in).

And what's with all the weird mugging and looking around that Whoopi is doing? She's actually kinda of an odd person, isn't she?

[Watch The View and other shows on SlashControl.]

This week on The View, the ladies were talking about how to avoid getting the swine flu. The discussion began with ways to handle (or not handle, as the case may be) guests, to reduce the amount of germs passed from one human to another. Or something.

Anyway, during the course of the bit, Joy offered several options, including the elbow-bump, the knuckle-bump, and -- getting progressively worse -- the hand-shake, the body hug, an air kiss, and then a full-out kiss on the mouth. She proceeds to demonstrate this on Whoopi Goldberg.

My question is this: Why do the ladies of The View always end up kissing each other on the mouth? Ok, "always" is a pretty strong word, but there was the Meredith Vieira / Barbara Walters smooch, and I'm sure others in between that one and this one between Joy and Whoopi.

You might think that after finally breaking through at the Daytime Emmys and winning the golden statuette in the category Outstanding Host(s), the folks at ABC's The View would be resting on their laurels. Not so. The View is shaking up their production effective immediately.

According to Bill Geddie, executive producer, they're going to try and make The View more interactive, which is code for using email and web cams and other newfangled Internet sort of things to reach out to the viewers.

With all the press coverage given to Michael Jackson, you'd think a special about his life would trample the ratings of all the other networks. Apparently, that isn't the case as an ABC special about the life of Farrah Fawcett won in the ratings against a similar Michael Jackson retrospective on CBS.

I think it likely helped that Barbara Walters hosted the ABC special (which was a 20/20 special and therefore had more name value than a generic special), whereas the special on Jacko was simply a CBS documentary. I'm still amazed at the rapid turnaround time that the networks can produce specials like these. They have turned it into an art.

It is debatable over who was the bigger name, although both were icons on their time. Jackson seems to be getting more coverage because his death was more of a surprise than Farrah's. Either way, Thursday was a hell of a day.

Normally I don't look forward to doing posts on The View or Glenn Beck because it makes people think that I watch them on a regular basis.

Both, however, collided together to make a tasty train wreck sandwich when Beck appeared on a recent episode of The View.

Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters took the crying giant to task for characterizations Beck made of them on his radio program. Beck's subsequent chair squirming was so great, it shifted the tectonic plates and almost created a second earthquake on the Northeastern seaboard.

For those of you who were expecting to turn on ABC tonight at 8pm and watch one of the last new episodes of Pushing Daisies, don't bother.*

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello reports that a new episode of Pushing Daisies was indeed supposed to air tonight, but that ABC "pulled it at the last minute." Instead, they're repeating the two episodes of Scrubs that ran ... last night.

Creator and producer Bryan Fuller (now back on Heroes) says the remaining episodes "are not on the schedule right now ... and that's all we know." I guess there's a chance that all or some of the remaining episodes could be shown later, but there's probably an even better chance you'll have to watch them online or in the Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second Season DVD.

*Unless, of course, you love ABC no matter what and want to watch what they do have on tonight: a special 20/20 at 9 and then Barbara Walters' interview with Patrick Swayze.

• At 8, NBC has a new Knight Rider.
• PBS has a new Great Performances at 8.
• The CW has the series premiere of 13: Fear Is Real at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new 20/20, followed by Barbara Walters Special: Patrick Swayze.
  
• CBS has The People's Choice Awards at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9.
• Fine Living has a new Whatever, Martha at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside the NFL at 9.
• Also at 9: Sundance has a new Spectacle.
• At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order.
• TBS has the series premiere of Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns at 10 (two episodes).
• FX has the season premiere of Damages at 10.
• There's a new Top Chef on Bravo at 10.
• MTV has the season premiere of Real World: Brooklyn at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

I've always had a problem with Barbara Walters and her list of the 10 most fascinating people of the year. There are always a few people on the list that definitely belong there, such as a President or a politician or the person who starred in the biggest movie of the year. But her 2008 list, which she revealed last night, is pretty lame.

I've found four people on the list that I think should be there: Barack Obama, Tina Fey, Sarah Palin, and Michael Phelps. If you wanted to stretch it you could include Thomas Beatie, the pregnant man, but I'll stick with the other four. It's obvious why Obama and Palin on the list. Fey is on there for not only winning several awards but also for being a major player in the intersection where the election met pop culture. Phelps won 300 gold medals at The Olympics.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then a new Grey's Anatomy and Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by new episodes of CSI and Eleventh Hour.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, Kath & Kim, The Office, 30 Rock, and ER.
• There's a new Chowder on Cartoon Network at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, then The Pink Panther.
• At 8:30, HBO has a new De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7.
• At 9, CNN has a new CNN Presents.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact! at 9.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Island at 9.
• At 10, TLC has a new LA Ink.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Sarah Silverman Program.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• TLC has a Little People, Big World marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Pushing Daisies, followed by a new Private Practice and a new Barbara Walters Special.
• CBS has a new Old Christine at 8, the new episodes of Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY.
• NBC has the special Rosie Live at 8, followed by new episodes of Deal Or No Deal and Law and Order.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8.
• The CW has two new episodes of Stylista (the second is a clip show) at 8.
• PBS has a new installment of Monarchy at 8.
• The 2008 World Magic Awards airs on MyNetwork TV at 8.
• Discovery has two new episodes of Time Warp at 8.
• TCM has West Side Story at 8.
• At 9, Hallmark has the movie Accidental Friendship at 9.
• At 10, FX has the season finale of Sons of Anarchy.
• Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
• A&E has two new episodes of Parking Wars starting at 10.
• Also at 10, Showtime has a new Inside The NFL.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

You know that Barbara Walters-Rosie O'Donnell dust up this week with the two former View co-stars trading comments/insults about the sins of the past? Well, it smelled to me of a publicity stunt and now I'm convinced of it.

Turns out both divas will be having TV specials on Wednesday night, November 26. That's tomorrow night. Rosie Live will air at 8 o'clock on NBC.

Meanwhile, Barbara Walters has snagged Barack and Michelle Obama for a one-hour news special to air at 10 o'clock on ABC on November 26. What a coincidence!

1. I really enjoy Suze Orman's show (it's a major part of my Saturday night, which tells you a lot about my social life), especially the "Can I Afford It?" segment, where viewers call in to get her OK to buy something like a sports car or a Lear jet or a coffee maker. But I was wondering, what if someone called in and asked, "Suze, I don't have a job and I have student loans to pay off, but I'm thinking about buying 100,000 copies of your latest book, can I afford it?" What would she say then?

2. Two different TV shows in the past week, one a news program that had an analysis of the election and one a design show, used the phrase "do the math." I don't want to do the math. That's why I got into writing.

I don't know if the rumors about View host Elisabeth Hasselbeck going to Fox News Channel are true or not (Hasselbeck and the show deny it), but at this point I wouldn't blame her one bit.

Hasselbeck has had a lot of battles on the show with her co-hosts, from Rosie O'Donnell months ago to Barbara Walters. But today was the day I actually felt bad for her. The group was talking about the election, and how nasty the election could soon get in the final few weeks (Joy wasn't on the show today, so it was Elisabeth, Whoopi, Sherri, and Barbara). After playing the funny debate sketch from Saturday Night Live, the women discussed Governor Palin's attack on Barack Obama over the weekend, linking him to Bill Ayers (probably a desperate gambit by McCain but a fully legitimate one, I believe). Now, this has been brought up before, most notably by George Stephanopoulos in a debate and also by Hillary Clinton if I remember correctly, but the McCain campaign is bringing it up again.

So when the women discussed it, you can pretty much guess what happened.