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?
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.
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.
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!
When I look at some of the people who have emerged as today's biggest stars on TV, I scratch my head and wonder, "how did that happen?" There are a few stars who have completely exceeded my expectations -- and I bet yours, too. In fact, after you read my five (no cell phone pun intended), I'm betting that you'll have a few more overachievers to add to the list.
1) Ty Pennington I'm not ashamed to admit that for a couple of years I was hooking on TLC's Trading Spaces. It may have been the perky Paige Davis, the home improvement on a $1,000, the cool things that the designers did in just 24 hours -- whatever it was, I was a regular viewer. Oh, yes, there was also a carpenter on the show named Ty Pennington.
On Friday, May 30, the experimental episode will show how The View is made, by lifting the curtain so you can see how the magic happens. They've chosen to show the upside down, backstage View on that Friday - and don't worry about marking it in your calendar. You can expect plenty of reminders from Barbara Walters (if she's there), Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. With all that behind the scenes footage, only half of the show as seen originally -- from the camera's point of view -- will be seen.
Barbara Walters had an affair. The broadcast journalist and co-hostess of The View revealed on an episode of Oprah (to be broadcast this coming Tuesday) that she had an affair with Senator Edward Brooke during the 1970's.
In 1967, Brooke was the first African-American to be popularly elected to the Senate. At the time, Walters was an up-and-coming news reporter. In the interview, Walters described the Massachusetts senator as "exciting" and "brilliant". Winfrey asked Walters if she was in love, to which she replied that she was certainly "infatuated".
As the Academy Award presentation approaches, that can only mean one thing -- time for a new Barbara Walters special. Yes, yes, what matters most before the big show isn't the red carpet and the fashions, it's who will Barbara be interviewing for her annual Oscar edition? Ms. Walters has four biggies lined up for the Sunday, February 24th (7:00-8:00 p.m. ET) broadcast. Oscar nominee Ellen Page, star of Juno; Indiana Jones, himself, Harrison Ford; UglyBetty diva, Vanessa Williams; and HannahMontana/teen queen Miley Cyrus. It's an eclectic group, to say the least, but then, that's Baba Wawa's formula for success, is it not? After all, this is her 27th straight year doing a pre-Oscar special.
Some people don't think this should be a "top story" of 2007, as I've heard it decried already around the interwebs, but the fact remains that this feud was all over the news, garnered high ratings and made The View one of the most buzzed about shows of 2007. Regardless of if you think Rosie was being a bully or Elisabeth was being a baby or if both were being words we don't say in polite company, it was a big deal. I know when I heard she was joining the show for its tenth season, my first thought was "The View is still on the air?"
Ex-Survivor: Australian Outback castaway and current The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck called her daytime talk show to let her co-workers know the name of her baby boy born over the weekend.
Although it's November sweeps, I doubt she planned the timing of the birth to boost ratings. Perhaps the phone call, though! In her call to the show she told them that Taylor Thomas Hasselbeck was born at 7:52 am on Friday morning.
Elisabeth's husband is Tim Hasselbeck, a back-up quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.
Rumors continue to fly as more and more people speculate who will take over Rosie O'Donnell's spot on The View. I haven't paid much attention to the ever-expanding list, but the two most recent names managed to catch my eye: Mario Cantone from Sex and the City and Ross "the Intern" Mathews from, most recently, Celebrity Fit Club. The View has always been about showcasing varying women's points of view, so how do Cantone and Mathews fit in there? Are they possible candidates just because they're gay men? Come on.
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. 
It's always fun when Bill O'Reilly visits 
This week on 
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. 
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. 
When I look at some of the people who have emerged as today's biggest stars on TV, I scratch my head and wonder, "how did that happen?" There are a few stars who have completely exceeded my expectations -- and I bet yours, too. In fact, after you read my five (no cell phone pun intended), I'm betting that you'll have a few more overachievers to add to the list. 
ABC in turning things around on The View -- at least for one day. In what a cynic might call a stunt, 
As the Academy Award presentation approaches, that can only mean one thing -- time for a new Barbara Walters special. Yes, yes, what matters most before the big show isn't the red carpet and the fashions, it's who will Barbara be interviewing for her annual Oscar edition? Ms. Walters has four biggies lined up for the Sunday, February 24th (7:00-8:00 p.m. ET) broadcast. Oscar nominee Ellen Page, star of 
Some people don't think this should be a "top story" of 2007, as I've heard it decried already around the interwebs, but the fact remains that this feud was all over the news, garnered high ratings and made The View one of the most buzzed about shows of 2007. Regardless of if you think Rosie was being a bully or Elisabeth was being a baby or if both were being words we don't say in polite company, it was a big deal. I know when I heard she was joining the show for its tenth season, my first thought was "The View is still on the air?"
Ex-Survivor: Australian Outback castaway and current The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck called her daytime talk show to let her co-workers know the name of her baby boy born over the weekend.
Rumors continue to fly as more and more people speculate who will take over Rosie O'Donnell's spot on The View. I haven't paid much attention to the ever-expanding list, but the two most recent names managed to catch my eye: Mario Cantone from Sex and the City and Ross "the Intern" Mathews from, most recently, Celebrity Fit Club. The View has always been about showcasing varying women's points of view, so how do Cantone and Mathews fit in there? Are they possible candidates just because they're gay men? Come on.
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
