"The View" (1997) More at IMDb Pro »TV series 1997-????

The View began as a fascinatingly fresh and new kind of morning show in 1997, with a collection of intelligent, successful, and vivacious women who could reflect upon current events with thought. Their "views" were varied and multi-layered, and provided unbiased television to wake us up.

In recent years, The View has become less about the virtues of its women and more about their rise to fame. As Meredith, Star, Joy, and Barbara (the four women who, until recently, stuck out 2000 episodes of the gab fest) reaped the benefits of their obviously popular show, the audience became at once disenchanted and guiltily curious. As new co hosts entered and exited, the women morphed into glossy products of the show, viewpoints became less varied and more rigid, tensions rose and The View entered into a frivolous time period of self-congratulations. All this culminating in the recent blow-out- a face lift from the network, firing Star Jones, the exit of Meredith Viera, and the hiring of Rosie O'Donnell. Viewers reached an opportunity to see these women outside of The View use their wills to say what they could never be say on ABC. Now, viewers tune in to see what's next for the show's cast- whose safe (Barbara), whose not (Elisabeth and maybe Joy), if Rosie is in or out, and if they will ever mention Star again.

In other words, viewers no longer tune in for the show but in curiosity of its politics. Sure, that means there are still ratings for The View, but fickle ones- the show has a morbidly scandalous cloud over it in recent weeks. And once the show settles down, and probably rises to even more self-congratulating heights, the fan ship will die down steadily.

That is why, while ABC still has viewer-ship, The View is in need of a serious and quick reworking. Starting off by taking a fresh look at the cast- and if all three women (meaning Joy, Elisabeth, and Rosie- Barabara is clearly off limits) are really reflective of The View's mission- do they really represent popular facets of American women? New cast members are needed, and it would be advisable not to go ahead with Rosie, as she adds to the show's recent circus act undertone. Secondly, ABC and the women would do well to focus less on the show's business ON the show and in the media, and focus on REAL current events, while really discussing their views, and not just making self-effacing or self-upholding jokes on the matters.

If The View can get through this firestorm, and come back in a fresh way, it will be better then before.