The View (U.S. TV series)

Format

The original opening credits for the show, featuring voice-over from Walters, explain the show's premise:

I've always wanted to do a show with women of different generations, backgrounds and views: a working mother [Vieira]; a professional in her 30s [Jones]; a young woman just starting out [Matenopoulos]; and then somebody who's done almost everything and will say almost anything [Behar]. And in a perfect world, I'd get to join the group whenever I wanted....

Every show is ended by one of the co-hosts, primarily the person moderating, simply saying "Have a great day everyone and take a little time to enjoy The View!" Or if short on time simply, "Enjoy The View!"

Since season 10, politics and taboo subjects have been readily explored. This has moved the show into a newsworthy spectrum from traditional daytime talk fare.

The format of full-hour Hot Topics was introduced in season 11, allowing more in-depth conversations and debates.

The twelfth season of The View was heavily focused on the events related to the 2008 United States presidential election with attention towards the issues affecting women in particular and more broadly, the United States. They closely followed Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign in the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination race. Likewise, attention was focused when Senator John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his Republican vice-presidential running mate in August 2008. Several of the discussions on The View became heated and many were also subsequently reported in other major media outlets.

Season 13 was the first season in which men served as guest co-hosts. They included Joe Scarborough, Bryant Gumbel, Tom Bergeron, and D. L. Hughley. Beginning in season 15, every Friday when Walters took off, The View has "Guy Day Friday", in which a male co-host moderated in place of Walters.

Production

Walters, "a co-owner (with ABC) and co-executive producer" of the show, likely has final decisions as to the casting of the co-hosts. Rosie O'Donnell has stated that Walters and other show hosts wear IFB earpieces through which backstage producers instruct them what to say. On 000000002014-10-30-0000October 30, 2014, The View was transferred into Lincoln Square Productions, an ABC News subsidiary, from ABC Entertainment after struggling in ratings and a change in hosts.

The show airs live from New York City weekdays at 11:00 am Eastern/10:00 am Central, and is tape-delayed for ABC stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones and for Alaska and Hawaii, scheduled for 10:00 am in these areas. International versions of the program are aired in several countries.

Seasons 1–17

Bill Geddie, who originally served as co-executive producer, was the lone recurring male persona, sometimes shown as stepping out from behind camera to interact with the hosts. In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable he stated: "I'm not an on-air personality and I think anybody who's seen me realizes that. But early on, the network thought it would be kind of fun to see there's this guy here in charge, but if you watch the show, you see that generally speaking I'm a side player and I'm basically there to get a laugh."

The original set for the first four seasons was a leftover set from a cancelled soap opera, The City. The show received a new set for its fifth season, located within the ABC Television Center in New York City. Season 10 saw a simple new set design in blue and new glass table, a change from their signature wooden hot topics table. For seasons 11 and 12, the show's set changed colors from blue to yellow and brought back the signature wooden table. Seasons 13 and 14 premiered with new set colors of teal with green and light blue, keeping their wooden hot topics table. Season 15 premiered with a completely redesigned retractable set, having the walls all predominantly as screen monitors in order to showcase different things but primarily the New York City skyline. The hot topics table changed to a new lit up, white glass table; this set stayed through season 17.

Season 18

The View's eighteenth season brought significant on-air and behind-the-scenes changes in what has been termed by at least one reporter as a "reinvention" of the show. Longtime executive producer and co-creator Bill Geddie, who was with The View from its launch, departed the show in Summer 2014, with ABC announcing on August 28 that Bill Wolff would replace him. Wolff comes to the show from MSNBC, where he had served as vice-president of primetime programming and also as executive producer of The Rachel Maddow Show.The View's new production team also includes Brian Balthazar as co-executive producer, Ashley S. Gorman as director, and Kathleen Rajsp as senior supervising producer.

Season 18 also saw a new home for The View, as the show relocated to the former studios of canceled talk show Katie at the ABC Broadcast Center at 302 West 66th Street in Manhattan. A new theme song was composed by Erik Blicker and Glenn Schloss and premiered on November 24, 2014. Unveiled during its season premiere on September 15, 2014, the new studio featured at the outset teal-and-orange accents, 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. Tweaks in subsequent weeks have included an upgraded desk and seating 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 ABC News, where the show will be grouped under the division's non-fiction programming umbrella, which produces NY Med for the network as well as content for other networks including National Geographic Channel and Discovery Networks. The move in oversight will likely not generate any noticeable changes in The View's content (in recent years, the remainder of ABC's news content has become similarly slanted towards soft news, entertainment, and popular culture); it will, however, allow the show to leverage ABC News's resources more frequently than before, as well as create the possibility of making deals to land big-name guests (something generally forbidden on the newsgathering side). Season 18 was also Walters' last season as co-executive producer of the show.

Seasons 19–20

Season 18 executive producer Bill Wolff left the show and was replaced by Candi Carter and Brian Teta. In season 19, an online exclusive after show called After the View debuted on Facebook. It is moderated by Behar and sometimes Faris. On September 6, 2016, during the twentieth season's premiere, the show started using an updated set design. The show also introduced a new theme song, titled "World's Gone Crazy" by Mary J. Blige. After two seasons of absence, Barbara Walters also returned as executive producer.

Seasons 1–9

The show premiered with four co-hosts: Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos, and Barbara Walters. Walters and Joy Behar initially took turns as the fourth co-host but Behar soon became a full-time co-host. Debbie Matenopoulos was fired at the beginning of 1999. Following her departure, Lisa Ling was announced as the new co-host beating out Rachel Campos-Duffy and Lauren Sánchez who competed in an on-air try-out to fill the vacated seat and her first day was on March 25, 1999. Lisa Ling departed in 2002 to host National Geographic Explorer. Former Survivor: The Australian Outback castaway Elisabeth Hasselbeck replaced Ling on November 24, 2003 after Hasselbeck, Rachel Campos-Duffy and Erin Hershey Presley were the finalists in a competition that ended with each of the three getting a week-long on-air tryout.

Meredith Vieira announced on April 6, 2006, that she was leaving the show to become co-host of the long-running NBC News program Today, replacing Katie Couric. Her final show was on June 9, 2006. On June 27, 2006, Star Jones announced her departure on air, surprising Walters and ABC. Jones said she would remain on the show through July, but the next day Walters announced that Jones would no longer be a part of The View except for previously recorded segments. Walters has publicly commented about feeling "betrayed" by Jones, since Jones unexpectedly made the announcement two days ahead of schedule. In an interview with People, Jones claimed the decision to leave was not hers, and that in April, producers told her that her contract would not be renewed. According to an interview with Associated Press, Walters stated that ABC executives had apparently decided not to renew Jones' contract as early as the previous fall due to diminished approval for the co-host which was showing up in their market research.

Seasons 10–16

On April 28, 2006, an announcement was made at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards that former talk show host Rosie O'Donnell would be joining the show at the start of the tenth season. In September 2006, O'Donnell made her debut as the new co-host and moderator of the show. On April 25, 2007, O'Donnell announced she would be leaving the show as a co-host when her contract expired because the network could not come to terms on the length of a new contract. She did, however, say that she planned to return as an occasional correspondent. On May 25, 2007, ABC announced that O'Donnell had asked to be let out of her contract nearly a month before its expiration and was given permission to leave immediately.

On August 1, 2007, Walters announced that Whoopi Goldberg would be replacing O'Donnell as moderator for the eleventh season. Other names reportedly considered for replacing O'Donnell were Gayle King, Sherri Shepherd, Kathy Griffin, Roseanne Barr and Mario Cantone. Walters announced on September 10, 2007, that Sherri Shepherd would be joining the show as a permanent co-host. Her arrival marked the first time since Meredith Vieira left in 2006 that the show featured a complete panel of five co-hosts. It also marked the first time in the show's history that two African-American co-hosts were part of the same panel. Elisabeth Hasselbeck went on maternity leave from October 2007 to January 2008; rotating guest co-hosts substituted for her while she was away. Hasselbeck was on maternity leave for the first month and a half of season 13. Following the show on May 10, 2010, Walters took a hiatus from the show for heart surgery. The premiere of season 14 marked Barbara Walters's return.

On March 7, 2013, it was announced that Joy Behar would be leaving the show at the end of season 16. She told Deadline, "It seemed like the right time...You reach a point when you say to yourself, 'Do I want to keep doing this?' There are other things on my plate I want to do — I've been writing a play, I've been neglecting my standup". Behar's final show, a This is Your Life style tribute to her, aired on August 9, 2013.

In March 2013, there were widespread media reports that Elisabeth Hasselbeck was going to be fired from the show, effective at the end of the season, reportedly due to market research polling that showed viewers thought her views were too conservative. Hasselbeck ended up leaving the panel on July 10, 2013 in order to join Fox News Channel.

Seasons 17–20

On July 15, 2013, Walters announced that Jenny McCarthy would become a permanent co-host. ABC News confirmed that Jenny McCarthy would replace Elisabeth Hasselbeck. McCarthy made her debut as co-host on September 9, 2013, the premiere date of season 17. Walters had confirmed onscreen on The View on May 13, 2013 that she would be retiring in May 2014 as a co-host of the show and from ABC News, but would continue as an executive producer of the series for as long as it airs. Walters' final episode as a co-host was on May 16, 2014, with several former co-hosts and guests returning for a special broadcast.

On June 26, 2014, it was confirmed that Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy would not be returning to The View, leaving Goldberg the sole remaining panelist to return for season 18. Rosie O'Donnell's return to The View was announced on July 10, 2014. During that summer, The View conducted "chemistry testing" of various prospective hosts to join Goldberg and O'Donnell. On September 3, the series announced that Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace would join the host panel for its September 15 season premiere. Both Perez, an actress and choreographer, and Wallace, an MSNBC political analyst and former Bush White House communications chief, previously made guest host appearances on The View during season 17.

On February 6, 2015, representatives for O'Donnell confirmed that she would once again exit the panel, citing her reasons as a "personal decision". Her final appearance aired on February 12. On June 10, 2015, recurring guest panelist Raven-Symoné joined the series as a permanent co-host. On July 7, 2015, it was announced that Perez would exit the series following the completion of its eighteenth season, in order to pursue her acting full-time. On July 8, 2015, it was confirmed that Michelle Collins would join the series as a permanent co-host for the upcoming season. On July 15, 2015, it was announced that Wallace was being let go after season 18 concluded.

On August 25, 2015, it was announced that former co-host Joy Behar would return as a co-host for season 19. Additionally, it was announced that actress Candace Cameron Bure and Good Morning America Weekend anchor Paula Faris would also be joining the panel. It marked the first time in the series' history that it had six permanent co-hosts. It was also the first time The View had a full panel of at least five co-hosts in over two years. In addition, Padma Lakshmi, Stacy London, Ana Navarro, Molly Sims, and Shepherd joined the show as contributors. On June 16, 2016, it was officially announced that Michelle Collins had been let go, effective immediately. On July 11, 2016, it was announced that Goldberg and Behar will remain on the panel through its 20th season. On August 3, 2016, it was announced that Faris, Bure, and Raven-Symoné would also be returning for season 20 and that Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Jedediah Bila was being promoted to co-hosts. On October 27, 2016, Raven-Symoné announced that she would be exiting the show at the end of the year to focus on a That's So Raven spin-off series. On the December 8, 2016, episode of The View, Bure announced that she would be leaving the program. She said the commute between the east and west coasts, and juggling her other television obligations, were difficult on both her and her family. Her last episode as a co-host was aired the following day.

Notable episodes

On July 29, 2010, President Barack Obama appeared on the show. Walters returned for the episode before resuming her hiatus. On September 23, 2010, the show aired its three-thousandth episode and celebrated the show's history.

On February 22, 2012, former co-host Jones came on the show as a guest and discussed her contentious exit from the show. It was her first appearance since her departure in 2006.

On February 7, 2014, O'Donnell returned to the show as a guest for the first time since she quit the show in May 2007. On May 15, 2014, all eleven co-hosts of the show's history appeared to celebrate Walters's retirement.

On March 27, 2015, the show celebrated its four-thousandth episode. Former co-hosts Barbara Walters and Joy Behar returned to the show for the celebration.

On September 5, 2016, before the show's twentieth season premiered, ABC aired a documentary entitled The View: 20 Years in the Making, featuring notable moments from the show and several personalities involved in the show's history. The special was hosted by Behar. On November 11, 2016, a "Flashback Friday" episode was aired along with a Veteran's Day tribute, featuring the return of original co-hosts Vieira, Jones and Matenopoulos, alongside Behar. Walters was unavailable to attend the reunion.

O'Donnell/Hasselbeck argument

O'Donnell consistently brought up recent news about the war in Iraq, and criticized the US media for its lack of coverage on the Bush administration's actions and policies. On May 17, 2007, O'Donnell rhetorically asked, "655,000 Iraqi civilians dead. Who are the terrorists? If you were in Iraq and another country, the United States, the richest in the world, invaded your country and killed 655,000 of your citizens, what would you call us?"

On May 23, 2007, a heated discussion ensued because of what O'Donnell perceived as a lack of willingness of Hasselbeck to defend O'Donnell's right to disagree with invading Iraq and the resulting military occupation. O'Donnell also stated that the media would portray her as a bully attacking "innocent pure Christian Elisabeth" whenever they disagreed and she believed Republican pundits were mischaracterizing her statements. Hasselbeck then told O'Donnell to "defend your own insinuations". The debate became more heated when Behar and Shepherd made joking attempts to end the discussion because actress Alicia Silverstone was waiting in the wings to appear as a guest after the commercial break. The incident was widely covered in mainstream media including a split-screen shot of O'Donnell and Hasselbeck arguing.

O'Donnell did not return after this episode. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, O'Donnell said that she knew it was time to leave the show when she saw the split screen image of her and Hasselbeck on either side; O'Donnell felt that this was proof that the producers of the show were setting her up to be confrontational with Hasselbeck, because in her words, "they had to prepare that [split-screen] in advance." In reality, a split-screen effect can be set up in a matter of seconds in any live television control room.

Doctor's stethoscope controversy

On the September 14, 2015, episode of The View, the panel was discussing the talent segment from the previous night's Miss America competition when Collins and Behar started poking fun at Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson's talent being a monologue on her occupation as a registered nurse. During her monologue, Johnson was wearing nursing scrubs and a stethoscope. Collins called Johnson's monologue "hilarious" and that "she was reading her emails out loud," while Behar questioned why Johnson had "a doctor's stethoscope on?" These and other comments resulted in an immediate social media backlash from the nursing profession, including the hashtag #NursesUnite.

On the September 16 episode, Collins and Behar appeared to publicly apologize, although some critics questioned the sincerity of the apologies. Despite the public apologies, Johnson & Johnson and Eggland's Best pulled their sponsorships from The View, and were later followed by McCormick & Company, Snuggle, and Party City.

Walt Disney World broadcast

From March 6–10, 2017, the show had its first remote broadcast from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was set in front of the Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom with pre-recorded segments starring the show's co-hosts filmed a week prior to the live broadcast throughout Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Guests included John Stamos, Ariel Winter, Sherri Shepherd, Eric Stonestreet, Audra McDonald, Mandy Moore, James Cameron, Tom Bergeron, and chefs Masaharu Morimoto and Art Smith, with performances by Andy Grammer and Train.

Critical reception

A New York Times review, published ten days after the show premiered, describes what critic Caryn James thought was distinctive about the show:

The idea of women talking to one another on daytime television is not exactly radical. The idea that those women should be smart and accomplished is still odd enough to make The View seem wildly different. It actively defies the bubbleheads-'R'-us approach to women's talk shows.

After a year on the air, a review of the show from Salon attempted to summarize what had made it a "(very guilty) pleasure" for its mostly female audience. "The View has caught on with viewers because it gives expression to feelings more complicated, and real, than its detractors realize. Like the Rat Pack, it's all about freedom in an uptight world. Vieira, Walters, et al., have confessed to a lot of things on the show that women are supposed to feel guilty about: forgetting to vote, being too lazy to exercise, hating skinny models, letting the kids watch too much TV, admiring Hollywood's latest hunk."

Rosie O'Donnell was sometimes criticized for not acting as much as a moderator for discussion as much as a spokesperson for various, often liberal, viewpoints. As a big-name talent she drew criticism for her opinions while keeping the show's "buzz factor" up. The downside of being spontaneous and putting her views in front of a national audience was that such remarks were often the subject of controversy and criticism, especially by conservative commentators and other media outlets, who recirculated comments and clips from the show.

Entertainment Weekly magazine in March 2007 cited The View as doing for daytime television what the Daily Show has done for primetime in that it offers viewers a show that deals in genuine opinion and not mere fluff.

The appointment of McCarthy as a co-host created a media backlash, largely due to her anti-vaccination views. David Freeman, senior science editor for The Huffington Post, wrote about the concerns of Bill Nye, who stated: "I believe Ms. McCarthy's views will be discredited." Alex Pareene protested and published a letter to ABC in Salon Magazine titled "Anti-vaccine conspiracist and "View" co-host Jenny McCarthy isn't just quirky—she spreads lies that hurt people."

U.S. television ratings

The show drew 3.1 million viewers in September 2006, when Rosie O'Donnell originally joined the panel. This was the show's all-time highest total monthly viewership.

The View's second highest rated season premiere was in 2007, when preliminary ratings indicated 3.4 million viewers. After two weeks, the program garnered its highest ratings to date, averaging 3.5 million total viewers, up from 3.3 million the previous season.

During the November 2008 sweeps during season 12, the show's post-election day telecast was the most-watched ever in total viewers at 6.17 million.

President Barack Obama's first appearance as a guest on July 29, 2010 was the show's most-viewed episode at the time, with 6.6 million viewers, and the most watched telecast of any daytime television show on ABC, CBS Daytime, and NBC Daytime in viewers and demographics.

The May 15, 2014 telecast, featuring a reunion of all eleven co-hosts of The View, drew a total of 4.2 million viewers. The next day's farewell to Barbara Walters garnered 5.2 million total viewers, ranking as the show's fourth most-watched broadcast of all time.

Season 18, which debuted on September 15, 2014, marked the return of O'Donnell and drew 3.902 million viewers. It was the show's second largest season premiere audience to date.

International broadcasts

International variations