The View (talk show)
The View is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. Currently in its 27th season, the show has aired on ABC as part of the network's daytime programming block since August 11, 1997. It features a multi-generational panel of women, who discuss the day's "Hot Topics", such as sociopolitical and entertainment news. In addition to the conversation segments, the panel also conducts interviews with prominent figures, such as celebrities and politicians. Production of the show was held in ABC Television Studio 23 in New York City. In 2014, it relocated to ABC Broadcast Center, also in New York City.
The View
Sarah de la O
- Meredith Vieira
- Star Jones
- Debbie Matenopoulos
- Joy Behar
- Barbara Walters
- Lisa Ling
- Elisabeth Hasselbeck
- Rosie O'Donnell
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Sherri Shepherd
- Jenny McCarthy
- Nicolle Wallace
- Rosie Perez
- Raven-Symoné
- Michelle Collins
- Candace Cameron Bure
- Paula Faris
- Jedediah Bila
- Sara Haines
- Sunny Hostin
- Meghan McCain
- Abby Huntsman
- Ana Navarro
- Alyssa Farah Griffin
"World's Gone Crazy" by Mary J. Blige (seasons 20–24)
"For My Girls" by Brandy Norwood and Nicole Scherzinger (season 25 – present)
United States
English
27
5,000[1]
- Barbara Walters (1997–2022)
- Bill Geddie (1997–2014)
- Bill Wolff (2014–2015)
- Candi Carter (2015–2020)
- Brian Teta (2015–present)
- Hilary Estey McLoughlin (2017–2021)
60 minutes
August 11, 1997 –
present
Throughout its run, The View has had 24 permanent co-hosts of varying characteristics and ideologies, with the number of contracted permanent co-hosts ranging between four and eight women per season. The original panel comprised Walters, broadcast journalist Meredith Vieira, lawyer Star Jones, television host Debbie Matenopoulos, and comedian Joy Behar, while the current lineup consists of Behar, entertainer Whoopi Goldberg, lawyer Sunny Hostin, television host Sara Haines, television personality Ana Navarro, and political strategist Alyssa Farah Griffin. In addition, the show often makes use of male and female guest panelists.
The View has won 31 Daytime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Talk Show, Outstanding Informative Talk Show, and Outstanding Talk Show Host. The show has received praise from the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, as well as The New York Times, which deemed it "the most important political TV show in America". Beginning in its tenth season, the series became subject to on-air controversies and media criticism involving its panel of co-hosts. It was transferred from the helm of ABC's entertainment division to that of ABC News in 2014 following a decline in ratings. By 2021, The View had become the most-viewed news and talk program in daytime television.
Production[edit]
During its first 17 seasons, The View was filmed in ABC Television Studio 23 in New York City.[100] The original set for the first four seasons was a leftover set from canceled soap opera The City.[101][102] The panelists conduct discussions around a table or on a sofa and wear IFB earpieces through which producers communicate with them.[8][103] Bill Geddie, Barbara Walters' longtime producing partner, and Mark Gentile respectively served as showrunner and director for 17 years.[3][104][105] Walters remained an executive producer until her death.[106]
The View's 18th season brought significant changes in a "creative overhaul" as well as a "new direction" for the show.[107] In August 2014, ABC announced Geddie's exit and named Bill Wolff, who had served as vice president of primetime programming at MSNBC and as executive producer of the news and opinion program The Rachel Maddow Show, the new executive producer.[108] Production of the show relocated to the ABC Broadcast Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.[107][109] During the season premiere on September 15, 2014, the series unveiled its new studio featuring 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.[110] Subsequent tweaks included a glass desk and high stools at center stage,[111] as well as color adjustments in backgrounds and graphics.[112][113]
In October 2014, ABC announced that responsibilities for production oversight on The View would shift from ABC's daytime entertainment division to Lincoln Square Productions, an ABC News subsidiary, where the show will be grouped under the division's non-fiction programming umbrella.[114][115] The move allowed the show to leverage ABC News' resources toward news-related segments.[116] In August 2015, former late-night talk show Late Show with David Letterman producer Brian Teta joined the show as co-executive producer.[117] Later in the month, executive producer Wolff departed the show.[118] In February 2016, along with the show's 20th season renewal, Candi Carter was promoted to executive producer after serving as interim showrunner for season 19, becoming the first African-American executive producer in the show's history.[119]
During the 20th-season premiere on September 6, 2016, the show debuted an updated set design with muted colors,[120][121] retooled opening titles with footage of the co-hosts in a loft-like space,[122] as well as a new theme song entitled "World's Gone Crazy", written by Diane Warren and performed by Mary J. Blige.[123] Hilary Estey McLoughlin was named senior executive producer in January 2017 after she was brought on as a consultant for season 19.[124] In September, Teta was promoted to executive producer ahead of the 21st-season premiere.[70] Sarah de la O serves as director as of September 2019.[125] In March 2020, the series began airing without a live studio audience as a precaution in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[126] Carter departed that same month to become the showrunner of the daytime talk show Tamron Hall.[127] During the pandemic, the co-hosts broadcast from different locations, with Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Meghan McCain, and Ana Navarro filming remotely, while Sara Haines remained in the studio, where Teta also still produced.[128][129] McLoughlin exited in February 2021.[130]
For the series' 25th season, which began in September 2021, the co-hosts returned to filming in front of a live studio audience for the first time since March 2020.[131] The show also presented a new theme song entitled "For My Girls", written by Warren and performed by Brandy Norwood and Nicole Scherzinger.[132]
Other media[edit]
In 2016, VH1 picked up Daytime Divas, a television series adaptation of Star Jones' book Satan's Sisters, which revolves around a fictional daytime talk show named The Lunch Hour featuring five female co-hosts.[175] Jones, who was also one of the series' executive producers, and then-View co-hosts Joy Behar, Jedediah Bila, Sara Haines, and Sunny Hostin all made guest appearances on the series.[176] It was canceled in 2017 after one season.[177]
In September 2018, The View began a podcast that saw the release of each episode in the show after its original televised broadcast.[178] In September 2021, the series launched a companion podcast titled Behind the Table, which features conversations between former and current co-hosts.[179] ABC began releasing episodes of Behind the Table daily in September 2023.[180]
In April 2019, Thomas Dunne Books published a non-fiction book entitled Ladies Who Punch by journalist Ramin Setoodeh, which chronicles the entire history of the show.[181][182] It features interviews with various current and former View co-hosts.[183] The book is set to be adapted into a television miniseries.[184]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
A New York Times review, published ten days after the show premiered, describes what critic Caryn James thought was distinctive about the show: