I think we’re at the right point in television self-awareness for there to be a show based entirely on talking about the controversies that affect The View. Though this first half of 2016 has seen none of the sporadic drama that plagued the show for most of 2015, today proves its immunity to trouble was only temporary, as ABC has reportedly decided to cut comedian Michelle Collins out of the show entirely after only one season as a permanent co-host.
At this point, details about the decision are swirling around in the shadows, as Michelle Collins is actually on vacation in Europe and her social media posts haven’t referenced the axing. According to Variety, this isn’t exactly a “pack your shit and get out” situation, and the network is reportedly keeping Collins around for recurring appearances through the rest of the summer, but won’t be renewing her contract when it’s up. I certainly hope she makes the most of it, while possibly calling out to other chat shows to invite her on board.
Honestly, there haven’t been many smooth trails for Collins since joining The View last year during that tumultuous period when hosts like Rosie Perez and Rosie O’Donnell coming and going, while other problems cropped up with regularity. Collins was at the center of some of those sticky situations, such as when she made some critically damning comments about nurses, which cost ABC some advertisers, or when she got slammed for making fun of Carly Fiorina’s face during the politician’s shortened presidential campaign. As well, the show’s execs allegedly aren’t happy with the way Collins strays from the Hot Topics at hand to discuss other things, and that she doesn’t contribute much to the political conversations that the show is trying to emphasize during this election year.
Season 19 of The View brought in a revamping of sorts after so many years of the same approach, introducing the Hot Topics table and the revolving door of co-hosts. This experiment obviously exposed one fault in Collins’ presence, and the producers actually started chopping down her appearances back in January, so maybe we all should have seen this coming.
Whoopi Goldberg, the moderator who’s been leading these debate-filled discussions since 2007, has her own contract expiring in August, but the show is apparently trying pretty hard to keep her around, since she’s one of the biggest draws at this point. Only time will tell where Michelle Collins’ View work will take her, but you can catch the show every morning on ABC.
