The View, once a hot program, is now a bit of a hot mess. The past year saw the exits of three prominent members of ABC’s long-running morning talk show, and now veteran panelist Sherri Shepherd will be leaving The View. In addition, the morning show’s new—and controversial—panelist Jenny McCarthy will also be following Shepherd out the door. Unlike Barbara Walters, who retired from the series just a couple of months ago, ABC has ousted Shepherd and McCarthy.
According to TMZ, ABC called a meeting on Thursday, announcing that McCarthy and Shepherd would no longer be a part of the morning series. The official spin from ABC is a little nicer, with the network noting, "The View will be moving in an exciting new direction next season and ABC has made decisions to evolve the show creatively” (via THR). Really though, with Walters’ retirement and Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar already out the door, this year should have been an exciting one for The View. Clearly, it just wasn’t working, and ABC decided to blow the whole operation up.
Not every single panelist is getting fired, however. With Shepherd and McCarthy ousted, Whoopi Goldberg is the only official host remaining on the series. TMZ has listed a few people that they think ABC is interested in hiring, including bringing back Rosie O’Donnell and signing on retired boxer Laila Ali. This is all hearsay at this point, but it’s safe to say that ABC will need to retain some new panelists before the show’s 18th season hits the schedule.
The View has been kind of a mess recently. Ratings are down, and most of the show’s longtime personalities have left for other opportunities. In fact, since Walters' retirement, the show has only been anchored by three women: Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy. To fill the gap, The View has lately been employing a slew of guest hosts and co-hosts to chat with the celebrities who come onstage. The show hasn’t been the most organized series recently, and if anything can attest to that, it is probably the return of Barbara Walters as a guest on Friday. The woman has only been retired for six weeks and the show has already called her back to talk about a recent interview with the father Elliot Rodger, who took his life after allegedly killing six people in Santa Barbara last month. I’m sure it will be an interesting episode, but Walters’ return also sheds a light on the fact that the show is not doing so well in the post-Barbara era.
If CBS’ The Talk ever wanted to gain footing, now looks to be an excellent time.
