A history of ABC's The View

The View talk show began on ABC in 1997 and has been the jewel in the crown of ABC daytime programming ever since. The format of The View is a small group of women talking together about current affairs, breaking news and other items of interest. The women come from divergent age groups and backgrounds. This article will give you some details on the history of the show.

The View's co-hosts

The hosts, past and present, of The View include broadcaster Barbara Walters, actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg, comedian and writer Joy Behar, TV personalities Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, comedian and actress Sherri Shepherd, journalists Meredith Vieira and Lisa Ling, comedian and media personality Rosie O'Donnell. Barbara Walters, a co-creator of the show, also occasionally appears as co-host. The View spent its first few years as an interesting but uncontroversial talk show. The main interest stemmed from conflict between the co-hosts, notably Rosie O'Donnell and Star Jones. Starting in 2006, The View team began to discuss politics, religion, the war in Iraq and subjects that were previously considered taboo for a day-time women's forum. Much of the change of attitude for the show was due to outspoken comments by Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell left the show after disagreements with Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Controversial subjects

One hot topic of the series was the remark by Elisabeth Hasselbeck insinuating Erin Andrews' outfit for Dancing With The Stars made her look almost nude. A couple of months later, Whoopi Goldberg was criticised for appearing to condone racist comments by Mel Gibson. In October 2010, Fox News personality, Bill O'Reilly's remarks about Muslims and a proposed mosque being built in New York caused Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar to walk off the set.

The View around the world

You can watch the view in many parts of the world and many countries have adapted the format to suit their own audiences. In Ecuador you can watch The Way We Are, in the Netherlands, The Table Of Five. In Australia a clone of The View is called The Circle, and in Britain it is Loose Women. According to a review of the show at Salon.com, the hosts of The View "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." If you enjoy this kind of freedom of discussion you can watch the view online at Abc.go.com You can also download ABC Player app for iPad to watch ABC online at your leisure.