The New View

"Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it."

-Alfred Hitchcock

Today, ABC's The View, began it's 10th season, and as you probably know by now, also debuted Rosie O'Donnell as the show's newest cast member. All the drama is apparently in the past, because there was absolutely no mention of the unpleasantness that had taken place earlier this year with Star Jones Reynolds, or the hissy fit that Elizabeth Hasselbeck threw at the end of last season, regarding the 72-hour abortion pill, nor was there a mention of the candid remark made recently by, Meredith Vieira, regarding her opinion that The View has become a bit of a joke." I didn't actually expect that any mention about those incidents would be made, but wouldn't have been surprised if they had. No, it did seem to be a new day on the set of The View, but how did that first new day of the 10th season go? Well, lets just say...there were some bumps.

The ladies, well at least it seemed to me, didn't appear to be as at ease in each others company as they have in the past. The timing and flow of conversation did not move as freely as I have seen it, with the topics being somewhat disjointed. Now that could be in part to the new cast addition, Rosie, and the stress of the first day, which is always difficult, but it might also have to do with the new set design, which I have to wonder about...as in...who thought THAT was a good idea? Weird, harsh colors, and a bare, streamlined set with no personality at all. It was stark. Maybe they felt it was a time to completely clean house, and do something completely different, but as a viewer I kind of enjoyed the comfortable home-like atmosphere of the old set. It just seemed a lot more relaxing and inviting. The new set looked like a place I wouldn't mind leaving...hmmm...maybe that is the point.

Timing. Timing is important in most things, and the ladies were lacking it this morning. One thing I found particularly disturbing was when the ladies began to discuss "Hot Topics," and of course the story on most talk shows has been the untimely death of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, so it naturally came up in conversation, but when the women began to discuss his death, the discussion went abruptly off the death of Irwin, and onto Rosie O' Donnell's critique of the movie, "Hollywoodland." Now to be fair, the flow went from how you might tell your child that a beloved icon such as Steve Irwin had passed away, to how hard it must have been to tell children, years ago, of the death of Superman star, George Reeves. The part that was hard to watch, was that while discussing what a great movie, Hollywoodland was, there were clips of Steve Irwin in the background, behind the ladies, on a big screen monitor. The shift was strange, and the clips without any narration was awkward. It just didn't seem right somehow. Another weird moment was the reference made to a large bouquet of flowers that Tom Cruise sent to Rosie O' Donnell, which was sitting on the floor in front of the new panel desk. I would have thought it would have been a nice, colorful addition to the set, and it could have been displayed on a table behind the ladies, but instead, it was on the floor. Strange.

Maybe I am just being nickpicky, but there just wasn't a comfortable flow to the show, it could be that some kinks simply need to be worked out. Still, I had to wonder this past summer, when I saw those cheesy promo commercials that featured Rosie, Elizabeth, Joy Behar and Barbara Walters in a faux musical with the catch phrase, "We're shaking up The View," if it was going too far, and perhaps trying too hard, to put across the message that life after, Star Jones Reynolds, and Meredith Vieira goes on. I suppose like most things, time will tell. On a positive note, Elizabeth Hasselbeck was sporting a brand new look, with a lovely shorter cut hair style, that really suited her and gave her a much more trendy and up to date look. She looked both youthful and sophisticated. Now if The View can find that combination, maybe it will survive after all.

Did you see The View today? What was your opinion of the new changes? Tell me your thoughts.

-OndineMonet