Amid recently regurgitated rumors that she has had her fill of "getting picked on" as The View's resident conservative voice and/or she is being wooed by Fox News, Elisabeth Hasselbeck has no plans to vacate her chair on the daytime talker. "While Elisabeth has a great relationship with Fox News, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that she is leaving The View," her agent says in a statement. "Elisabeth is passionate in her beliefs and enjoys being a part of this dynamic group of women and engaging in daily conversations." Similarly, a Fox News rep tells the New York Daily News , "While we love having [Hasselbeck] as a guest... there is no offer on the table." The Survivor alumna has been with the talk show since 2003. — Matt Mitovich
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Forget the Golden Globe nominations, I have the list you really want: Time's Top 10 Awkward Moments of 2007! Among the political embarrassments, you'll find Paris Hilton at No. 2 (wailing for her mother as she's hauled off to prison); Alec Baldwin at No. 3 ( for calling his daughter a thoughtless pig); David Hasselhoff at No. 4 (soused in the shower); Britney at No. 6 (for her Night of the Living Dead routine at the VMAs); Rosie O'Donnell vs. Elisabeth Hasselbeck at No. 7; Fox at No. 8 for setting free speech back decades by censoring Sally Field at the Emmys; and of course, Miss Teen South Carolina at No. 9, working up a sweat discussing the Iraq and such. Did the editors miss your favorite moment? As bad as Fox's Emmy edit of was, I thought Ryan Seacrest dressed as a Tudor was worse. — Ben Katner
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Whoopi Goldberg has always had a wonderfully distinct point of view, and one that’s probably just right for her new job on The View. But unlike her immediate predecessor in the cohost seat, this POV is not trained entirely on herself. For me, that’s a relief.Tuesday’s 11th-season opening of ABC’s daytime squawk show was a pretty low-key lovefest, as the gang embraced Whoopi while catching fans up on how they spent their summer vacation: Elisabeth Hasselbeck became more noticeably pregnant, Joy Behar nursed a virus and Barbara Walters made progress on her memoirs. Elizabeth and Joy displayed family photos. And Whoopi? Didn’t have much to reveal about herself (though she did sit for a pro forma taped biographical profile at the end). She’s just a hardworking gal these days, spending four hours on the radio each early a.m. before heading over to the Hot Topics table.Are these back-to-back morning gigs going to stretch her too thin? Whoopi seemed almost too...
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The View is going to miss Rosie O’Donnell a lot more than I will. That's a minority viewpoint in this office and elsewhere, I’m sure, although there’s no question she is a polarizing figure for many: personally and politically, she’s all about ruffling feathers. This can make for good, or at least provocative, TV, which is why The View will miss her... a point made quite clear Wednesday morning, when Rosie announced she wasn’t able to work out a deal with ABC Daytime to continue beyond her one-year contract negotiations that Barbara Walters pointedly insisted did not not involve her; “This was not my doing and not my choice,” she said.Rosie tried to cushion the blow right off the bat, upon reflecting on the “breaking news” (as she put it ironically) by saying her association with The View is not altogether over. She promises to continue to guest-host, to do hourlong specials on issues that matter to her, and otherwise remain a part of the...
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OK, Katie Couric is replacing Bob Schieffer and Meredith Vieira is replacing Katie. But who will fill Mer's chair at The View? Insiders tell the New York Post that Everybody Loves Raymond's Patricia Heaton — who has been eyeing a View-like talker of her own — is a front-runner. But the addition of Heaton, a Republican, could dictate the replacement of like-minded Elizabeth Hasselbeck (with, perhaps, a Latino audience-grabber like Fuse TV's Marianela Pereyra), a source tells the paper. A View rep labels the buzz as "rumor and conjecture," saying it will be some time before Vieira's successor is named.
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