How about Mario Cantone, Oprah Winfrey and Monica Crowley to join Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepard on “The View”? (
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ABC and NBC just announced that they have a new, shared motto for their talk shows: It ain’t broke, so let’s fix it.
First they broke Jay Leno’s successful “Tonight Show” — twice.
When the show was rocking, they decided to kick him downstairs and give Conan the 11:35 time slot. Leno took it like a man, disaster followed, Conan took it like a boy.
Leno came back and now he beats the nightlights not just out of his successor, Jimmy Fallon, but his old rival David Letterman and his new rival, Jimmy Fallon.
Leno is so good in fact, they fired his ass again.
Now onto “It ain’t broke, so let’s fix it” part two — “The View.”
Yesterday Elisabeth Hasselbeck —who was secretly fired a few months ago and then secretly hired back — unceremoniously left the show. No filmed montage of the greatest moments of, no nothing. They didn’t even bother with a farewell cake with her face on it. Cold. Very cold.
Next month it’s Joy Behar who will not let the door hit her in the butt on the way out. Then next season we’ll see the end of Barbara Walters.
Why? Because that’s what TV suits do. If they have a consistent hit, they worry that it won’t last and the hosts will be too old and no one will watch the show — someday. That being said, in truth, no one wants “The View” to disappear from view. So what should they do to keep angry viewers from deserting faster than ticket buyers at “The Lone Ranger”?
First I’d forget the antiquated thinking about having a young, middle-aged and senior co-host. It’s controversy, not age, that keeps the viewers coming back.
“The View” will need to hire interesting, original thinkers of the same caliber as Joy, Barbara and Elisabeth. OK, I never agreed with Elisabeth about anything, but she infuriated me and that is a great thing on TV and on radio.
So then, how about tapping into the talent pool on radio? With uber conservative Hasselbeck going to Fox, I think Fox should hand over their conservative contributor, radio host Monica Crowley. She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s infuriating, she’s perfect.
In Joy’s seat? Please, God, not the ones they are considering like God forbid, Jenny McCarthy. Clue: women want smart not smarmy. And Brooke Shields? Too bland.
Instead, they should put a guy in that seat. I mean it is 2013 after all! I nominate Mario Cantone. He’s one of the funniest brains working in comedy, and he’s been a great guest on the show.
And in the role of Barbara Walters? Isn’t Oprah looking for work? We sure could use her in the daytime again.