“CREDITS NEW YORK POST”
You know that old “If a tree falls in a forest …” aphorism?
Well, consider this: If Rosie Perez leaves “The View” — and no one cares — did Rosie Perez really leave “The View”?
That’s what it’s come down to for ABC’s once-proud — now creaky — daytime war horse, which shed another (short-lived) seat filler vis-à-vis Perez. She’s announced she’s leaving “The View” after joining the show only last fall alongside fellow newbie Nicolle Wallace and inflammatory loudmouth Rosie O’Donnell — who returned for her second go-round (what were they thinking?) before predictably imploding and departing in February. Gee . . . no one saw that coming.
Let’s face it: “The View,” for all its past glory as ABC’s shining trendsetter — and it was a trendsetter (note the past tense) — has been an irrelevant hot mess for some time now. The departures of original co-host/spark plug Joy Behar in 2013 — followed by the exit of series creator/den mother Barbara Walters in 2014 — sucked what little oxygen was left out of the room, leaving Whoopi Goldberg to soldier on with a rotating roster of part-time guest hosts and full-timers, including Jenny McCarthy (remember her?) and now Raven-Symoné (who joined “The View” crew last month). Last I checked, Wallace is still there.And what’s left to say about Goldberg, who continues to tiptoe around creepy, alleged sexual predator Bill Cosby — outraging and perplexing (take your pick) the show’s bread-and-butter female fan base.
What’s that all about?
Every TV show, no matter how good in its prime, eventually starts to fade: Stars leave, plot lines get more outrageous, the writing suffers. It happens almost every season, even to classics like “Seinfeld” — which stumbled its last two seasons trying to ape departed creator Larry David’s singular style — and “Breaking Bad,” which ran a season too long.
“The View” has had a good run since premiering way back in 1997, when the Web was in its infancy and wasn’t a threat (yet) to TV eyeballs — and when the daytime audience was entranced by the show’s fresh-faced, opinionated round table (Walters, Behar, Debbie Matenopoulos, Star Jones and Meredith Vieira).
But that was then and this is now. While “The View” continues to draw steady, if unspectacular, ratings, it’s taken a hit, with CBS competitor “The Talk” scarfing up a chunk of its female viewers and making headlines — just like Barbara, Meredith, Jones, et al. did back in the day. It’s the natural life cycle of television, and even “The Talk” is now seeing increasing daytime competition from “The Real” — which just makes “The View,” by comparison, seem ancient and out of touch.
So do us a favor, ABC, and put “The View” out of its misery once and for all. Do we really need another round of new co-hosts trying to save a show that’s tapped out and drained of whatever water-cooler cachet it once boasted?
I think you know the answer.
“CREDITS NEW YORK POST”