Julie Chen Slams The View for Hiring Jenny McCarthy

[DaytimeFan]

The other point worth making is that, indeed, The View debuted in 1997, 13 years ahead of The Talk, but The View copied a British talk show (airing in the North of England in 1995) which eventually went national in the UK under the title Loose Women (debuted in 1999).

[SFK]

Did you all see Julie Chen on Letterman looking like Joan Collins? She was certainly claiming her seat as the queen of CBS, she looked sensational.

[DaytimeFan]

I sure did, she was excellent on Letterman, as Sharon Osbourne says, the thing with Julie Chen is that she is actually funny. And she was on Letterman with that anecdote about telling her son Washington DC was closed and that Les would put in a call to have it reopened the next day.

Julie was definitely channeling Joan Collins with her dress and hair, she commanded attention and with damned good reason. In reality, the two are quite friendly.

[Max]

Julie Chen is indeed the queen of CBS, but it really bothers me that this is so. (Although I am certainly not ignorant when it comes to these things; I fully understand how something like this might happen.)

For starters, I am not going to strip Ms. Chen of all her accomplishments by claiming that the only reason why she is host of The Talk is because she married Les Moonves. She clearly has quite a bit of talent, even if her style and personality aren't my cup of tea. On the other hand, does anybody honestly believe that her marital status had absolutely nothing to do with her becoming host of The Talk? (I'm no fan of Jenny McCarthy, either, and there's no doubt that non-objective factors played a sizable role in landing her a job on The View.)

But there is a big difference between getting a talk show and being the queen of a network. To the best of my knowledge, Julie Chen's major capacities at CBS involve her roles with The Talk and Big Brother. I am pretty certain that she is not one of the Presidents or VPs of CBS Corporation, and therefore does not deserve the sort of "queen-like" power afforded to her. (If anyone has the right to be queen of CBS, it is Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment.) It is most deplorable that Moonves feels that he and his wife have the right to become the "royal couple" of CBS, because I know of no other corporate CEO that allows this to happen (although I am sure that quite a few exist). Again, if Chen was truly the second in command, I would have little objection to her being "queen," but this is obviously not the case.

And "looking sensational" on Letterman just totally rubbed me the wrong way, because it came across as flaunting her wealth.

[Max]

Despite my personal distaste for Chen and the totally unfair power that she holds at CBS, she was right that McCarthy is a bad fit. I am not sure what Jenny's purpose is supposed to be, but she certainly doesn't epitomize conservatism (if she is indeed intended to be the token conservative on the show). McCarthy is certainly entitled to her theories about autism (which obviously are apolitical), but being associated with such views automatically makes one a polarizing figure (and not in a "good" way that would increase The View's viewership).

As Chen suggested, the departures of Elizabeth and especially Joy were huge losses for The View. While The View's audience is mostly liberal, Elizabeth was able to attract a minority of conservative viewers to the show (many of whom are now gone). Joy was perfect for the show because she was the only panelist straight out of MSNBC central casting: of course all the panelists (other than Elizabeth) were liberal, but none except Joy was a fire-breathing type. Her political viewpoints--and her aggressive style--were probably most in synch with the typical View watcher.

[Nate4]

FINALLY. She's so boring. She makes me want to fall asleep. But then I look at her big ass boobs.