Whoopi's bow rocks 'View'-ers to sleep
September 5, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
Now that Rosie's rabble-rousing is gone for good from "The View," Barbara's blabfest is just "eh" -- so far. Whoopi Goldberg replaced Rosie O'Donnell on Tuesday, and it was blase smooth sailing. She didn't rock the boat. She rowed it to a calm state of yawn.
If her debut is a clue to the future, Goldberg may just be another gal pal in the banal cabal, chatting about the birth canal and the female rationale.
That's great if you like it soft in the morning. The women showed photos of their daughters. And Elisabeth Hasselbeck rubbed her pregnant belly (70 days until delivery, and she's still so in-shape she looks like a girl who swallowed a cantaloupe).
But here's an omen. Barbara Walters and the rest had been on vacation for a while, so a whole mess of subjects awaited them to talk about: the stupid Miss Teen USA girl, Michael Vick's dog abuse and gay senatorial bathroom sex.
Yet it was so structured and nonchalant, my mind wandered -- to Goldberg's urban-cowboy shirt, Joy Behar's post-illness shaky hands, Walters' slip ("MyFace" instead of "MySpace"), and Hasselbeck's "I'm pregnant but I'm still sexy" red dress and black choker.
Goldberg pulled out her peace: "All I want to say to people is have a great day and take time to enjoy 'The View.' "
I like Goldberg normally, but "have a great day" is smooth, and "smooth" is also a synonym for "flat." It's not enough for "The View" to comment on pop culture anymore. It has to make pop culture moments happen.
"The View" owned a pop culture moment with this one-day introduction of an O'Donnell replacement. But it had better get back to backstabbing, political scream therapy, or something as equally entertaining. Otherwise, snooze.
Not even Danny DeVito made waves as Goldberg's first guest. Last season, he got notice for making nonsense noises after a night of drinking limoncellos with George Clooney.
This time, DeVito was clear-eyed and ready to promote his funny FX comedy, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," plus his new line of limoncello liqueur. In other words, he did what every red-blooded American would do. He turned his last public spectacle into an opportunity to cash in.
"You whored yourself!" Behar said.
"Absolutely," DeVito said. "This is America."
In defense of the show, for the introduction of a new co-host, it wasn't a wreck, and the chemistry was fine.
Goldberg did make me chuckle once, when she explained why she took a "Star Trek" role: " 'Star Trek' was the only guarantee that we had that there were black people in the future."
If Goldberg's going to replace O'Donnell's fun-factor watchability without resorting to anger, she needs to dig in with more of those kinds of quick jokes-with-meaning, which is Goldberg at her winning best. If not, the "new" "View" is through.
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
Now that Rosie's rabble-rousing is gone for good from "The View," Barbara's blabfest is just "eh" -- so far. Whoopi Goldberg replaced Rosie O'Donnell on Tuesday, and it was blase smooth sailing. She didn't rock the boat. She rowed it to a calm state of yawn.
If her debut is a clue to the future, Goldberg may just be another gal pal in the banal cabal, chatting about the birth canal and the female rationale.
That's great if you like it soft in the morning. The women showed photos of their daughters. And Elisabeth Hasselbeck rubbed her pregnant belly (70 days until delivery, and she's still so in-shape she looks like a girl who swallowed a cantaloupe).
But here's an omen. Barbara Walters and the rest had been on vacation for a while, so a whole mess of subjects awaited them to talk about: the stupid Miss Teen USA girl, Michael Vick's dog abuse and gay senatorial bathroom sex.
Yet it was so structured and nonchalant, my mind wandered -- to Goldberg's urban-cowboy shirt, Joy Behar's post-illness shaky hands, Walters' slip ("MyFace" instead of "MySpace"), and Hasselbeck's "I'm pregnant but I'm still sexy" red dress and black choker.
Goldberg pulled out her peace: "All I want to say to people is have a great day and take time to enjoy 'The View.' "
I like Goldberg normally, but "have a great day" is smooth, and "smooth" is also a synonym for "flat." It's not enough for "The View" to comment on pop culture anymore. It has to make pop culture moments happen.
"The View" owned a pop culture moment with this one-day introduction of an O'Donnell replacement. But it had better get back to backstabbing, political scream therapy, or something as equally entertaining. Otherwise, snooze.
Not even Danny DeVito made waves as Goldberg's first guest. Last season, he got notice for making nonsense noises after a night of drinking limoncellos with George Clooney.
This time, DeVito was clear-eyed and ready to promote his funny FX comedy, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," plus his new line of limoncello liqueur. In other words, he did what every red-blooded American would do. He turned his last public spectacle into an opportunity to cash in.
"You whored yourself!" Behar said.
"Absolutely," DeVito said. "This is America."
In defense of the show, for the introduction of a new co-host, it wasn't a wreck, and the chemistry was fine.
Goldberg did make me chuckle once, when she explained why she took a "Star Trek" role: " 'Star Trek' was the only guarantee that we had that there were black people in the future."
If Goldberg's going to replace O'Donnell's fun-factor watchability without resorting to anger, she needs to dig in with more of those kinds of quick jokes-with-meaning, which is Goldberg at her winning best. If not, the "new" "View" is through.
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