While many viewers may see the long-running ABC daytime show The View as overtly political, there was a time when the show was not.
As reported by Decider, for the Behind The Table: A View Reunion special which is on Hulu, the original hosts – Debbie Matenopoulos, Joy Behar, Star Jones and Meredith Viera – reflected on how the show changed.
“The show is more political,” former co-host Debbie Matenopoulos says early in the episode. “When we were on, it was funny — and fun, it was variety.”
Behar, who is also a current panelist on the show, says that former and twice-impeached President Donald Trump is the reason for the change.
“It wouldn’t be if Trump weren’t president. Because he is the reason that we changed — cause he was so awful. And we had to talk about it,” she said.
Viera chimed in, adding that the events happening in the country also played a role in how The View changed.
“It wasn’t just him, but what happened to the country as a result,” Viera said. “All the anxiety — and all the confusion, all the fighting.”
For Jones, the change in The View started a while back. She pinpointed the infamous debate between former hosts Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Rosie O’Donnell over the Iraq War in 2007 as the reason for the change in topics discussed on the panel.
“I remember when the show changed,” Jones noted. “I can track it back from the moment I thought it happened. When they went with that split-screen with Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth… I thought that if I had to be critical, that would be the moment I would be critical of because I thought no matter when we disagreed, we had the ability to disagree without being disagreeable.”
