Posted on 06/28/2006 3:51:55 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
June 28, 2006
As a veteran Couric watcher, I've recently come to follow [without actually watching] doings at The View, since Katie's replacement Meredith Vieira was for years a member of the show's cast. For those unfamiliar with it, The View is an all-female televised coffee klatsch and gabfest of which Barbara Walters is the creator, partial owner and a co-host.
The View has a distinct liberal tint to its patter. And as we know, one of the tenets of feminist theology is that women have a right to whatever kind of body size they want, free of societal restraints.
How ironic - some might say hypocritical - that one reason for the recent firing of co-host Star Jones is that . . . she refused to stay fat! As you'll note from the before and after pics here, Star has undergone a dramatic physical transformation. According to this AP article:
"Walters said ABC network chiefs had decided last fall not to renew Reynolds' contract because its research showed that Reynolds' dramatic weight loss and 2004 wedding to banker Al Reynolds had turned viewers off."
My personal view is that employers, subject to their contractual agreements, should be able to hire and fire as per their own standards. Long live Hooters. But isn't this a case of The View not practicing what it preaches? Why, were the tables turned, some might even accuse a conservative show that fired Jones under similar circumstances of racism, of trying to keep Star down on the 'fat farm.'
When Jones was on another show discussing some legal issues and cases I thought that might not sit well with the rest of the hags. She's a lib but she's a lot brighter than she appears on that dumb gabfest. I suspect she may have a future on Court TV.
Exactly
Actually, I first saw Star Jones, years before The View, on CourtTV. She always made sense, knew the law well and was a good contributor re: the different court cases. Would love to see her back doing that.
Definitely time for her to move on.
I agree. The only reason I watched The View, when it first began airing, was because of Star Jones.
GL, from my very brief look into this earth-shaking matter, it seems the issue is not the weight loss, per se, but rather how it was done and how it was conveyed to the audience. There is widespread belief that SJ used gastric bypass to lose 150 lbs in one year, but she alternately denies or will not discuss doing so.
There's also the issue of plugging businesses on the show or her website that gave her free services for her wedding.
The bottom line, the story goes, is that the brass felt she was "losing the audience".
I haven't a clue how true any of this is, but their might be more to this than reverse lookism.
One takeaway here is that regardless of what official feminist orthodoxy may say, weight seems to be a very important issue to many women.
p.
I think Rosie is more likely to throw down with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the only Republican on the show.
< Actually, I first saw Star Jones, years before The View, on CourtTV. She always made sense, knew the law well and was a good contributor re: the different court cases. Would love to see her back doing that. >
I agree. She made a name for herself by appearing on Court TV during the OJ trial. She really does have a brain.
How annoying that must have been to BABAWAWA......... Star having a brain!
You might well be right. I don't follow the show. I was relying on the explicit quote from Walters in the AP article that one of the reasons behind the firing was that Star's weight loss "had turned viewers off."
Small loss to the show, let's move on.
A little advice: catch Ron White's early show if you have a choice. We saw his late show a couple months back, and he was fitshaced.
What Star did with the wedding was ugly and very opportunistic. It did not look good for the show at all. The only one on the show I cant take is Joy. She is a bi*ch regardless of her politics.
He shouldn't admit that.
He [me] can't help it. Mild masochistic streak ;-)
Hmmm... Mus' be real likker in his glass.
Thanks for the heads up. I'm not a big comedy fan but at least on TV he is the best for me these days
She had a big talk show in NYC about 10 years ago. WABC I think. She's a certified motor mouth. Louder than an Evinrude outboard
First of all, the show should be called "Morning Yack".
Second; I heard there is actually a contractual agreement with Rosie stating that she can't wear her super-freaky-butch-haircuts on the show. I just find that hilarious.
Third; Rosie won't last 6 months because she has no control over her BIG FAT MOUTH.
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