Hello, Barbara? 'Today' Crew Kids About Vieira Returning to 'The View'

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

In the wake of yesterday's announcement that Rosie O'Donnell will be departing "The View," the folks at "Today" had some fun this morning with the notion that Meredith Vieira, the "View" regular who Rosie replaced there, might return to the ABC gabfest.

As Vieira began a tease, in "Today's" opening, for an upcoming segment on the parting of ways at "The View," weatherman Al Roker shouted from off-camera "are you going to go back?"

Vieira went with the flow, announcing tongue-in-cheek: "So yes, I'll be leaving the 'Today' show to rejoin my friends at 'The View.' Sayanora." That's when co-host Matt Lauer, in the image shown here, picked up the phone, said "Barbara, hold on a second," handed it to Meredith, who continued "Barbara, I'm back there."

View video here.The banter continued:

VIEIRA: No, I'm not going anywhere -- that I know of.

LAUER: Did you find out the inside scoop?

VIEIRA: Well, I can't tell you everything I found out, but we are going to talk about the reasons behind her departure. What's next for Rosie and what's next for "The View"? I have a lot of dear friends there. I care about them very much.

LAUER: I completely understand.

A bit later, Matt promoted his upcoming "Where in the World is Matt Lauer" adventure by mentioning that he would be giving a clue. That again brought "View" references into play.

VIEIRA: Do you get an extra gift if you guess it right?

LAUER: I don't think there's much fear of you guessing it right. Al's the one who gets it right all the time

VIEIRA, in mock anger, again picking up the phone: Barbara?

That set off several seconds of general mirth and hilarity on the set.

My two cents say that in the musical chairs among Meredith, Rosie and Katie Couric, Vieira has come out the winner. O'Donnell is gone from the "The View" after a stint marred by 9-11 conspiracy theorizing and other outlandish assertions that have further tarnished her already dubious reputation. Couric is on the hot seat at the ratings-deprived CBS Evening News, and already rumors of her departure are being bruited. In contrast, and leaving aside issues of MSM bias for present purposes, Meredith has settled in nicely at "Today," seems to have developed a comfortable chemistry with Matt Lauer, and indeed doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Katie-Rosie-Meredith merry-go-round ping to Today show list.

[Izzy Dunne]

So Meredith goes back to "The Few", Katie goes back to "Today", I guess Rosie will anchor the SeeBS news?

[silent_jonny]

Meredith has settled in nicely at "Today," seems to have developed a comfortable chemistry with Matt Lauer, and indeed doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the exact opposite is true for Katie at CBS :)

[tje]

Well, Meredith could go back to the View and Rosie would be a natural on the Today show.

[Badeye]

I find it interesting that Barbara Walters has so openly lied to the people watching The View about this stuff.

She owns the show, she produces it.

And she now claims she had nothing to do with the negotiations with Rosie O’Donell?

Yeah, riiiiight.

[ClearCase_guy]

Perhaps Rosie will replace Katie on the evening news.

[Carolinamom]

Geraldo was talking on F&F about Rosie’s “charisma”.

[Ax]

And people wonder why I quit watching F&F. “The Warrior Journalist” indeed. At least I’m getting more reading done these days.

[tje]

It would not surprise me one iota if the powers that be at CBS news has not thought of having Rosie read the news.

[VRWCmember]

If they want a real woman to replace Rosie, then Matt Lauer should leave the Today Show and join The View.

[ClearCase_guy]

I find it interesting that Barbara Walters has so openly lied to the people watching The View about this stuff.

Barbara is not nice, and she is not honest.

Go back a year, when Star was leaving The View. She was being pushed out by Barbara, but Barbara told her (she admits this) that Star could make the announcement when she felt comfortable, Star could claim any reason for leaving, and Barbara would back her up so that Star could leave the show in dignity, and seemingly of her own free will. Although she was being fired, it wouldn't be presented that way to the public.

So, one day, without letting Barbara know ahead of time, Star announced on the View that she was leaving. Her last day would be 2-3 months in the future. Well, something in her presentation annoyed Barbara and Star was never on the show again. The next day, Barbara came on and said, "We fired Star. She wasn't working out, she wasn't popular, it was a bad fit. She won't be back. We wish her luck."

The Devil wears Prada.

[Badeye]

I remember.

[alicewonders]

I saw that. Whorealdo is one of the reasons I rarely watch Fox News Channel anymore - him & Shep & Greta.

Sean Hannity is starting to get on my nerves royally too.

[outinyellowdogcountry]

I think the same thing. There is the old school I guess where a lady remains a lady and keeps her mouth shut. But I wonder if being a lady has less to do with it than declaring Rosie to be a mistake and a loud mouth buffoon thereby admitting that Ba-Ba was wrong to include Rosie and defend her all this time. I believe I have lost all respect for Barbara Walters and it began with Star, on to Trump and now. Don’t believe her at all.

[Badeye]

“I believe I have lost all respect for Barbara Walters and it began with Star, on to Trump and now. Don’t believe her at all.”

The simple fact is a ‘Power Lesbian’ intimidate Barbara Walters so badly she released what little professional integrity she had left.

[TomGuy]

And she now claims she had nothing to do with the negotiations with Rosie O’Donell?

I watched the festivities yesterday (first time in years). I was surprised when Bawawa distanced herself by saying she had no part in the negotiations.

But, if other reports are true, the lies or deceptions have been going on a while.

One 'insider' said that Rosie made the decision in January when Barbara would not support her against Trump. Yesterday, they tried to imply that failed contract negotiations was the reason.

But during the Trump business, Barbara basically called Trump a liar and denied the conversation exchange that Trump revealed on FoxNews. Barbara seemed two-faced: she on Trump's side when she would talk with him; she was on Rosie's side when she would talk to her. Come to think of it, Barbara was sort of similar during the time of Star Jones's departure.

[Revelation 911]

‘Power Lesbian’

tactful term Mr. Imus LOL

[Badeye]

“Power Lesbian’
tactful term Mr. Imus LOL”

Hey, if the ‘comfortable shoes fit’....(chuckle)

I picked that one up from Kathy Griffin, the comedian, on one of her ‘The D List’ shows.

Gotta admit, it fits to a ‘T’

[billhilly]

Out of respect for Imus, I think a “carpet faced ho” fits the power lesbian.