Dear THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW,
October 17, 2010, Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Crazy Thursday" went up. The 'ladies' of THE VIEW (ABC) had again disgraced themselves by walking off the stage during an interview with an invited guest, Bill O'Reilly. Ava and C.I. covered it, made the hard calls, and provided this context:
At which point Whoopi stood and she and Joy walked off the set. In the
midst of an interview. Leaving Barbara to declare, "I want to say
something. I want to say something to all of you. You have just seen
what should not happen. We should be able to have discussions without
washing our hands and screaming and walking off stage. [Applause from
the audience.] I love my colleagues, but it should not have happened.
Now let me just say to you [Bill] in a calmer voice, it was extremists.
You cannot take a whole religion and demean them because of what some
--" And that's as far as she got before being interrupted.
Joy
and Whoopi walked back out onto the set at some point. Joy taking
Whoopi's seat far to one side of Bill, folding her arms in a closed and
confrontational manner and refusing to look at anyone but staring off to
the side while Whoopi grabbed Joy's former spot next to Bill and gave
him dirty looks as he spoke. During the break, they switched back to
the original places. After the break, Whoopi continued to give dirty
looks and roll her eyes as Bill spoke and Joy was smutty. (Smutty? The
world didn't need her judgment of Marilyn Monroe.)
They were like two spoiled brats and both of them need to be fired.
As
the host, you do not walk out on an interview. Many, many years ago,
Lily Tomlin walked out on a talk show. Chad Everett was referring to
his wife as "my property." Lily found it offensive. She walked out.
We applaud her for that. The difference isn't that Lily was protesting
sexism. The difference is the show wasn't The Lily Tomlin Show. (It was The Dick Cavett Show.) She was a guest. A guest can walk out.
A
host? ABC pays all five hosts to be present and do their jobs. You
don't have the luxury of storming out. They're very lucky -- as one ABC
exec noted to us -- that Barbara was present because if she hadn't
been, this wouldn't have been one of those moments when Barbara can show
up the next day and smooth things over. They need to learn their jobs.
There's
no excuse of they found Bill vulgar. O'Reilly is no more and no less
vulgar than he always is. They knew what they were getting into. They
refused to allow him to answer questions and that's the point that's
really not being discussed.
Is The View
going to be used as a Democratic Party organ to attack? If there's a
reason to ask any guest a question, there's a reason to hear their
answer. Badgering a guest? That shouldn't be allowed. Sherri asked a
question and it was too much for Whoopi to wait for that question to be
answered before cutting and demanding attention.
Joy and Whoopi need to learn, as two ABC execs noted, to shut up.
If
a guest has been asked a question, allow the guest to answer. That's
not just a basic courtesy in any host-guest relationship, it's important
for the audience which expects that questions asked will lead to
replies.
Lily walked out on the interview because of something some TV guy said? I love Lily but I had never heard that story. That is why I love their writing so much, Ava and C.I. provide so much in each piece they write. This week, on YOUTUBE, THE DICK CAVETT SHOW put up the clip.
The TV idiot was an idiot and I am glad Lily walked off. I am glad she did not come back on the set.
I'm also glad that I found out about this ten years ago when Ava and C.I. used it to provide needed context.
Thank you all and be safe,
Tisha Moore
I