As we did in 2021 and 2023, we're attempting to again increase book coverage in the community. After a review posts, we try to do a discussion with the reviewer. This go round, we're talking to Ruth about her "LADIES WHO PUNCH: THE EXPLOSIVE INSIDE STORY OF THE VIEW" and Jim about his "HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (Jim)." Let's start with Jim. Tell us about your book.
Jim: Rob Ebner is the author of my book. It came out in 2013 and purports to catch you up on the celebrities you used to love. The biggest problem is, most of these people aren't celebrities. They're forgotten today and Ebner's bio sketches provide you with no reason in the world that they ever should have been famous to begin with. It's a dull book about mostly bit players and it has a ton of factual errors.
Were there any people in the book you knew?
Jim: A few. Take Shelley Fabares. She's an actress and a singer. She's had a very long career. He can't get the basics right. She was already a working actress before she did THE DONNA REED SHOW but that's the sitcom that made her famous. It ran from 1958 to 1966 -- eight seasons. He writes that, "Shelley left in 1965 to pursue more adult roles." Actually, she left the show in the spring of 1963 as a regular. In seasons six and seven, she returned to do three episodes each of those two seasons. She did no guest spots in season eight. Her last guest episode aired Christmas Eve 1964. Her last episode as a regular aired May 9, 1963. He then reduces pretty much everything to just a title listed. She was the female star in BRIAN'S SONG -- a famous and popular TV movie that starred James Caan and Billy Dee Williams about the life and death of Chicago Bears fullback Brian Piccolo. But to the author of this book, that credit -- a TV movie so good and so popular that after it aired on TV they actually started releasing it in film theaters -- is no different than an episode guesting on LOVE AMERICAN STYLE. BRIAN'S SONG is the orginal male weepie film -- a film that makes a lot of men cry the way Bette Davis' DARK VICTORY or something similar might make audiences cry. She played Francie on ONE DAY AT A TIME and that was a major shift for her -- Francie -- Francine Webster was Ann Romando's rival and self-centered -- a long cry from sweet Mary Stone that brought Shelley fame. And she didn't just act in the sitcom COACH -- she was in 199 episodes of the show. And then there's this, "Shelley also became famous for her short-term, #1 BILLBOARD hits, 'Johnny Angel' (1962) which sold over a million copies." How do you have a short-term number one? You don't get higher on the pop charts than number one. She had a number one hit -- one that spent two weeks at number one. Does he have any clue?
What's the scope and layout of the book?
Jim: It goes alphabetical by last name. The scope? Confusing. Supposedly, these are famous people who found fame in the 50s and early 60s. That's apparently the excuse for ignoring actual 60s stars like Burt Ward and Adam West and Yvonne Craig of BATMAN, and Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III and Michael Cole of THE MOD SQUAD, Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, Michael Constantine and Karen Valentine of ROOM 222, Susan Saint James on THE NAME OF THE GAME, etc. Those are shows from the second half of the 60s. But if that's too old for your focus, why squeeze in some people? Such as Teri Garr. That's not meant as an insult to Teri. But she became famous in the 70s -- as a regular on THE SONNY & CHER COMEDY SHOW and then in classic films like YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and OH, GOD! among others.
Thank you. Ruth, your book?
Ruth: THE VIEW is a long running show on ABC daytime. The show's aired since 1997 and was created by the late Barbara Walters. I'm not calling it a talk show because the book exposes that. The book is Ramin Setoodeh's LADIES WHO PUNCH: THE EXPLOSIVE INSIDE STORY OF THE VIEW. You learn that people were often told what to say on the supposed live conversation. And that's only one of the lies the show put forward. Barbara Walters tired of her co-hosts quickly and when she was tired of you, she wanted you gone. She would work overtime poisoning you to ABC exectuvies to get them to agree to fire you but she always wanted to pretend on air that she had nothing to do with it. She would lie on air and make them lie on air. They had decided to leave and Ms. Walters would lie that she was sad about that and sometimes even that she had nothing to do with the departure. She got them fired. She often bought their silence as with Elizabeth Hasselbeck who was loathed by viewers of the show. After Ms. Walters got Ms. Hasselbeck fired, she then called in a favor from her friend Roger Ailes to get Ms. Hasselbeck hired by FOX "NEWS" so that Ms. Hasselbeck would stay silent. She was a hateful and controlling woman who had to have the spotlight and would get jealous when others had it. She loathed Rosie O'Donnell because the show was about to be cancelled and Ms. O'Donnell joined the show and made changes to the show resulting in THE VIEW becoming must-watch TV and a lot of press for the improved show. That is when she began plotting to get Ms. O'Donnell removed from the show. She would attack her co-hosts on air and they all lived in fear of that. They would sometimes nod or kick under the table a co-host to warn them Ms. Walters was about to attack.
Barbara is now dead so the show is better now?
Ruth: No. Maybe if Rosie O'Donnell were on the show. After taking it to huge heights and leaving, she returned in 2014 and it did not go well. She wanted improvements in the show again and that required morning meetings. Whoopi Goldberg refused to drive in early -- an hour early -- for these meetings. She is unengaged and she's unprepared. Sbe wants the millions she is paid, she just thinks three hours of work a day is enough. She is rude to her co-hosts and she really needs to go. "Moderator" does not mean "Talks over everyone."
Does the book make for a fascinating read?
Ruth: It does. I highly recommend the book. It's a page turned that you won't put down.
Alright, thank you both.
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Previous book discussions:
"Book Talk (Stan, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Dona, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Ty, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Stan, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"