Bill Maher Latest To Observe "The View" Is BANANAS

I don't know if y'all watch "The View" as religiously as I do, but perhaps you're not masochistic. Good for you! The point is that if you watch, and your brain hasn't bled out of your ears yet, perhaps you have noticed that the ladies have very possibly lost their damn minds, and have definitely lost control of the show. That is, if they ever had control of it in the first place.

The latest victim/perpetrator/guest to illustrate that "The View" is completely out of hand was Bill Maher, who was on the show Tuesday to discuss his new movie "Religulous." It went...as well as Bill Maher on The View could go. As in...not well.

To sum up, a conversation about Maher's movie, which is a documentary about religion (Maher states that he is an agnostic, and thinks organized religion is a farce,) combined with devout Christians Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, was doomed from the start. And when it completely expectedly fell to pieces, Maher was cut off by the producers after saying that Shepherd needed to be in Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital because she believes God speaks to her. Did anyone NOT see this coming?

But my quarrel today is not with Maher, or Shepherd, or Hasselbeck. Nope, my beef is with the "Viewmaster" himself, producer Bill Geddie, and the joke that this show about different "views" has become. You see, Geddie pulls all the strings on the show. He's in the earpieces the hosts wear, he decides what stays, what goes, and who gets cut by commercial, like Maher, never to be seen again. He's also, I suspect, loving every minute of implosion as the show becomes more of a mockery of itself every day.

"The View" has always been touted as a show about women, and the different social and political viewpoints that different women have. So why is the "Viewmaster" a man? Why is there a (horribly nicknamed) "Viewmaster" anyway? Geddie controls the hosts like puppets, including Barbara Walters to an extent, and what could be an interesting point-counterpoint program is instead a much-mocked shrill festival of bickering that lives and dies by Geddie. Is it really any shocker that Rosie O'Donnell left the program after her "views" became too controversial? Is it actually surprising anybody that Hasselbeck, the lone conservative, is rumored to be jumping ship for Fox News? It isn't to me. Because as long as Geddie is in charge, actual views and actual discussion do, in fact have a master. And that master is not one of the women actually on-screen.

So jeers to you, Bill Geddie. Perhaps if the women who actually are supposed to be running the show actually, you know, RAN the show, "The View" would be less of a joke, and more what it was originally meant to be. Different women, different views. Different show.

Comments

[Snarky Amber]

Today's Hot Topics guest? The very controversial Miss Piggy.

[Robyn G]

Awesome post, Miss Banshee.

Now, I'm off to find out what else I have in common with Bill Maher...

[Suzy Q]

Sherri Sheppard strikes again.

I had no idea that Geddie was controlling everyone. Makes some sense now as to why this show sucks so much.

[Rachel]

I haven't watched this video yet (its still loading) but I saw Bill Maher on Jon Steart last night and he isn't athiest, he's agnostic. He said he can't say he's athiest because that would mean he is absolutely positive there is no god, and he doesn't know.

[missbanshee]

Rachel, consider it edited. Thanks for the catch!

[BaltimoreGal]

Interesting! I really dislike Bill, but I also dislike the View. Which will win out in the battle for my hatred?

[Karen]

Awesome post, Miss Banshee. I didn't even know the person producing The View was a man--I thought Babs was in charge. Shouldn't she be? The woman has been around forever, she has a lot of experience, why didn't she produce the show and get to pull the strings?

[Rachel]

Back to say that it was lame that they cut him off like that. He is very "in your face" about his opinion, but they should have known that going in. I don't like that they invited him on the show, they knew exactly what he was going to say (the movie pretty much tells you that), and then cut him off when he tried to say it.

Also I meant "Stewart" not "Steart" in my other post. But I'm sure you realized that.

[mommypie]

Okay, that whole cutting off thing? RIDICULOUS.

I've always loved Bill Maher. And now I do even more.

[bd]

I agree with The Family Guy's representation of The View, a bunch of clucking chickens that makes my ears bleed.

[Barbara]

Thank you for putting into words why I can not watch this show. I usually just groan, roll my eyes and whimper.

[G]

This is why I have pretty much quit watching The View. Although it is like a train wreck you can't turn away from. But, we as women have to put the blame on ourselves somewhat. The fact the Bill Geddie is the exec producer is not hard to find out (go to the website and it's right there) and he is probably just going by demographics and ratings to decide what he puts on the show. We complain about him being a puppet master and manipulating everything but we keep watching, advertisers keep buying time, and the show stays on the air. Maybe if we really did stop watching the "Viewmaster" would get the message...

[Denice]

I'm with you: I hate that show. HATE. IT. Every time my sister forces me to watch it, it's like one hour of my life that I'll never get back. They really need to do something to fix it.

[Amalah]

I've never been a fan of Bill Mayer, but I really enjoyed his Daily Show interview last night. Given my previous life under the thumb of extreme evangelical Christian Right fundamentalism and my current life of being beyond distrustful and turned off by organized religion...I'm actually really interested in seeing his film.

And no, I don't watch The View either, except when someone says something profoundly extra stupid and the clips end up on my favorite web sites.

[Kathy]

I can't say I'm shocked, though, really, the producers, the "viewmaster" whoever -- what were they thinking? I love Bill Maher but he is going to be controversial -- why would The View expect any less. I mean, when Sherri Shepherd said that god speaks to her of course he going to jump all over that. (Had I been in his shoes, I would have too.)