LoveIsJoy

I'm no special effects makeup artist, but as a home crafter, I was just as in awe of the lab as the contestants were! In fact, I always wonder what the materials must cost for each episode. To get to play with all of the makeup, paints, clay, accessories, foams, plastics (and who knows what all else) must be a contestant's dream. Wish we could get a behind the scenes look at lab contents, as well as an idea of the cost/budget.

I admit to being bummed that Nicolle isn't returning. I've always said that it wasn't Elisabeth's politics that made her so unbearable, but her nasty personality. I dislike Nicolle's political views just as much, but I really enjoy her as a voice at the table. She's generally pleasant and has shown a willingness to compliment Dems on occasion, and disagree with fellow Republicans on some issues. Even with her "I'm a republican " tic, she appears to formulate her own opinions and not just spout spoon fed ones. She was a good fit for the show and "as a Democrat," I'll miss her next season.

Why do I have the feeling that they taped two different versions of the ending; one giving Drew the win and one giving it to Jonathan? I noticed they didn't actually show the rock,paper,scissors battle. They just announced the results. Probably for editing purposes. I'm so glad I can DVR this show, so I can FF through all of the hi jinx and scripted banter and only see the parts that interest me. I'm feeling grouchy these days.

It has to be regional then. I've lived in 3 states (midwest) and in each city where I attended graduations, they had the same scenario...school colors, girls wear the lighter and boys wear the darker. My daughter had white and the fellas were blue; my niece in red/guys in black; niece #2 gold/boys in green. It's really visually pleasing to see them walk in separate colors and then merge.

This reminded me: Whoopi explained the only reason she was wearing a black shirt that day was because something spilled on her white one. Within moments of us learning that Whoopi has a closet full of pristine white shirts ready to go. With sharp, perfect creases no less. Why does she lie so much over such small things?

Just got around to watching Whoopi's return and actually watched it until the end (something I normally don't do). When they all come back for the sign-off, Whoopi says, "You know what? I am really living for the day when I don't have to say, Raven and Michelle will be back tomorrow." Then a quick pan to the two with a cat.that.swallowed.the.canary expression on their faces. Did Whoopi just spill who the next cohosts will be?

Yes, BW most certainly did. And IIRC, Bitsy cooed about what a wonderful program it was and how great it all was and how magnificent BW was, and how inspiring the children were, ad nauseum, ad infinitum. She couldn't praise BW enough for the special. So either she was lying then, or she's deliberately lying now. I don't know which is worse.

Actually, I do. I think it was last Thursday's show when Nicolle made the comment (in her serious, sycophantic voice) that Whoopi was carrying The View and the rest of the co-hosts on her back. Now I can't remember what the actual topic was, but the comment made me wonder if the producers think that about her as well. That no matter her actual performance, she is the marquee name and most recognizable face of The View on the panel. I also remember when Whoopi came back from her 2-week absence, that she made a big deal of saying [paraphrasing] that people must have turned on The View and wondered what they were watching since she wasn't there. To which I noted that Rosie O made a blink-and-you-missed-it WTH face. Of course, Whoopi's whole first day back was a WTH day and she may not have said it if she hadn't been so heavily medicated. But, in her case methinks in cannabis veritas.

My biggest reaction to this episode is amazement that Ben and I have the same Christmas wrapping paper! Except I didn't wrap a potential murder weapon in mine. Plus, I bought that paper about three.years ago. I always wonder whose job it is to acquire random bits and pieces (like gift wrap) for production.

It's hard for me to be morally outraged by the water torture scenes considering I'm actively watching a show premised upon the murder of a 5-year old boy. The episode finally answered the questions about (1) why the neighbor seemed to hate Ben so much, and (2) who the stalker was (and why). From nearly the beginning, I've not been able to take the show seriously, what with the one-note characters (Juliette Lewis's horrible detective; slacker-bro-in-the-guest-house; and bratty, foot-stamping, flouncing teen who looks all of 25....) and the endless dumb decisions by our hero. I do really get into some shows and have been gutted by some script choices (Richard Harrow's death in Boardwalk Empire and the Lost finale, to name two). But I'm not moved by this show at all and am just watching ultimately to find out whodunnit. At which point, I'll probably quickly forget I ever watched or what it was about. Just that it sucked, mostly.

Yep, it's from the Bush's baked beans commercial. It's a running joke in my family...nothing to do with race. It's just a wisecrack way to make an announcement. Sounds like Whoopi said it in that context. (Haven't actually watched yet)

I've read that cabinets in older homes are more shallow than modern ones, and that many dinner plates don't fit in them. I wonder if that's why she opted to leave the doors off and convert them to shelves. I did notice that the plates were displayed vertically rather than stacked horizontally. Also, count me in as wondering why the cabinets weren't refinished before being reinstalled. I do admire Nicole a lot. She doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, and she's incredibly strong to be so petite. She doesn't mind appearing on camera with minimal makeup and messy hair, which I find that refreshing. I know she has her flaws, and there have been decisions she's made on her rehab projects that I disagree with. But mostly, I really enjoy the show and these lovely old homes.

Another Henri fan here! Never thought the thieving filmmaker's cat would get a mention on a TDS forum, but it is fitting.

Fran Taylor has been the stylist for the past several years. Maybe Thomas is a married name? If it is the same person, I'm wondering if the new hosts are more amenable to her suggestions for outfits. I can somehow imagine Sherri insisting on wearing something "youthful and sexy" and Fran basically having to comply.

I've watched The View every year from the very first episode. While there is certainly room for improvement, I have to say it's been years since I've been able to watch the show from beginning to end and actually enjoy it. Yes, Ro might make a face into the camera when she walks out but it's brief and done. I no longer have to fast forward past the prepubescent-sounding announcer, the Sherri Shimmy-and-Squirm, or Jenny's 1990s Raise-the-Roof gestures to the tune of teenybopper pop music intros. Nowadays, the ladies just basically walk in and sit down like normal women. I also appreciate that I can enjoy an interview without being distracted by Elisabeth lifting her skirt and shoving her legs into the camera shot as though they were some work of art more important than anything that was being discussed. That used to annoy me to no end. Rosie and Nicolle have been wearing beautiful dresses but don't work overtime to bring attention to themselves. Further, whoever decided to ditch the ping pong style, five-host interview format has made one of the best changes in the show. It was always so frustrating watching a guest valiantly trying to manage the bombardment of scripted questions from hosts who hadn't bothered to do the research. With only two (prepared) hosts doing the job, I get so much more enjoyment out of that segment of the show. And power to Rosie P for bringing a Latin perspective that's been sorely missing from network TV. I'm glad she feels she can bring up issues of racial inequality/insensitivity because it's an important topic. True, some people may tire of hearing about it, but some people of color are tired of living it. Same for Rosie O and LGBT issues, and for Nicolle identifying herself as Republican. I'm neither hispanic, gay, nor right-wing, but as long as it's an intelligent, respectful discussion, I'm all for hearing each of their perspectives. I'm sure they don't go around noting their latina/gay/republican labels in their private lives, but I don't see a problem with the hosts representing a niche in a public platform. There are still nits to pick for sure, but overall it's been a great start. All of the hosts that I've enjoyed have had weaknesses for sure (Joy and her stale, pre-planned jokes come to mind, but I still love her). Wednesday's show was nice from start to infomercial (at which point I bailed) and yes, Whoopi has become the weakest link at this point (IMO). It wouldn't be The View if there wasn't someone to snark about. I hope Whoopi can get it together soon or that one of the producers can intervene on the audience's behalf.

Forgive me, I'm trying to like this show but I'm confused by the characters much of the time. Is Frank the husband and Sam the guy who likes to sleep with students? And thanks to this forum, Mr. Love and I now have an answer to: who is the girl hugging Wes at the end of the show? She didn't look to either of us to be the neighbor girl (no eyeliner and different hairstyle maybe and why is everything shot so dimly?) and hubby thought it might be the murdered college girl who (surprise!) wasn't really murdered after all. LOL. We're so lost we're making up our own twists. Geez, I always feel like I'm straining to see what's going on with the (to me) dim lighting, struggling to figure out WTH bag Annalise is going to be popping out of next (controlled and in-charge or weepy and desperate), while trying to keep track of which tense we are in, as well details of the COTW. Remembering the names of the avatars who aren't named Viola Davis (because they're sure not real characters yet) is next to impossible for me.

It sounded to me like she said Blacks and Latinos. FWIW

I am completely over this show, and yet I continue to watch because of my compulsion to finish things that I start. With the exception of Ethan, I don't feel invested in any of the characters or the story itself. I can't separate Molly from HalleBerry and for some reason each scene that she's in feels emotionless to me even though I can see her face and mannerisms making a real effort to sell the character. I find myself distracted by that observation and miss parts of the action feeling estranged from the story rather than drawn into it. I'm not sure it's completely Halle's fault. Something is just really off about this show. One--of many--things I don't understand is why Molly and Yatsumoto are convinced the ba-by wants and needs his mother. Obviously, the offspring is powerful enough to send bats or birds or whatever to warn Molly of danger, in addition to compelling Sparks into doing his bidding. Why wouldn't Molly's ba-by then instruct Sparks to take him straight to his mother? Yet, we see that ba-by has done exactly the opposite and is leaving her behind instead of drawing closer to her. Maybe I'm missing something, but the story seems so disjointed to me.

I guess I missed that as well! How do we know that her phone call and the hit are directly related?

Count me in as another one who feels as if I'm missing key points of dialogue. For my own clarification: now that the DNA test excluded Ephram (?) from paternity, does Rachel still believe that the boy's mother (can't think of her name) and her husband are having an affair? I grasp that there is a lot of tension between the 3, but it's not always clear to me what's being said. However, I did notice that Rachel was finally speaking to Kasim's mother in a calmer and more caring manner. So, are we to assume that she no longer suspects the two?

WRT Whoopi's baldness and lack of eyebrows, I wonder if she suffers from some form of alopecia. I know of someone with the condition who has areas of complete baldness along with unaffected regions of her scalp.

Athena - Believe it or not, Lisa and Bill are actually friends and maintained their friendship after her departure from the View. I remember when she got married, he went to her wedding in CA and described it to the audience. IIRC Bans didn't go.

Not trusting Dr. Sam either. It's clear that Molly's pregnancy is abnormal. The good doctor probably hacked the ultrasound machine so that it would show an image of some other fetus in their files. It almost doesn't matter if the baby is human or other because the acting in this show is so flat that all the characters feel like robots to me anyway.

This reminds me of an episode years ago when Meredith Viera began telling a story about one of her sons. He was entering puberty and she was telling a story about being in his bedroom and bemoaning his increasing "smelliness." Starr and Joy began laughing and making jokes about stinky teenage boys and suddenly Meredith got this look of panic on her face. Starr and Joy kept on yukking it up (they didn't immediately notice that Meredith was getting upset) and finally Meredith made them stop. She said she just realized how the whole thing would look from her son's--and his friends--point of view and realized she shouldn't have brought it up. It was one of those candid "live" moments that made the show so interesting back in the day. Who knows, Meredith may have embellished the story for laughs (much like Sherri and Jenny), but I always found her to be genuine in a way that Sherri and Jenny aren't.

From the Oprah.com article posted a page back... Question to Jenny...if Evan's test came back negative for a gluten allergy, why does it still need to be removed from his diet? If you're advocating removing gluten from the diet of all kids with autism, then why bother testing for it at all? Is this something you learned at the University of Google (™Jenny McCarthy) or is there actual scientific evidence indicating gluten allergy testing and removal across the board. And really, the average mother can test for ALL foods? (Okay, I guess that was more than one question). It's almost like she's making it up as she goes along.