'The View' turns 25: OG hosts talk chemistry, tensions and replacing Meghan McCain

Tuesday marks marked 25 seasons that audiences have been tuning in to "The View," which asked an all-female panel to captivate a TV audience by sharing their personal opinions on sometimes divisive or fiery topics.

"There was no guarantee," original co-host Meredith Vieira recalls of the show's start. "We're taking this thing out for a ride, and could have crashed on the side of the highway. And 25 years later, it's still chugging along."

Barbara Walters introduced ABC's panel talk show to viewers on Aug. 11, 1997, explaining: "I've always wanted to do a show with women of different generations, backgrounds and views." The trailblazing broadcaster – who became the first woman to co-anchor "Today" and, later, ABC's evening newscast – created the program with producer Bill Geddie.

"The View" (11 a.m. EDT/10 PDT) became a new home for frivolous and serious topics and political discussion, and a required stop for presidential candidates wanting to reach a female audience. Though it initially struggled to find viewers, "The View" is now the No. 1 talk show on daytime TV.

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On "The View" premiere, Walters introduced her co-hosts: journalist and the show's moderator, Vieira, "a working mom"; attorney Star Jones, "a professional in her 30s"; newcomer Debbie Matenopoulos, "a 22-year-old just starting out"; and stand-up comedian Joy Behar, "somebody who's done almost everything and will say almost anything."

"They couldn't really pigeonhole me," Behar, 78, says in an interview, "because I was a comedian and I wasn't raising kids at the time and I was not married. So they couldn't put me in a box. So they said, 'And Joy, who will say anything to anybody,' which turns out to be true."

Behar is the only remaining original co-host (though she left for two years in 2013). She embarks on the show's milestone season with the current lineup: Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin and journalist Sara Haines. Outspoken conservative Meghan McCain exited the program in August and will (for now) be replaced by a rotating group of like-minded contrarians.

Although other shows have copied the series' panel format – CBS' "The Talk" and the syndicated "The Real" – the imitators haven't been able to match "The View" in audience (2.7 million viewers), guests or cultural impact. Cast changes – and there have been many, 13 of 22 co-hosts have stayed for four seasons or fewer – consistently make headlines.

To commemorate the show's 25th season, we enjoy "The View" and look back with three of the original hosts: Behar, Vieira and Matenopoulos, who may be returning in some capacity.

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'Clicking immediately' at the audition

The first group of women to audition at a New York City hotel was chosen as co-hosts. "I remember clicking immediately with those women," Behar says of Jones, Matenopoulos, Vieira and Walters. As if that wasn't remarkable enough, Vieira and Matenopoulos nearly didn't try out.

Vieira, 67, describes herself as "a reporter who didn't want to report," who wanted to be home with her three young children with her husband, producer Richard M. Cohen. He was encouraging: "You should just do this, even if it's not really what you're looking for, because it may just jog something in you, and at least it's giving you a look at another facet of the industry," she recalls him saying.

After the audition, Vieira thought "I can't believe this. I loved it!" She hosted for nine seasons before joining "Today" in 2006 and has since hosted the syndicated version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and her own talk show.

Matenopoulos, 46, nearly skipped out of the audition for another reason: nerves. Then just 21, she was an intern at MTV and studying journalism at New York University. She'd met the casting agent at a friend's going-away party and showed up (unshowered) for a spontaneous meeting with Walters and Geddie with pink hair, wearing a black, A-line miniskirt, and a baby tee bearing John Travolta's face and referencing his "Welcome Back, Kotter" character, Vinnie Barbarino.

Once there, she says, she "immediately felt way in over my head" and decided to leave before auditioning, but found Walters standing in the doorway. "And she said, 'Oh, baby, I'm so glad you came. Come on!' " Matenopoulos remembers. "And I thought, 'Oh, my God, I can't even leave now.' "

Matenopoulos stayed with "The View" for two seasons, and then was let go. She went on to host E!'s "The Daily 10" and, more recently, Hallmark's "Home & Family."

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Barbara Walters would 'beg' pals to be guests

The show was not an instantaneous success. It replaced "Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends," and initially had lower ratings than the short-lived chat show featuring the comedic duo known as The Mommies. "I think the only reason ABC kept it on was because of Barbara," Vieira says, "and then it started to gain traction."

Behar remembers consistently "thinking we were gonna be canceled" because not enough stations had committed to the program. She says Walters would "call and make little trips to get these local (ABC) stations" to carry the show. Walters also pleaded with her famous pals to appear on "The View."

"Tom Selleck came on – he was our first guest because Barbara knew him for years," Matenopoulos recalls.

Vieira says she knew the show had arrived when the women were parodied on "Saturday Night Live." Cheri Oteri played Walters, an impression she revived on CNN to ring in 2020. "I said, 'That's it! We are now part of the cultural vernacular,' " she says. "When people make fun of you, you have arrived, and I loved it."

The co-host experience: 'A caged animal' unleashed

For journalist Vieira, giving her opinion for the first time felt freeing. "It was almost like I was a caged animal, and they had just unlocked the cage," she says. "One of the first crazy things I said was, 'I don't wear underwear.' I don't even know what provoked it. Where did that come from?" She adds: "I think it was just, 'Oh, I can talk! I can talk! What can I say?' and then this vomit came out."

Matenopoulos felt less settled in her hosting seat.

"Because of who they were and because of their experience, and because of their résumés, I thought, 'Oh, gosh, I have to live up to that,' " she says. "When in all actuality, no, I didn't. I just had to be me."

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A switch to politics as the show evolved

When introducing "The View," Walters promised the program would include “advice on matters that mean the most, like relationships and health and family. But most of all, we’ll have a lot of fun, and we hope that you will, too.” There was no mention of politics, but in 2019, The New York Times called the program "the most important political TV show in America."

Behar says when Barack Obama became the country's first Black president after the 2008 election, followed by Donald Trump, the conversation at the table naturally turned to politics.

"I think that sometimes we miss the boat when we become a 'Meet the Press,' " she says. "I don't think that it serves the brand, and I think that we lose something when we're too serious and when we're fighting politically. The ratings may be good. Sometimes they're good when we're fighting, sometimes they're not.

"The original brand of the show was supposed to be about camaraderie and relatability, debate-ability with a friendly accent," she says. "And when we lose that, we lose the brand."

Joy Behar: Fiery feuds are not 'The View'

Much has been written about blow-ups between the co-hosts, alleged feuds and tensions. It's difficult to reminisce about the show's 25 seasons and not think of Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Rosie O'Donnell's heated clash in 2007 that started about politics and became personal. Shortly after their altercation, O'Donnell exited the program three weeks before the end of her contract. Ramin Setoodeh's 2019 book “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View’ ” described numerous behind-the-scenes betrayals and constant conflict. In recent years, the media has paid close attention to sparring between Behar and McCain.

Behar would rather avoid the battles.

"I don't love doing it, and I don't love reading about it," she says. "I don't think that it's 'The View.' I don't think that it was the original idea."

She remembers disagreeing with Jones about the use of the word "fat" in their audition. "And we had a friendly disagreement, and that was like, 'Oh, OK. They do disagree on things.' It doesn't mean we're going to tear each other's hair out because she doesn't want to say something and I do, or she believes one thing, and I believe something else," Behar says. "So we got along much better because of that, but Barbara was there. Barbara wouldn't tolerate the kind of arguing that went on last year."

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Who will fill Meghan McCain's conservative seat?

"The View" will take its time selecting a replacement for McCain, who was the latest of the show's right-leaning voices and joined in 2017. Former congresswoman Mia Love will join the panel for the program's premiere week. Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, journalist Gretchen Carlson, CNN host S.E. Cupp, "Real Housewives of New York City" cast member Eboni K. Williams and former White House communications director Alyssa Farah will also fill the void.

Former "View" hosts will return in "Flashback Fridays." Star Jones' homecoming is this week. Matenopoulos might be another but won't confirm in what capacity she will return.

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As for Behar, she wants a tablemate "who is mature, somebody who has some life experience, somebody who's a thinker, somebody who has a great sense of humor would help and brains, of course."

And she'd like the show to "have fun, be relevant, be spontaneous (and) bring some kind of takeaway value to the audience. I think that's asking a lot of a show, but I think we can pull it off."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The View' Season 25: Joy Behar talks Meghan McCain's replacement