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Daytime TV Battle Of “The View” Vs. “The Talk”

Mike Vulpo |
October 28, 2010 | 1:14 p.m. PDT

Columnist

The Talk (CBS)
The Talk (CBS)
Everyone has an opinion about one of daytime’s most successful talk shows, ABC's “The View.”

Some call it a daily yelling match with five women talking over one another nonstop. Others consider it, for better or worse, a democrat love fest minus Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Whatever your perception is, “The View” has proven to get people talking and be a ratings winner.

For the longest time, competing networks have failed to present a program similar to “The View” with five women talking about hot-button issues and interviewing famous newsmakers- until now.

With the near death of soap operas, CBS has prepared themselves and rolled out a new daily talk show titled “The Talk,” which has the potential to be a very successful program.

Now in its second week of shows, “The Talk” is trying to establish their identity and find out what works best for the largest audience.

In the first episode, the hosts (who are all mothers) including USC Annenberg alum Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and “Mom on the Street” reporter Marissa Jaret Winokur discussed the intentions of the show.

In comparison to “The View,” this show will focus most on moms and stories from a mom’s point of view.

Some subjects already discussed include the recent “Glee” photo scandal, bullying in schools and when it is right to give your kids the sex talk.

I was fortune enough to attend a taping of “The Talk” this week and realized the show could be the next big thing in daytime.

Unlike “The View,” each host listens to the other and tries their best to not talk over one another.

The initial guests have included A-listers such as Christie Brinkley, Jennifer Lopez, Judge Judy and Hilary Swank.

Most importantly, the show’s main subject is moms and who is watching daytime television everyday…. Moms!

Granted, like any new show, there could be improvements. Some topics like focusing on “the terrible twos” could be uninteresting to viewers who don’t have any kids near that age.

Some hosts talked much more than others and I wanted to hear more of a group conversation with more opinions.

However, like mentioned before, it is very early into the show and in a way, this problem could be a good thing.

For some like myself, “The View’s” conversations can get very tense. As a result, I get turned off and it makes me wonder if the co-hosts really do like each other after they’ve completely disagreed and battled it out.

In comparison, “The Talk” seems fresh with civil conversations and honest, open hosts (I mean, Peete did reveal her stretch marks on live TV).

Given its first week ratings with an average audience of 2.2 million, “The Talk” may not be as popular as “The View,” but there is indication that mothers are interested in the new program.

From an audience member’s perspective, the entire team on and off camera was professional and extremely friendly.

I was even able to shake Chen’s hand and tell Peete how much I loved her on the “Celebrity Apprentice.”

This show deserves a look and with each episode, I predict these women will get more and more comfortable with their roles, resulting in an even better hour.

It’s about time “The View” is faced with a competitor and “The Talk” could very well win in the end.

Reach Mike here.
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