09:28 AM EDT 05/22/2013
Barbara Walters
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ABC Upfronts Bring Monster Enemies and Monster Laughs
Originally posted 05/15/2013 10:10AM
ABC’s upfront Tuesday afternoon was an upbeat affair – not all upfronts are – with shoutouts to breakout hit Scandal and its star, Kerry Washington; to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel; and to now destined-to-retire Barbara Walters.
Kimmel, as is traditional, did a few minutes' worth of jokes at the expense of the other networks (he referred to CBS as "smug @#%&!!!!s") and his own: He suggested that Splash, the diving-celeb reality show, should be replaced by one with an empty pool. To be called Splat.
The clips introducing new shows were, on balance, pretty promising. These are the ones that struck my television tuning fork and filled me with anticipatory vibrations:
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Barbara Walters: 'I Plan to Retire' in the Summer of 2014
Originally posted 05/13/2013 06:20AM
After more than five decades, Barbara Walters is hanging up her microphone.
The veteran ABC News anchor, 83, said Monday morning on The View – the show she started in 1997 – that she will retire from TV journalism next summer.
"Let me just say I have been on television continuously for over 50 years. But in the summer of '14 I plan to retire from appearing on television at all. ... I'm perfectly healthy. This is my decision. This is what I want to do," Walters told her audience, which in the studio included Disney CEO (and therefore head of ABC) Bob Iger – who suggested once he also retires that both he and Walters go on Dancing with the Stars.
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Barbara Walters: Elisabeth Hasselbeck Is Not Being Fired from The View
Originally posted 03/11/2013 11:25AM
Not so fast.
Following last week's news that original co-host Joy Behar will be leaving The View, along with rumors that Brooke Shields will be coming aboard to replace Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters attempted to set the record straight on Monday's program.
Walters, who made her entrance at the top of the show on Hasselbeck's arm, looked at the camera and said she wished to address "a particularly false story." She said that reports that Hasselbeck's opposing political views, as expressed on the show, were not forcing her removal.
"We love Elisabeth," said Walters, who also said that the others appreciate her political differences, too.
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Joy Behar Leaving The View
Originally posted 03/08/2013 07:25AM
It sounds like Joy Behar will be taking in The View from the sidelines.
The contract is up for the daytime talk show host, 70, and she has told ABC that she's moving on to hopefully host a new interview show, according to Deadline.com. Friday's Good Morning America, which, like The View, airs on ABC, also announced her departure.
Behar is the second-to-last cast original cast member to remain on the show since it first aired 16½ years ago. Should Behar leave, Barbara Walters will be the only one remaining.
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Barbara Walters Has Chicken Pox
Originally posted 01/28/2013 12:40PM
While much of Hollywood is suffering from the flu, Barbara Walters has come down with the chicken pox.
The View host was hospitalized after injuring her head in a fall during inauguration festivities. She was transferred to a New York hospital late last week and remains there with her new infection.
"You all know that she fell and cut her head 10 days ago, and then was running a temperature, but it turns out it is all the result of a delayed childhood," her co-host Whoopi Goldberg explained on the air Monday.
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Barbara Walters Hospitalized After Inauguration Weekend Fall
Originally posted 01/21/2013 09:30AM
The Inauguration festivities took a tough turn for at least one veteran newswoman.
Barbara Walters, 83, fell Saturday night on a step at the residence of the British Ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, and was hospitalized, the Associated Press reported.
ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said Walters, who cut her forehead, was taken to a Washington, D.C., hospital for treatment and was alert after the fall, "telling everyone what to do, which we all take as a very positive sign," he said.
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Barbara Walters Names David Petraeus Most Fascinating of 2012
Originally posted 12/13/2012 06:00AM
Barbara Walters's annual 10 most fascinating list always features an eclectic mix of captivating people – and this year is no different.
The special, which aired Wednesday night, highlighted the achievements and antics that kept fans enthralled. Among Walters's picks were Ben Affleck, who won critical acclaim for his political thriller Argo; Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas; Prince Harry; and even pint-sized beauty pageant star Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson.
And her top pick as the Most Fascinating Person of 2012? Gen. David Petraeus, the decorated U.S. military hero and director disgraced by an affair that forced his resignation as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
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Savannah Guthrie Survives First-Day Hazing on Today
Originally posted 07/10/2012 10:45AM
Now that she's taken her spot next to Matt Lauer on the Today show, Savannah Guthrie has plenty of reasons to be happy – and possibly a little embarrassed, too.
On her official welcome to her morning gig Monday, Guthrie, 40, endured a friendly hazing-like induction, in which viewers caught a glimpse of a favorite childhood book about an aspiring cheerleader, as well as a clip of her singing and playing the guitar to Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go."
"It was just such a warm welcome, and how could you not feel really good after that?" she tells PEOPLE of her on-air introduction, which also included heartfelt comments from friends, her mother and former colleagues. "I'm thankful and excited for the future."
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Star Jones Returns to The View, Recalls 'Ugly' Departure
Originally posted 02/22/2012 01:10PM
Star Jones returned to The View Wednesday – her first visit to the ABC talk show since her much talked-about departure in June 2006.
"It was ugly. Everything. It was a bad emotional time. Nasty things were being said in the media," Jones said after her former boss, Barbara Walters, insisted on discussing her exit, when the host abruptly announced she was leaving on the air, then revealed she had been fired by the show.
"I wanted to go out on my own terms so that if I walked back here I'd feel good about it," Jones continued. "I had eight fantastic years here. One was 'eh.' I came back to congratulate you on all you accomplished. I hope you congratulate me on what I accomplished."
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President Obama Wishes He Could Play an Instrument – and Speak Spanish
Originally posted 12/23/2011 10:15AM
President Obama has achieved a lot in his life – but that doesn't mean he still doesn't have regrets.
"I deeply regret not having learned a musical instrument," the President told Barbara Walters in an interview for ABC's 20/20, which will air Friday night. "And I regret not having focused more on Spanish when I was studying it in school. I would love to be able to speak Spanish fluently and play an instrument."
The President and First Lady sat down with Walters for their annual holiday interview, answering 10 personal questions about themselves.
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