| runtime = 1 hour per episode
| creator = Barbara Walters
Bill Geddie
Jessica Guff
| starring = Barbara Walters
(1997–present)
Joy Behar
(1997–present)
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
(2003–present)
Rosie O'Donnell
(2006–present)
Star Jones Reynolds
(1997–2006)
Meredith Vieira
(1997–2006)
Debbie Matenopoulos
(1997–1999)
Lisa Ling
(1999–2002)
| country = United States
| network = ABC
| rating =
| picture_format = 1080i HDTV
| first_aired = August 11, 1997
| last_aired = Present
| num_episodes = 2,070, as of June 12, 2006
|}}
'''''The View''''' is an Emmy-award winning daytime television talk show on ABC created by Barbara Walters, Bill Geddie, and Jessica Guff and featuring a panel of women as co-hosts. It is moderated by Rosie O'Donnell, with co-hosts Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Barbara Walters, who also acts as the show's co-executive producer. The show premiered on August 11, 1997.
The concept of ''The View'' is to showcase women with a range of perspectives, as they speak with each other as well as with their guests. An early version of the show's opening credits, with voice-over from Walters, captured the premise:
:I've always wanted to do a show with women of different generations, backgrounds and views: a working mother; a professional in her 30s; a young woman just starting out; and then somebody who's done almost everything and will say almost anything. And in a perfect world, I'd get to join the group whenever I wanted ...
The show opens each day with "Hot Topics," in which the co-hosts provide lightweight commentary on the day's top headlines in politics and entertainment; the segment's popularity soon led it to expand.
The year 2006 has seen the departure of two of the show's original co-hosts: Meredith Vieira on June 9 and Star Jones Reynolds on June 27. ''The View'' is produced and videotaped at ABC's television studio on West 66th Street in New York City.
Initial reviews
A ''New York Times'' review
[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E3DA173EF932A1575BC0A961958260 Feet on the Ground, Heads Without Bubbles, an August 21, 1997 review from ''The New York Times''], published ten days after the show premiered, describes what critic Caryn James thought was distinctive about the show:
:The idea of women talking to one another on daytime television is not exactly radical. The idea that those women should be smart and accomplished is still odd enough to make ''The View'' seem wildly different. It actively defies the bubbleheads-'R'-us approach to women's talk shows....
:If it keeps its mildly renegade spirit, ''The View'' should only grow stronger. It is easy to tease Barbara Walters; we've all done it. (She hasn't made anyone cry on the air yet.) But she and her production company
