The other night, up late, I ended up watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon whose guest was Christopher Meloni of Law & Order: SVU. OK, I admit, I've long been a fan of Meloni's and of SVU, actually all the Law & Orders, so maybe it wasn't an "accident," but that's another story.
After the usual chat, the two men sat down to a card game of War, with a twist. They had to throw a glass of water in the other's face when a play was lost while wearing those old-fashioned bathing caps with plastic flowers that your grandmother used to wear.
Yes, it was funny. Yes, I laughed. But I also thought, 'Women would never do this.'
Cut to The View — well, not literally, but that's where my mind went because of the recent hubbub about a male version of The View.
Why, I thought? There are lots of men's talk shows and panel shows (Wanda Sykes, the sole female late night host, was quickly canceled).
The View broke new ground too, because they have a panel of women skirting the default demarcation of traditional female fare: fashion, home, and celebrity stuff — instead having heated discussions on politics and other topical issues of the day. First Lady Michelle Obama was a guest, but so, recently was President Obama.
True, Jimmy Fallon is a comedian, but so are three of The View's panelists, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and Sherri Shepherd. And we don't see them (or Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who's married to a football player) — in a similar vein to the bathing cap/ water-War game — donning football helmets and running at the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
A Daily News story discussing Barbara Walter's intent to put together a male version of The View led with,
Think of it as "The View" — with chest hair.
and cited dream draft picks:
At the top of their list, we're told, is former "Today" show host Bryant Gumbel, as the show's moderator. "He brings the same kind of vibe as Meredith Vieira when she was one of the co-hosts," says the source.
The other male [they] have in mind would balance Gumbel's reserve with a splash of flamboyance: Filipino-American comedian Alec Mapa, who played newscaster Suzuki St. Pierre on "Ugly Betty." The insider says Mapa did so well on his first appearance on "The View" that he was brought back as a guest host."
So my question is, do you want a male View? Some do. Is the male View for you? Or for an audience of Mr. Moms and out-of-work husbands?
What's your view?