Barbara Walters developing manlier version of The View

WTF?! My Buddhist blogging compatriot Rev. Danny Fisher sent me this link on Facebook - probably thought I could use a laugh.

I quite like the snark of the reviewer, however, which comes courtesy of The Onion's A/V Club, so it makes sense. This being a product of The Onion and all, I checked the link and damn if it's not true - and reported by The New York Post.

Barbara Walters developing manlier version of The View

Fenn/ABC -Barbara Walters, who recently sat with 'The View' ladies during an episode with President Obama, is trying to develop a similar show for men too.

by Sean O'Neal August 25, 2010

Because there is no better forum for breaking down current events than a roundtable full of people with opposing, equally shallow viewpoints, Barbara Walters is said to be working on another version of The View, this time a “unisex” version geared toward men. Currently her dream cast includes former Today Show host Bryant Gumbel, who will use his “Meredith Vieira vibe” to captain a troupe of manly men who will “inject a male perspective into the topics of the day,” and other vaguely phallic metaphors.

Also on that list: former BET news anchor Jacque Reid—who is not a man, but who will fill the all-important Sherri Shepherd role—and also-not-a-man and former Fox And Friends /The O’Reilly Factor co-host E.D. Hill, who will be the show’s token screeching conservative in the Elisabeth Hasselbeck mold. (You may remember Hill as the woman who asked whether a fist bump between Barack and Michelle Obama was a “terrorist fist jab,” which even Fox News thought was ridiculous, and fired her soon after.) If things go according to plan, expect Hill to spar daily with Filipino-American comedian and Ugly Betty star Alec Mapa, who will “balance Gumbel’s reserve with a splash of flamboyance.” It’s like they carved a window into the American male mind and framed it with some tasteful curtains.

I'm trying to think about who I would want to see on a show like this, just on the off-chance someone asks me.

I would want it to actually be all men, not unisex (seems they think people would not watch an all male show, and they are probably correct - it's been tried and failed a couple of times). So no women as regular hosts.

I'm going to throw out an odd assortment of names for the five slots, all of which will be regulars but there will be a guest spot that rotates regularly, depending on who is busy that week.

So, the five starters: Howie Long (of Fox NFL Sunday), Chris Rock (comedian), Dan Savage (of Savage Love, the sex advice column), Iggy Pop (the musician, and a very smart guy, too), and Ted Koppel (as moderator and resident Elder).

The fifth, rotating chair could be filled by actors, musicians, politicians, authors, the occasional woman, and so on. Some guys I would want to see regularly in that spot: Sebastian Junger, Van Jones, Sam Harris, Mike Ditka, Cornel West, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Jesse Ventura, Colin Powell, Sean "Puffy" Combs, and the list could go on for days.

Who would you actually watch, or DVR/Tivo, if the show could be made?

Tags: men, culture, television, current events, Barbara Walters, manlier version, The View, The Onion, A/V Club, Bryant Gumbel, Jacque Reid, E.D. Hill, Alec Mapa