After five decades in television and nearly two on The View, Barbara Walters will retire on Friday – but not before a reunion of View hosts past and present. This could get real.  Let’s be honest, The View hosts haven’t exactly been renowned for their camaraderie. In fact, they’re known for the opposite – particularly during the 2006 season, when former hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck went head-to-head on a regular basis (which gave SNL endless material). And while I’m sure they’ll all be on their best behavior to wave Barbara Walters off, there’s still some history we need to cover.  Matenopoulos, who was just 22 when she was hired, suffered the wrath of the press almost immediately after her debut thanks to her youthful perspective and upbeat persona (which was negatively interpreted as “ditzy”). Two seasons later, she was abruptly let go and replaced by Lisa Ling. Now she’s married, pregnant, and writing a Greek cookbook.  One of the first hosts enlisted for the ’97 Walters project, the even-keeled Vieira used her moderator role on The View as a springboard for a lucrative career in broadcasting, going on to host Today, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and her own daytime talk series, scheduled to launch later this year. This is what happens when you can weigh in calmly on Hot Topics.  Admitting that her 2006 departure from The View was “ugly” after a falling-out with Walters, the loud and outspoken Jones has since made peace with the host, and actually returned as a guest in 2012. That’s when she pointed out to viewers that she and host Sherri Shepherd were, in fact, two different black women.  “So what? Who cares?” With only a phrase, Fred Armisen’s impression of comedian Joy Behar nailed her persona: a woman with a lot to say, but who still won’t go to the mattresses without a well-delivered one-liner. Having left on her own terms in 2013, the host admitted to Leno last year that she got in trouble while on the series for her outspokenness, but seriously, so what? Who cares?  Now an investigative journalist (and fixture on OWN), Ling left The View at 26 to pursue life in the field. Considering the thoughtful and reserved Ling wasn’t exactly a wave-maker on the daytime series (which isn’t a bad thing), the former host admitted to Larry King recently that as a young cast member it was sometimes “hard to get a word in edgeways” – especially since she’d been brought up to respect her elders.  Right wing, loud, Republican, right wing, confrontational, right wing: the Elisabeth Hasselbeck story. The former Survivor contestant sprung to prominence on the series through her fundamentalist Republican views, which have now found a place on the Fox News network, courtesy of Fox & Friends – a series that is by no means as jovial as it sounds.  It lasted only a season, but Rosie O’Donnell’s stay on The View was not without controversy. Having left before her contract was even up, the comedian was the nemesis of conservative Hasselbeck, and following a major spat between them, she walked for good (until her guest spot in 2012). Here’s hoping they’re separated by enough former hosts on Thursday.  Who was your favourite host on The View? Sound off in the comments below.
Anne T Donahue: Walters' former co-hosts are making an appearance on Thursday's episode to wave her off. Here's a reminder of who they are and what they argued about