Take A Little Time To Abhor The View(‘s New Set)

The View is now in its 28th season and remains one of the most enduring fixtures of not just ABC programming, but daytime programming as a whole. Whilst other daytime shows come and go (both The Real and The Talk have not been able to claim the same success, even though they are direct copies of The View), ABC’s half-circle table remains.

As many know, The View’s various iterations have been plentiful. The show began using a leftover set from the canceled ABC soap opera The City, showing the lack of confidence in the network. Once it became successful, it stuck to the vaguely-hoarding-living-room aesthetic for the first nine seasons. Once Rosie O’Donnell joined as moderator, a monochromatic, smaller set joined the fray. After Barbara Walters left the show in 2014, the show not only moved studios, but went for a white, larger space that allowed the audience to feel more included.

Cut to September 3rd, when The View ushered in another new era for the long-running staple. The Walt Disney Company is in the midst of building a large studio hub in the Hudson Square neighborhood, and while a majority is still being worked on, The View was the first to break in the new space. Now, it seems that Good Morning America will be moving there too, as they are leaving their Times Square hub in the coming years. If the new set for The View is a sign of what’s to come from Good Morning America? Yikes.

I don’t know what happened, but something got lost in translation during the move and the team decided to revert back to the clutter of the late 90s set. The bronze and dark green color palette doesn’t allow any of the hosts to shine, with their clothing melting into the background. The whites and silvers from the past were so essential for creating a blank slate where the hosts are able to pop against their backdrop. Now, I can’t help but feel like all of them are washed out.

Alongside the new color palette is the need to add tchotchkes everywhere. A PA must have raided a Crate & Barrel, because every side table is adorned with various vases and bowls for no discernable reason. To clarify, the last set also had this issue, but with the new dark color story, it adds nothing but clutter.

Speaking of clutter, the stage left features a small tower with seating on the second level. Tell me: In what world is this space going to be used for anything? It provides a space for…back-up singers to perform when the show features a musical guest? Truly, what is the purpose? I’m all for adding levels, but for something like The View which centers around the table and the table alone, there was no need.

As a whole, a shallowness has filled the space. Instead of the circular seating arrangement and thrust stage from before, the audience and hosts now share the same floor. The audience members are on steeply inclined stadium seating, due to the fact the set has no depth. It reminds me of the poorly designed Live with Kelly and Mark set, which is a clear reminder that television sets should never be built “on the horizontal” when the space has no physical depth.

Do I sound like an old man screaming at a storm drain because it took my car keys? Absolutely. I know there are bigger fish to fry. Yet, for a show that has become a crown jewel of daytime TV, the ladies of The View deserve a set that allows them, and the production, to shine. In 2014, The View tried to remove the table and bring in lounge chairs for the hosts. That change was quickly fixed. Precedent has been made and a new set is in order, my fellow View heads. Hey hey! Ho Ho! The View’s new set has got to go!

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