Whoopi Muted in ‘View’ Debut

The Whoopi Goldberg era on "The View" began with little resemblance to Rosie O'Donnell's, as Goldberg struggled to get a word in edgewise in her debut yesterday. The Oscar-winning comic was lost in mindless patter and jarring segues, with "I don't know if that's a good idea" perhaps her wittiest repartee, observes Washington Post TV critic Lisa de Moraes.

A notable exception was Goldberg's strident defense of NFL star Michael Vick, busted for dogfighting. “For a lot of people, dogs are sport,” she said. “He’s from the South. … This is part of his cultural upbringing.” Joy Behar responded with some anger, “How about dog torturing and dog murdering?”—and the talk quickly turned benign, and generally Whoopi-less, again. (More The View stories.)