The View returned to television Tuesday morning with an all-new season, but fans were divided over some major changes coming to the popular daytime show.
Not only was the ABC program filmed live in a different studio in Manhattan, but Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin also performed a new theme song.
Whoopi, 68, kicked off the episode by telling viewers, “We’re back live and we’re starting Season 28 in a brand new studio. People have been working hard all summer on a brand new opening and a brand new theme song called This Version, performed by Leona Lewis and written by the always amazing and brilliant Grammy-winning Diane Warren.”
Fans were quick to share their thoughts on the changes to X, with one posting: ‘The new studio is so big and so beautiful!!! So is the new theme song!’ and another wrote: ‘I just started #TheView and thank you thank you for finally changing that theme song! I’ve been waiting.’
A third person commented: ‘Finally! A good theme song on #TheView!’
Whoopi Goldberg returned to TV screens Tuesday morning with an all-new season of The View
Whoopi was joined by Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin at the brand new studio in Hudson Square, Manhattan
Viewers were quick to react to the new theme song, with one person thanking the show
One happy fan described the new studio and song as ‘beautiful’
Another person admitted that he missed the old theme song For My Girls
But others weren’t so enthusiastic, as one viewer claimed: ‘The new theme song is KIND of generic. Although I did sometimes nod my head a little. BUT, then again, the previous theme was KIND of getting old, but still a bit spicy! (sic)’
Another person said: ‘#TheView is back! I like the new studio.. but I miss the old theme song! I need something upbeat to start my mornings with,’ referring to the song For My Girls, which was also written by Diane Warren.
Someone else groaned: ‘A point of view. The new digs are too big & distracting & swallow the woman up & distract terribly from their rhetoric. The previous environment was comfortable & perfect. It was also inviting, that is now so sadly gone.’
Joy, 81, who has been an original panellist on the show since 1997, commented on the size of the studio, saying: ‘When I started here, the show was in black and white, that’s what I’m saying. And the studio is so big you need ways to get around it, so give us some time to get used to it!’
Sara, 46, then joked: “She’s saying she’s lost if she doesn’t show up tomorrow,” while Alyssa, 35, replied: “You got lost on the way to the bathroom!” Joy confirmed: “I had to get the sound guy to take me to the bathroom.”
But despite the studio being larger, Whoopi noted that members of the live studio audience were actually sitting “closer” to the table when she remarked, “You know, we have to talk about the fact that we’re in a completely new space. Sorry, we have to, because it’s very different.
“It’s a big change for us too, because when I came on, the set was very different. We were on a big old thing and now we’re in the even space, we’re all on the same plane, which is pretty awesome,” she added, referring to when she first joined the show in 2007.
“I think we’re closer than we used to be,” Sunny, 55, added, while Sara confirmed they were still sitting at the same table.
The conversation then turned to the new Season 28 mug, which features animated images of the panelists, including Ana Navarro, and various New York City symbols.
Sunny (left) inspects the new coffee mug design as Alyssa assures her that there is no trash can next to her image
Sara (right) was also a fan of the new mug design, as Whoopi claimed the new studio was a “big change” for all of them
The new studio is larger than the previous one and is located in the Walt Disney Company’s recently completed headquarters in Manhattan
“I like that you put a hot dog next to Sara,” Alyssa said, while Sunny asked concernedly, “Is that a trash can next to me?”
“No, that’s coffee!” Sara said, adding, “I love that they expect us to focus when they throw all these new things at us.”
Whoopi then said, “Because we like things that are different, yes I have pizza and coffee,” referring to the images next to her face on the new mug.
“I have an IUD next to me!” Joy remarked while Whoopi joked, “Well, everyone’s going to keep hoping you have a baby as long as we’re here!”
Over the past decade, more than 2,100 episodes of The View have been taped at the Broadcast Center in Manhattan, located at 30 West 67th Street.
The new, state-of-the-art studio is located in the Walt Disney Company’s recently completed Manhattan headquarters on Hudson Square.