People often wonder: why can't things just stay the way they were? And, no, that's not coming from your Eat The Pressers this morning. That's the sentiment espoused from that bastion of seriousness and integrity, Page Six, who have looked out upon the landscape of swiftly shifting female media personages and deemed what they see to be doubleplusungood.
Everyone who cares about such things is now well aware of the crash and burn ending to Rosie O'Donnell's stint on The View. And Katie Couric's troubles at CBS are legion. Now Page 6 has to go and indict Meredith Vieira as well:
"Since she left ABC's The View to join Matt Lauer at NBC's Today, the ratings at top dog Today have slid to a 13-year low. ABC's Good Morning America has cut the Today lead in half and now trails by just 310,000 viewers. CBS Early Show has made an even a bigger jump percentagewise, although it's still a distant third. With Katie Couric faring badly at CBS Evening News, and Rosie O'Donnell, who replaced Vieira, already gone at The View, it looks like everybody should have stayed where they were."
Right, sure. And why did Charlie have to die? Of course, what's glossed over is the fact that "Today" is still best in show, and that the problem may be that Vieira's arrival didn't foster much creative recrudescence in Today's producers. I mean, Matt Lauer is still making dubious sartorial choices and doing his "Where In The World" schtick? Jeez, NBC, let it go already.
Maybe we sympathize a little too keenly with Vieira. It's pretty clear now that she was the major force that kept The View from lapsing into all-out sectarian violence. Ratings be damned--anyone who has an ounce of fellow feeling probably thinks Vieira got out while the getting was good. But more to the point, we feel compelled to throw some cold water on Page 6's latest obsession: pimping Amy Robach. One day, Robach is the new Campbell Brown, now the Sixers believe she's the ratings savior for Today. Really? Because people at least know who Meredith Vieira is, whereas Robach anchors a cable news network that no one watches. Maybe Robach lunches at Nello.