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Following months of immature commentary and so-hip-it's-horrible outfits, twentysomething co-host Debbie Matenopoulos is off "The View" — daytime television's answer to inter-generational girl talk among thinking women. Except, some of the most noted discussions have been about Meredith's distaste for wearing under- pants. Barbara Walters, creator of "The View," recently announced that Debbie, the youngest and ditziest co- host, was leaving the cast to "spread her wings." Straight to the unemploy- ment line. My mother told me to send a resume immediately. She figured the two of us already make a career of chattering brilliantly about everything from politics to Calista Flockhart. Might as well get compensated for the phone bills. I'll stick to print. But hundreds of women my age are flooding the show with letters and resumes, determined to become the voice and face of our generation. There are precious few public venues for a person my age to reach a national audience that stretches 'C magna PASSION FOTHE ROADTM IT LINCOLN Mercury 4t, GIL PRATT Leasing Manager Your West Side Specialist (810) 445-6000 Gratiot Ave. at 12 Mile Road Roseville, MI 48066 Fax (810) 771-7340 China & Gifts • 2,000 fine china, crystal stemware, and, silkvrwave patterns — the largest in- stock dealer in the USA. • Introduce the bride-to-be to Heslop's registry and exclusive bridal, plan. Orchard, Mail West Bloomfield (Orchard Lake 'V' 15 Mae) (248) 737- 8080 L =mon jrN 2/5 1999 AINI•_ •••• • CLASSIFIEDS GET RESULTS! Call (248)354-5959 beyond the MTV genera- tion. A new crop of TV dramas and magazines speaks to our age group, but twentysomethings seem to be the only ones listening. Which could explain why Barbara Walters originally thought a silly blonde, more famous for partying than an insightful viewpoint, would make a fitting repre- sentative of younger women. Is there an ideal twentysome- thing for this phenomenally high- profile job? More than older age groups, people in their 20s are all over the map in terms of career, relationships, maturity. U.S. Census figures show over 65 percent of 25-to-34-year-olds are married. Among Jews in this age bracket, the marriage figures are slightly lower: 62 percent for women, 46 percent for men. For every married friend, I seem to have another friend who can't get past a second date. I have friends in school, friends in management, friends in food service. Most of my friends are at work when "The View" airs. Twentysomethings who help make up the regular audience are more than likely young mothers home with babies. They probably relate to Meredith's married mom character more than Debbie's swinging single routine anyway. So in comes Amanda Yu, the first in what promises to be a drawn-out series of twentysomethings audition- ing live on the show to become Debbie's permanent replacement. Curiosity got the best of me. I taped it. Amanda is 25 and married. She is a sales clerk at Nordstrom. She thinks men should always pick up the bill. She has a college loan to pay off— a slice of reality Barbara Walters seems to really like in a twentysomething host. Amanda also has an annoying strand of hair that sticks to her lip every time she opens her goody- goody mouth. I think it is safe to say she will not be leaving Nordstrom any time soon. But she is an interesting reaction to Debbie: traditional, conservative and with- out so much as a television intern- ship to her credit. I'm all for real people on TV. But "The View" is hardly a show of real people. Meredith is a former "60 Minutes" correspondent. Star Jones, a lawyer, previously consulted on Court TV and "Today." Joy Behar is a pro- fessional comedian. And there's Barbara. A bumbling salesclerk to fill the twentysomething niche is insulting. Even more offensive is the way producers have turned the search for a twentysomething co-host into a condescending circus, with Meredith promising to show audiences some of the more "bizarre" audition tapes and Star Jones telling young women to send their bribe gifts to the produc- ers, not the hosts. The next three candidates all have media experience — if you count a stint on MTV's "The Real World." At least producers learned something from the Amanda fiasco. But television reporter or sales clerk, the candidates are being put in . a very public position of begging to be liked by the older hosts — only to have their ideas dismissed as "so young. I applaud Barbara Walters for rec- ognizing that twentysomethings do have opinions, often distinct from our mothers. Now I'd like to see our viewpoints taken seriously — on sav- ing Social Security, and wearing underwear. You're not going to find a woman in her 20s with many national news programs to her credit, but you might find one working her way up the ladder. You might judge her the same as the other hosts, on her inter- view skills and quick wit. Then — even if she's married when I'm single, even if she believes Clinton should be impeached, even if I wish I had sent in my resume after all — I will start to believe that abili- ty can establish respect faster than years. " Allison Kaplan is a freelance writer in Chicago. You can e-mail her at Singlstyle@aoLcom