Day Of Judgment
As the excitement mounts for the nominees on tonight's
Daytime Emmy Awards telecast, the "Jewish News" goes
behind the scenes of two potential award-winners.
ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to the Jewish News
Mr
ill daytime diva Susan Lucci walk
away with a second gold statuette?
Will Live with Regis and Kelly execu-
tive producer Michael Gelman break
his 13-year losing streak? Will Barbara Walters and
her co-hosts finally nab the big prize?
Daytime television fans will find out 9-11 p.m.
Friday, May 17, as CBS presents the 29th Annual
Daytime Emmy Awards, live from New York. With
21 nominations, ABC's All My Children takes the
honors for most nominations for any show, while,
among networks, CBS leads the pack with 55 nomi-
nations.
Meanwhile, morning talk shows Live with Regis
and Kelly, The View, Rosie °Donnell and Montel
Williams are competing for outstanding talk show
and outstanding talk-show host.
But for talk shows, like soaps, competition isn't
limited to Emmy night — stiff rivalry goes on all
year long.
"We all compete for the same guests," says Donald
Berman, talent coordinator of The View. "It's tough
getting 'A list' celebrities before the other New York
5,
shows.
"We're not a hard-news show," he says. "We just
want to be fun in the morning."
Does he think he has a chance to win an Emmy?
"It would be very nice," he admits. "I think I now
hold the record for most [talk-show] nominations
without winning!"
A few blocks away from the Live studio is the
home of The View, and it, too, just wants to be
entertaining. The program, a forum in which the
five regulars — all women — discuss relevant issues
and share their daily lives, often has a Jewish sensi-
bility.
The dynamic hosts include creator Barbara
Walters, who is Jewish; moderator Meredith Vieira,
whose husband, journalist Richard Cohen, is Jewish;
comic Joy Behar, whose live-in boyfriend, Steve, is
Jewish; lawyer and former prosecutor Star Jones; and
reporter Lisa Ling.
"It's the mix of the women that makes our show
so unique," says Donald Berman, who is charge of
celebrity bookings. "I think every viewer can relate
to at least one of the hosts — age, background or
experience-wise."
The idea for The View came from Barbara Walters,
who, along with executive producer Bill Geddie,
makes the top decisions. Known for her acclaimed
specials, Walters, who doesn't hide her Judaism,
made history by arranging the first joint interview
with Egypt's President Sadat and Israel's Prime
Minister Begin in 1977.
These days, in addition to her role as co-host on
ABC's Friday evening news magazine 20/20, Walters'
Top left:
Lisa Ling, Joy Behar and
Barbara Walters interact
with the audience on
"The View."
Left: Executive Producer
Michael Gelman, posing
for fans after "Live,"
hopes to break his 13-year
Emmy losing streak.
Below: Gelman, on the
phone between segments,
runs the show at "Live
with Regis and Kelly."
The Driving Force
It takes several producers to get big-budget talk
shows from the drawing board to the screening
room. And several of the producers of both Live
with Regis and Kelly and The View are Jewish.
Live's executive producer, Michael Gelman, took
over the top spot 14 years ago and turned the show
into a pantheon for superstars. "There is a lot of
pressure and it's very challenging, but through trial
and error, you find out what works," he says.
A native New Yorker, who spent his high school
years in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from
the University of Colorado, Gelman is in charge of
celebrity bookings, the program's budget and sched-
uling.
It's no secret to the viewers of Live that Gelman is
Jewish — Regis freely alludes to it.
"Being Jewish is a part of my identity," says
Gelman, who never works on the High Holy Days
and grew up in the Reform tradition. His wife,
Laurie Hibberd, is a convert to Judaism. "Laurie and
I are committed to raising our daughter (1-year-old
Jamie) in a Jewish home with all the traditions," he
says.
Although Gelman believes some reporters are
biased against Israel, he says that doesn't affect Live.
5 /17
2002
76
Left: "View" co-hosts Meredith Vieira,
Star Jones and Joy Behar enjoy some
pre-air conversation with comedian
Janeane Garofalo, secondftom right.
Far left: Donald Berman: "It's the
mix of the women that makes our
show so unique, says Berman, talent
coordinator for "The Vz. ew"
Center: Regis Philbin engages Bill
Gates Sr in the audience during a
commercial break. That's Tony
Danza in the background.