“The View” has been broadcast into Americans’ living rooms since 1997, and the Season 30 premiere paid homage to the long-running daytime show with a tribute to the show’s founder Barbara Walters, and a special shoutout to co-host Joy Behar.
Whoopi Goldberg announced during the Tuesday, Sept. 8 taping that Behar has "hosted more seasons of an American talk show than any other woman."
“I said to Barbara, ‘We're going to get old on this show,' [and] she said, 'You got to get old anyway,'" Behar told the audience. “I’m here longer than the Jolly Green Giant.”
But what did cable audiences miss from the live broadcast? For those in the studio audience, Goldberg, who has sat at the table for 20 of the 30 seasons, offered some insight on the status of “Sister
Act 3" during a break. When an audience member asked about the comedy film, Goldberg said they’re making steady progress.
“We've got new writers and we explained the story to the 5,000th person who needed to know,” Goldberg said. “They seem to be able to make everything else, but they're kind of making us walk a tightrope. So we're trying.”
“Sister Act,” starring Goldberg as a lounge singer disguised as a nun, first released in 1992, and earned nearly $140 million at the domestic box office. “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” returned the following year, with Goldberg and fellow actresses Maggie Smith, Wendy Makkena and Kathy Najimy and Mary Wickes returning to their devout convent roles.
“It takes forever to get stuff made now … We’re a freaky little movie, two freaky little movies, that should not have done as well as they did, but they did,” Goldberg tells USA TODAY after the live taping. “People know them, literally around the world, people know them.”
Noting that studios "want as much as you can give them of an assurance that it's going to be successful," Goldberg adds, "I don't know how much more I can say about its success, because people want to see it!"
The trilogy first ramped up development in 2018, with Variety reporting that “Insecure” co-executive producer Regina Hicks and “Star” showrunner Karin Gist were writing the sequel. Following Maggie Smith’s death in 2024, Goldberg told the outlet that they had to make some “readjustments,” but did not provide any details about the plot.At "The View's" taping on Sept. 8, Goldberg told the audience, “I'm not saying I don't have an attitude about it. I'm trying to change my way of doing things. So maybe, maybe, maybe. I hate to give false hope, but they seem to have acknowledged it differently. So we'll see. We'll see.”
She also pointed out that the efforts to get “Sister Act 3” off the ground coincide with Hollywood studios and stars’ heightened push to release fan-favorite sequels like“Devil Wears Prada 2," “Toy Story 5” and“Practical Magic 2”.
“They're remaking a lot of stuff,” Goldberg said. “What about us?”
Although no guests appeared during the Season 30 premiere, co-hosts Goldberg, Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro returned to the table and shared memorable skits throughout the decades, launched into heated political discussions and played a tribute to former guests.
The women broke down President Donald Trump’s AI-generated social media posts, the Lindsay Clancy mistrial and paid tribute to late former guests like Gloria Steinem, Hayden Panettiere, Tim Curry and Dolly Parton.
The guest lineup for "The View’s” 30th anniversary season includes U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , Lizzo, Andrew Garfield, former co-host Sherri Shepherd and Maisie Williams. Other guests set to make an appearance on Season 30 include Ke Huy Quan, Ethan Hawke, the cast of "East of Eden" (Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist and executive producer Zoe Kazan) and "American Horror Story" stars Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Billie Lourd.
"Saturday Night Live” alum Kate McKinnon and country star Kenny Chesney are also expected to be guests on the long-running talk show.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What you didn't see at 'The View' premiere – Whoopi Goldberg shares major update
