Joy Behar is celebrating her latest career milestone, one "The View" says has made TV history.
When "The View" returned for its 30th season on Sept. 8, cohost Whoopi Goldberg announced that Behar, 83, "has been here for 28 out of the 30 seasons, which means she has now officially hosted more seasons of an American talk show than any other woman."
The panel, which includes Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro, offered a standing ovation for the accomplishment.
Behar was part of the inaugural group of cohosts when the talk show debuted in 1997, alongside creator Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones and Debbie Matenopoulos.
"All I can say is that I was here when the show was in black and white," Behar joked. "I said
to Barbara [Walters], 'We're going to get old on the show.' She said, 'You're going to get old anyway.'"
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for "The View" for more information about Behar's record.
When Haines noted the privilege of being able to "grow old doing things like this," Behar replied, "I’m here longer than the Jolly Green Giant."
Behar also pointed out the premiere marked a milestone 20th season for Goldberg.
Hostin expressed her gratitude for Behar and Goldberg, saying, "It’s been such an honor learning from both of you how to navigate this table. ... You’re our fearless leaders."
"The View," which is up for four Daytime Emmy Awards in October, will welcome former cohost Sherri Shepherd back into the studio later this month.
Whoopi Goldberg makes pointed remark about First Amendment rights amid FCC battle
After Griffin remarked that Behar often says that "It's often imitated but never replicated; no one else can do this," Goldberg set the record straight on why co-hosting "The View" is "really hard."
"There are many who tried, and it’s not easy to do. People think this is an easy gig, and you know, in many ways, it is because you get into a rhythm. But it’s really hard because you have to be present," Goldberg said.
"When you have conversations with your friends, and sometimes you just talk like you would talk to [them]," she continued. "But you can't do that on the show because the next thing you know, it's a big deal, and everybody’s mad at you because you said something that you didn’t think was odd, but 90% of the rest of the world did. So you have to sort of be present and flow."
Behar chimed in, "You’ve got to watch the news, read the news and have an informed opinion. It's like a political quiz every day here."
Goldberg then remarked that the co-hosts are "entitled to our opinions," a comment that seemed pointed in a time that "The View" broadcaster ABC is in a legal battle with the Trump administration's Federal Communications Commission.
"What you’re hearing us say is what we think. This is our opinions. People don’t always like it, and that’s the great thing about America," she said. "You don’t have to agree with everybody. ... I believe that the law has not changed, and we’re all entitled to our opinions. We don’t have to like each other’s opinion."
"So until somebody passes a law, there's an executive order, and they change the Constitution, we're still going to do what we think is right for each of us."
ABC and parent company Disney sued the FCC in August, accusing the agency of an "extraordinary assault on free speech" in April by ordering the network to file license renewals for its TV stations a remarkable two years ahead of schedule. The FCC has denied its "investigation of potentially discriminatory practices at Disney" was related to President Donald Trump's repeated calls for ABC's broadcast licenses to be revoked.
In February, the FCC launched an investigation into whether "The View" violated the commission's equal time rules for political candidates. ABC maintains that the daytime talk show qualifies as a bona fide news program and is exempt from the federal requirement.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The View' cohosts celebrate Joy Behar's major TV milestone
