Joy Behar says goodbye to 'The View' after 16 years

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Joy Behar said farewell to "The View" on Friday. She is the last of the ABC show's original hosts, except the program's inventor, Barbara Walters.

The program, which was taped a week prior, was a salute to Behar's time on the show. Special guests included Alan Alda, Joan Rivers, Tony Bennett, Regis Philbin and Meredith Vieira.

The 70-year-old standup comic and writer began her co-host duties with the first episode of "The View" in August 1997. Walters' idea for a talk show with women hosts kicking around the news of the day, followed by celebrity guests, proved to be a success from the start.

Walters recalled learning about Behar after Philbin took her to hear her nightclub act.

The network has not named a replacement for Behar. ABC recently announced that Jenny McCarthy would replace Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who left for a job at Fox News Channel. Producers face another big decision next year when Walters retires.

The changes will give "The View" a chance to reach out to a younger audience. The median age of a typical viewer is 61.6 years old, according to the Nielsen company. That's about two years older than "The Talk," the CBS lookalike show that has had a particularly strong summer. "The Talk" has recorded four of its six most-watched weeks on the air during this summer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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