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#1 Barbara Walters was the most powerful woman in news, and she was miserable. The View, her daytime talk show, had suffered through a series of embarrassing controversies in just a few months, and Rosie O'Donnell was largely to blame.

#2 The View, which debuted one year before Sex and the City, even played like the unscripted version. It made the idea of a single talk show host seem quaint. In our supersize culture, why settle for one voice when you can have five.

#3 The View paved the way for other panel shows, such as The Real and The Talk, which emphasized less politics and more celebrity. The mood in America in 1997 was different from what it is now. Back then, it was socially acceptable for men to yammer about their feelings.

#4 The View was a gauge of national moods. If a political topic was discussed, it was a sign of how the public was feeling about it.