Elisabeth’s Tearful Farewell

Hasselbeck: “This hurts!” Today, Fox & Friends co-anchor Elisabeth Hasselbeck said  a painful goodbye to her co-hosts, Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade; the F&F crew; and her fans after a mere two plus years on the curvy couch. The three hours of F&F today were replete with homages to Elisabeth from the likes of Judge Andrew Napolitano, Governor Chris Christie, and GOP front runner Donald Trump. And, Elisabeth was effusive in her praise for, of course, the boss Roger Ailes, for her co-hosts Steve and Brian, and seemingly for every Tom, Dick, and Harry who works for F&F. It was vintage Elisabeth: sweet, cloying so, and seemingly sincere.

The author wishes her well in her position as CBO, i.e., Chief Breakfast Officer, of the Hasselbeck household. Speaking of which, it seems odd, in retrospect, that her own family, hubby Tim and the kids, seemed to have taken a backseat to her work family of Steve, Brian, newsreader Heather Nauert, meteorologist Maria Molina, and the F&F crew today. The faithful F&F fan might have hoped to hear not only her fond farewells to her F&F fam (and fans) today but also a dear, sweet welcome back to full-time work as Hasselbeck CBO from her eagerly awaiting hubs and kiddos–on screen or even on the phone this morn. Alas, it was not to be.

Elisabeth, even though you initially seemed to the author to be an odd choice to follow the footsteps of E.D. Hill and Gretchen Carlson, you have earned your place on the curvy couch–as a sister to Steve and Brian rather than the sexy siren to her couch mates. Much success in the future, Elisabeth!

[Author’s aside: The subtitle, infra, is a quote from Elisabeth re her departure in the final moments of the first F&F segment this morning. F&F – 12/22/15 (@ 6:10 a.m. ET).]

Elisabeth Hasselbeck: Who Dat?

FNC’s debutante: courtesy of the curvy couch. Fox & Friends co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck made her debut on the show–and the network– almost two weeks ago. For many F&F viewers who expected F&FW co-host and usual F&F fill-in Alisyn Camerota to take her place on the curvy couch vacated by Gretchen Carlson, it came as a shock when FNC outsider Elisabeth was named the new co-anchor with Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy. Naturally, Executive Programming VP Bill Shine had to do some ‘splaining–or, at the very least–to introduce in some detail this new View gal to loyal F&F viewers: He chose the latter.

In so doing, Elisabeth was feted regally on set by Donald Trump, Sherri Shepherd, and Sean Hannity as they all effusively praised the new FNC celeb to her co-hosts and F&F fans. Attempting to endear Elisabeth further to their audience, Steve and Brian elicited bio details from the blond beauty. And for those viewers who have not seen her in Survivor, The Look for Less (Style Network), or The View, a closer look was surely warranted.

Ergo, during the course of this her inaugural show, Elisabeth and her co-hosts provided the following personal info. The athletic lovely played point guard at Bay View Academy (East Providence) and softball at Boston College; studied studio art at BC; met hubby Tim Hasselbeck (then future NFL quarterback) there and married him in 2002 after about five years of dating; and even designed shoes for a while (for Puma). Of course, they also reminded viewers that Elisabeth had been on the aforementioned shows. (On a more “intimate” level, the mother of three revealed to those who thought that she was a natural towhead that she had dyed her hair brown as a college sophomore or junior–or, not!)

Good start! And, good luck, Elisabeth!