'The View' from the top

They continue to get stiffed by the Emmys, but the women of "The View" have apparently given daytime TV viewers what they want -- verbal slapfights, wildly uninformed rants on current events, a slight evisceration of John McCain and, this morning, Elisabeth Hasselbeck chucking a handmade Gloria Estefan potato ball at some unsuspecting audience members.

Mmmm, potato mush.

In return, fans have flocked to the show, making it the top-rated daytime program for the first time in its 12-year history. The hordes, to the tune of 4.67 million people, showed up the week of the presidential election. Yes, Sherri Shepherd let flow the water works, with 6.17 million people tuning in on Nov. 5.

In case you missed today, some other highlights included Shepherd trying unsuccessfully to interview a soap star after a few mojitos (who knew that Grammy-laden Estefan was such a whiz in the kitchen?) and collective shock and outrage -- outrage! -- at Walters' upcoming ABC interview with The Pregnant Man. He's pregnant again!

No one seemed to be bothered, though, about the on-air plug that stretched over two days for the primetime show tonight.

And in other Baba news, Walters is gearing up for her annual see-me-make-fascinating-folks-break-down special on Dec. 4. So far, there's Emmy collector Tina Fey, multiple Oscar nominees Will Smith and Tom Cruise, potential Oscar nominee Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon"), Miley Cyrus and Rush Limbaugh. There's also Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps, but no one will be able to understand what he's saying, blubbering or not, so his segment will be kind of a wash.

The rest of the 10 are still to be revealed, and if you guess a certain president elect is somewhere in there, if not at the top of the list, we're guessing you're on the money.