Joy Behar Joins Lesbian Jane Velez-Mitchell and Nancy Grace on HLN

The network previously known as CNN Headline News makes unintended headway with women, as Joy Behar, of The View, has a new prime-time HLN talk show debuting. 

In the 9 pm weeknight slot, Behar follows both Jane Velez-Mitchell and Nancy Grace's hour-long shows. The line-up, with no shortage of women, airs with 2/3s of the audience being women, according to Nielsen Media Research. In a post by David Bauder of AP he notes that "It's not as if men are unwelcome, but when a rerun of Lou Dobbs' CNN show fell flat in Behar's soon-to-be time slot, HLN yanked him this summer for Velez-Mitchell.?"

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Just because of all the women hosting each night, do not expect to see shows filled with the stereotype of what women want. Bauder also pointed out that "Velez-Mitchell, a veteran newswoman with extensive New York and Los Angeles experience, is likely to shout “What?” at something she disbelieves and did segments last week on problems with the Michael Jackson investigation, whether prostitution should be legalized and a drunken nun. Her show has the urgent graphic look of a Fox News Channel program, with more whooshing sound effects than a wind tunnel."

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"Grace focuses on legal issues, and is relentless and prosecutorial when investigating cases of missing women and children."

Behar is a comic and social commentator best known for her spot on The View, a show that really has women in mind. She wants to bring people on to her show who disagree with her in order to keep things from getting boring.

Not so much in the style of Grace's focus mostly on crimes, or Velez-Mitchell's tendency to take a similar approach, Behar is searching to venture to content a bit more broad. She plans to cover topical news, include panel discussions, and do guest interviews as well. 

"The shows are about the personalities," said Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN Worldwide. "I liken the hosts of the HLN lineup to columnists, and the shows focus on the hosts' opinion. The difference is it's an interactive column.

"They're opinionated," continuing by comparing Behar with Velez-Mitchell and Grace, "they're passionate about their opinions and they're big personalities that run those shows."

Behar will continue her job at The View by doing that show in the morning, and taping her HLN show mid-afternoon.

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