Undercover in a woman’s world

For many people who hold down 9-to-5 jobs, the world of daytime television might as well be the dark side of the moon. Their TV consumption halts when they turn off Katie Couric or one of the goofy local morning shows, and likely doesn’t resume until they plop in front of the set to digest the evening news or “Seinfeld” reruns.

To this group, an entire subculture of daytime television is foreign terrain. It’s a world filled with sob stories, freakish behavior and twisted relationships, as well as chatty women and made-for-TV pals -- with the best example of that being ABC’s “The View,” which descended on Los Angeles last week in a visit coinciding with the February ratings sweeps.

Men, in particular, are truly missing something if they’re not aware of what happens in daytime -- teeming as it is with advice on how to find a mate and, more often, keep your “cheating dog” of a husband from straying. Any man who suspects his wife regularly watches such shows should seriously consider sleeping with the lights on.

Arriving at KABC-TV’s Glendale studio early Wednesday for “The View From LA” thus felt like an undercover mission, an attempt to uncover just what’s being said -- and who’s listening -- when most of us aren’t looking.

The morning show formula is simple: Establish hosts who’ll be the viewer’s cheerful TV friends, people with whom they can spend time after the kids have gone to school. “The View’s” format is just that simple, as a handful of women discuss various topics, joined periodically by celebrities with something or other to promote.

Barbara Walters, who is one of the producers, occasionally sits in with Meredith Vieira, Joy Behar and Star Jones. Capitalizing on L.A.’s natural resources to fill Lisa Ling’s vacated spot, rotating stars joined them this week, with Jamie Lee Curtis on board Wednesday.

It’s a somewhat different Walters, by the way, than “20/20” viewers are accustomed to seeing -- a gal willing to wade in delicately on Wednesday’s “hot topic” (penis enlargement surgery) as well as act amused when Vieira called her “that slut.”

By 7:30 a.m., all 271 seats were occupied. The studio would be emptied and refilled for a second taping later that morning, with two episodes shot daily in L.A., one for live broadcast in New York (explaining the 8 a.m. start time) and another to run days later.

Although ABC boasts about the show’s young female viewers, the studio audience consisted mostly of middle-aged women, providing fodder for the comic who was assigned to warm up the crowd. “TV’s ‘Golden Girls,’ ladies and gentlemen,” he said, pointing out a group of women in red hats.

Not surprisingly, Nielsen data show that the program’s audience (about 2.8 million viewers daily) is more than three-quarters female. Yet even that number is mystifying; are there really 700,000 men tuning in?

Sure, more men are part of the daytime TV pool now thanks to irregular work, but it’s hard to believe many sit through “The View” unless they’re sleeping off a drunken binge from the night before, or hoping a local commercial will provide them a number for the Columbia School of Broadcasting or a personal-injury attorney.

Beyond the usual prodding for applause, the crowd’s enthusiasm and affection seemed genuine. When the comic asked, “Can I count on you to be the most awesome audience in the whole world?,” he was met by a resounding “Yes!”

“The View” does make an effort to be informative as well as entertaining.

On Thursday, for example, you could hear “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” co-star Jorja Fox talk about ABC’s “The Bachelorette” finale before weighing in on whether the U.S. should boycott French products. Apparently, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was unavailable.

In addition to the exploration of male enhancements, the freewheeling exchange (all plotted out on cue cards) touched on Clara Harris, the Houston woman recently convicted of running over her unfaithful husband with her car and killing him.

Picking up that theme, the guest was the ubiquitous Dr. Phil McGraw, whose presence Monday on “Late Show With David Letterman” helped Dave break a three-year losing streak to “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” McGraw addressed why men cheat (a frequent topic on his show), whether it’s ever justified (of course it’s not, so don’t fall for any lame excuses) and what to tell kids about a possible war in Iraq -- a question posed by Curtis, who managed to work in a plug for her children’s books.

The show, in fact, squeezed in plenty of cross-promotion, from Walters previewing next week’s jailhouse interview with Robert Blake (“He looks gaunt”) to Vieira introducing the first $1-million winner on the syndicated “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” which she hosts.

Then Randolph Duke, the “celebrity fashion designer” from ABC’s “Are You Hot? The Search for America’s Sexiest People,” presented a woman from West Virginia whom the show had treated to a make-over. A camera crew documented her glamorous evening out at a Hollywood movie premiere (“Shanghai Knights”) accompanied by Fabio. That’s right, Fabio.

The lengthiest piece involved Behar, a comic by trade, analyzing celebrity couples. A typical comment, regarding Harrison Ford’s waif-like girlfriend, Calista Flockhart: “Is it love, Harrison, or is she just a cheap dinner date?” Walters wondered aloud how such catty barbs would affect the show’s ability to book guests, but the audience howled. (To be fair, when “NYPD Blue’s” Dennis Franz mentioned the prospect of him appearing partially nude again on Thursday’s show, the audience howled at that too.)

Each segment ran only a few minutes, so if one topic didn’t hold much interest, another would be along shortly. Still, to a guy not in tune with the patterns of daytime, the experience provided little more than a reminder of how long an hour can feel.

When the taping ended, audience members posed for pictures in front of the set. The hosts’ sipped-from coffee mugs still sat on the table, and on the way to the parking lot you could purchase similar mugs as well as other “The View” merchandise.

As the audience filed out, the hosts began preparing for another show, ready to share more “hot topics,” gossip and dissection of male shortcomings the next day, and the day after that.

From that view, it’s easy to see the comfort that regular visitors derive from this strange world of TV friends: They’re usually more reliable, and less demanding, than the regular kind.