elisabeth hasselbeck

Good news for the hosts of 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated on ABC). They are all allowed to stay in the U.S. That's the verdict after Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck collectively took a citizenship test today in honor of a crew member who had just been granted her American citizenship. 'View' producer Bill Geddie administered the test on camera, asking basic questions about the Constitution.

Hasselbeck was the secret weapon, able to name the number of voting members in the House of Representative (435) and the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (John Roberts). When asked to name a U.S. territory, Goldberg jokingly yelled out "Hawaii!" They did well enough to pass. "Not bad," said Bill Geddies, clearly happy to be through with the segment. "You can all stay. I guess."

Their status may be contingent on how Donald Trump feels about them and if he can divert his team from studying President Obama's birth records in Hawaii long enough to look into 'The View.'

Elisabeth Hasselbeck used an argument by Joy Behar to point out George W. Bush's intelligence, stunning her co-host into a rare silence on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated).

The unexpected reversal began when Behar cited President Barack Obama's Ivy League education as a reason for his intelligence. "President Obama went to Harvard Law School and Columbia University, okay? He is a very intelligent guy," said Behar

Throughout the month of March, TV Squad has honored the trailblazing women of television with our lists of the top 100 female characters of all time, the ladies of sci-fi, and many more.

Now it's time to salute another group of TV women who are marvelous in their own right: the stars of reality TV.

You love to hate them or hate to love them, and some you can't help but appreciate unconditionally -- no hate involved. From a cheftestant on 'Top Chef' to a 'Survivor,' here are our favorite reality TV ladies.

With the finale of 'The Bachelor' set to air this coming Monday, Sarah Silverman has some strong words for current bachelor Brad Womack, referring to him as a "zero" on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated).

Elisabeth Hasselbeck grouses that Womack "make[s] up his own rules during the show" and fails to follow rose ceremony "protocol." This inspires Silverman to weigh in with her own opinion on Womack and his relationship with Emily Maynard.

The ladies of 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated) react to a photo of Justin Bieber in which the singer flipped the bird to paparazzi while out on the town with girlfriend Selena Gomez.

Bieber was captured extending his middle finger to photogs as he celebrated his 17th birthday. And Whoopi Goldberg seemed to think perhaps the rude gesture was justified.

"Maybe they just really pissed him off," she said.

Joy Behar admitted today on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated on ABC) that she is uncomfortable dancing in public. Doesn't matter, as Sherri Shepherd mentioned, if the music is infectious.

"I just feel silly. You're looking at the audience ..." she said, launching into an awkward shimmy with a plastered-on smile. She eventually broke into a less-inhibited dance, snapping her fingers about her head, which drew cheers from the audience and encouragement from her co-hosts.

Whoopi Goldberg told Behar what she has to do: "You've got to turn yourself so you're looking at us and we can feed you. Goldberg, Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck then got up and tried to help Behar get in the spirit of things. She tried but wound up laughing, covering her face with her hands, saying, "I can't."

"And here you all thought that it was white men who couldn't jump," said Goldberg.

On 'Real Time With Bill Maher' last week, Maher had a line about swapping attractive blond CBS foreign correspondent Lara Logan, who had been detained (and released) by Egyptian authorities, for Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck took great offense to this, using the first segment of 'The View' on Monday to attack Maher as a "chauvinistic bigot."

Maher got his chance to respond to her response on 'The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell' (weekdays, 8PM ET on MSNBC.)

"It was a joke," Maher told O'Donnell. "And not even that bad of one."

"There is a line that can be crossed, where you get into mean, bitter, chauvinistic. I didn't even approach it," he continued.

If fact, Maher argued, Hasselbeck should have been flattered by his joke: "Actually, she should be complimented. Because I was kind of putting her on par with Lara Logan, who we all think is a very attractive woman."

We're going to agree with Bill that this was a pretty harmless joke. However, when you gleefully break down how your humor reduces two accomplished women to pretty faces, it does invite the chauvinistic charge.

On 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated), Elisabeth Hasselbeck angrily responds to Bill Maher's joke about trading her for Lara Logan, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News who was briefly detained by Egyptian police in Cairo.

Drawing from past experience, Sherri Shepherd recalls dating an arsonist on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated). The moral of this discussion seems to be that, while firebugs have hearts too, they really can't be trusted. And it's probably a good idea to hide your matches as well.

While introducing a story on Jesse Ventura's plan to sue the TSA and Department of Homeland Security over invasive airport pat-downs and body scans, Whoopi Goldberg glimpses a photo of the former Minnesota Governor and breaks into hysterical laughter.

Sherri Shepherd has already announced that six-year-old son Jeffrey will give her away at her upcoming wedding to Lamar Sally. And today on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated), Elisabeth Hasselbeck revealed that Shepherd picked her to be one of her bridesmaids. But, this news doesn't seem to sit well with Barbara Walters.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck has three young kids to consider when she travels, so she has to be creative to keep them in line.

'The View' co-host stopped by 'Rachael Ray' (weekdays, syndicated) and revealed her secret to keeping her kids happy on the move: a giant bag with several compartments that can be unrolled and tied to the seat in front of her on an airplane. Each compartment holds games, snacks, bibs, or some general kid-related supply, including a pacifier with lips and giant buck teeth.

"My kids are addicted to the pacifier and I let them," she said, pulling out the pacifier and trying it out, "so this is a new kind."

No matter what she's packed, Hasselbeck said her kids are more interested their dad's iPad.

This clip just goes to show that lack of sleep can make you do crazy things. During a segment on losing weight and improving sleep, Barbara Walters and Sherri Shepherd preview the NightWave Sleep Assistant, a device meant to make people fall asleep faster on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated).

Bill O'Reilly knows as well as anybody that there can be some pretty intense political arguments on 'The View.' So when he interviewed Elisabeth Hasselbeck on 'The Factor,' (weekdays, 8 PM ET on Fox News) he asked her if she ever feels ganged up on, as the only conservative on the show.

"I never feel ganged up on," Hasselbeck answered immediately. "I feel it is an open forum where people are willing to hear one another, we're comfortable with one-another, there's no polite chit-chat, that's for sure, but were friends enough to have the conversation that we have."

O'Reilly didn't seem to be buying her answer, and pressed her further on what it's like to have outspoken liberals Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar always coming at her in tandem.

"I have three kids under the age of five-and-a-half," Hasselbeck explained, implying dealing with Goldberg and Behar was no big deal.

And that certainly makes sense. Screaming kids would be great preparation for a chair on 'The View.' (Or 'The O'Reilly Factor,' for that matter)

With another big storm poised to hit the northeast, Elisabeth Hasselbeck was dressed for sunny weather this morning on 'The View' (Weekdays, Syndicated on ABC). Hasselbeck said she wanted to wear something strapless today because she was going to be "in a puffy coat and boots tomorrow in the snow."

The conversation might have ended there if she hadn't also mentioned she had a lunch date with her husband, Tim Hasselbeck, after the show. Sherri Shepherd then jokingly advised her not to get pregnant, which led Barbara Walters to give Hasselbeck some grandmotherly advice. "You know what I've always said to you," said Walters, before breaking into a whisper. "Keep your legs crossed."

Whoopi Goldberg suggested to Hasselbeck that she keep a dime between her knees, that way nothing would happen. "I only dropped the dime once," said Goldberg, "that's why I only have one kid."

Who needs Planned Parenthood? Just watch 'The View,' kids.