Comedian and former ‘The Talk’ co-host Sheryl Underwood joins today’s episode with Brian Teta to reflect on her week guest co‑hosting ‘The View’ this week. She looks back at her very first appearance on the show in 2008, appearing in Joy’s Comedy Corner and shares who at ‘The View’ she credits with helping launch her career in daytime television.
She discusses her experience as a lifelong Republican, how the Trump era has shifted things for her, and how her military service continues to shape her worldview. She addresses the heated 2021 on‑air exchange she had with her former colleague Sharon Osbourne on ‘The Talk’ and reveals what she really thought about Sunny Hosting bringing it up on the show this week. Plus, Sheryl shares what audiences can expect from her ‘I Need a Job’ comedy tour… and what they think they’re signing up for.
SUNNY HOSTIN, SHERYL UNDERWOOD
Okay, so me and Sherri Shepherd have been friends for years we’re both female comics. Back when I was performing at Caroline’s Comedy Club in New York, Sherri called me and I said, “Oh, I would love to come see the show. Who’s the guest?” She said it was Reba McEntire. And I was like, “Oh, I love Reba McEntire!” In my mind, I believe she’s my best friend.
At the time, you all had been on All My Children, right? So I thought, “Oh my God, maybe I’ll even see somebody from All My Children.” I came to the show and sat in the audience, and they put me up close. When Reba came out and everyone was high-fiving, she actually touched me. I was like, “Ah! This is great.”
Then I heard Sherri and Whoopi Goldberg lean over to Joy Behar and say, “You should put Cheryl on your Comedy Corner.” I ended up coming on twice and doing Republican-type material, and I really believe that’s how CBS saw that I wasn’t just a nightclub performer that I could do a talk show.
Someone asked me, “Have you told Joy this? Does she know this?”
And I said, “No,” but we do have photographs pictures of me and Joy together, and me and Whoopi together. I remember Whoopi even pulled me to the side and said, “Now that’s how you do a set.”
What I really loved about that moment was how welcoming everyone was. You hear stories about people, but I never like to believe stories until I experience things for myself. Everyone was so nice and really cheering me on. I still believe I carried that wide-eyed excitement with me when I went into the talk at CBS.
And now, bringing it back here it really feels like a full-circle moment. How cool is that?
“Wow, that’s unbelievable,” someone said. “I’ve got to tell Joy because she’s going to love hearing that. She’s always giving me a hard time about not doing enough of her Comedy Corner, so maybe I’ll bring it back a little.”
And honestly, she really launched my career in daytime television. That’s when people got to see that I could actually do it.
VIOLA DAVIS, JAMES PATTERSON, SUNNY HOSTIN, SHERYL UNDERWOOD
(ABC/ Lou Rocco)
