Behar makes her exit as co-host of ‘The View’

Joy Behar, the last of the original hosts on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” – except for the program’s inventor, Barbara Walters – makes her exit today.

Taped a week ago, the program is a salute to Behar with special guests, a serenade and highlights of her memorable moments, including interviewing President Barack Obama and walking out on TV personality Bill O’Reilly.

Behar, 70, a standup comic and writer, said after the taping that she wants to do something different without being held to the schedule of a daily talk show.

Behar began her co-host duties with the first episode of “The View” in August 1997. Walters’ idea for a talk show with women hosts kicking around the news of the day, followed by celebrity guests, proved to be a success from the start.

The changes will give “The View” a chance to reach out to a younger audience. The median age of a typical viewer is 61.6 years old, according to the Nielsen company.

Age issues at “The View” were evident on Behar’s last day. Besides Walters, 83, the show featured visits from Joan Rivers, 80; Regis Philbin, 81; and Alan Alda, 77. Tony Bennett, 87, saluted her in song.

Film looks at Journey’s singer search

The resurgence of Journey through the band’s discovery of a new lead singer via the Internet gets a close-up look on a new PBS documentary.

“Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” airs on Sept. 30 as part of the network’s Independent Lens series.

It’s the story of how Journey guitarist Neal Schon found a replacement for front man Steve Perry by searching YouTube videos, and the band’s eventual integration of Arnel Pineda, a 45-year-old Filipino singer, into its lineup.

Pineda joined Journey in December 2007.

Long-lost Welles film found in Italy

An Italian film archive has announced the discovery of a long-lost Orson Welles film, a silent movie he made just before going to Hollywood to direct “Citizen Kane.”

Giuliana Puppin of the Italian film archive Cineteca del Friuli said Thursday that the 1938 slapstick comedy “Too Much Johnson” was found in a warehouse in the northeastern Italian city of Pordenone where it was stored for years before being identified.

How the film arrived there remains a mystery.

The movie will debut in October at a silent film festival in Pordenone.

The birthday bunch

Comedian-director David Steinberg is 71. Actor Sam Elliott is 69. Actress Melanie Griffith is 56. Actress Amanda Bearse (“Married … With Children”) is 55. “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb is 49. Actress Gillian Anderson is 45. Actor Eric Bana is 45. Bassist Arion Salazar (Third Eye Blind) is 43. Actress Anna Kendrick is 28.