Just days before she retired from The View in May 2014, the groundbreaking journalist made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live—the culmination of her 50-year television career. The broadcasting icon had been parodied numerous times by SNL over the years, first by Gilda Radner with her ‘Barbara Wawa’ sketch, then by Cheri Oteri, Rachel Dratch, Michaela Watkins, and Nasim Pedrad. On the May 10, 2014 episode, Weekend Update anchor Cecily Strong played a montage of SNL’s many Barbara Walters impressions, then surprised the audience by welcoming Walters herself to the desk. “Cecily, thank you for that…uhh…tribute,” Walters said. “What an honor it was to see my groundbreaking career in journalism reduced to a cartoon character with a ridiculous voice.” When strong said Walters was a “personal inspiration” to her as a news anchor, Walters deadpanned, “Well, but I’m a real news anchor…I’m not some fake anchor like you.” “Oh, but you’re a co-host on The View,” Strong shot back, to which Walters replied, “That’s a fair point, yeah.” Walters went on to list her four biggest (tongue in cheek) tips for a successful broadcast career. No. 1: “Develop a signature voice that no one will forget.” Second: “The softer the news, the softer the focus of the lens.” Third: “Do not be afraid to ask the tough questions like, ‘If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?’ or, ‘Your place or mine, Brokaw?’” And lastly, “It is fine to make people smile, but the real money is in making them cry!” she joked. “Nothing brings in the viewers like seeing a celebrity reduced to tears. You may think, aww, I’m feeling really bad for them, but all I’m thinking is, ‘Ka-ching!’"
