The Five is an American panel talk show on Fox News Channel in which full-time hosts Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, Jeanine Pirro and alternating hosts Harold Ford Jr. and Jessica Tarlov discuss current stories, political issues, and pop culture. The one-hour show premiered on July 11, 2011, and airs live weekdays at 5 p.m. ET, with repeat episodes airing at 5 a.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET on Saturdays.
Format
According to the initial Fox News press release announcing The Five, the show features a "roundtable ensemble of five rotating Fox personalities who [...] discuss, debate and at times debunk the hot news stories, controversies and issues of the day." In the video section of Fox News' website, it is promoted as "the hot topics that have everyone talking from the five voices that will have everyone listening."
Episodes typically begin with one of the hosts naming themselves and their fellow panelists, before reciting the show's opening catchphrase: "It's five o'clock in New York City, and this is The Five."
Former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes said the format for the show was inspired by chat-oriented programs such as The View; it has also been compared to the "Great American Panel" segment on Fox News' Hannity.
The show is made up of six blocks. Each of the first five blocks is introduced, closed and loosely moderated by a different co-host. The co-host's block may have a single topic or multiple topics. The final block is a brief wrap-up segment called "One More Thing."
Hosts
Daily hosts
Greg Gutfeld: (2011–present) writer and host of Gutfeld! Dana Perino: (2011–present) co-anchor of America's Newsroom and former White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush Jeanine Pirro: (2022–present) Fox News commentator, former New York State judge, prosecutor, and politician Jesse Watters: (2017–present) host of Jesse Watters Primetime
Alternating liberal hosts
Harold Ford Jr.: (2022–present) former Tennessee Congressman, Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov: (2022–present) Fox News contributor
Former hosts
Andrea Tantaros: (2011–2014) Departed the program after being named co-host of Outnumbered. Later left the network after accusing former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. Bob Beckel: (2011–2015, 2017) Originally departed the program to join CNN, then returned in early 2017 and was later fired after allegedly making racist remarks to a co-worker. Eric Bolling: (2011–2017) Left the program after he was named co-host of Fox News Specialists, was later fired from the network after he was accused of Sexual Harassment. Kimberly Guilfoyle: (2011–2018) Abruptly left Fox News in July of 2018. Went on to work for the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign. Juan Williams: (2011–2021) Departed the program to remain in Washington D.C. with his family after the show was moved back to in studio production following the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Williams had been broadcasting from home in D.C. for the entirety of the pandemic. He remains with Fox as a senior political analyst. Geraldo Rivera: (2022–2023) Announced on Twitter that he would be leaving the program after June 30th. Hours before his scheduled appearance on the show he announced that he had been fired from The Five and that he quit Fox after 23 years as a result. Rivera had been seen less frequently on the program after numerous on air spats with co-hosts Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters.
Reception
Reaction to the show among critics has been mostly positive, though the week it premiered, Alex Pareene, columnist for the website Salon, slammed it as "boring and lame" and "not even worth getting outraged about." Entertainment Weekly TV critic Ken Tucker dubbed the show his "favorite guilty pleasure" and praised its freewheeling style and zany humor, calling it "a delightfully nutty show with an undercurrent of ragin' crazy." Mediaite's Frances Martel, examining cable news' shift toward more personality-driven commentary, praised The Five for adding an element of entertainment to the news:
In 2014, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart echoed these sentiments when their "correspondent" Samantha Bee debuted her "one-woman show" about the supposed romantic subplot on The Five.