It’s so nice to see the up-and-coming generation of actors confident, relaxed and NOT cocky in interviews. Such was the case when Adrian Grenier visited The View. Dressed casually in jeans, black shirt and hi-tops, Grenier flashed his winning grin as well as his coy smirk and immediately brought us in and won us over. Whoopi lead off the segment with a reference to the just-viewed clip of his returning show, HBO’s Entourage, which was what he was there to promote. He spoke hopefully about both its future and his own. And we were right there with him.

When the subject of sex came up, which it did several times, Grenier was playful, not obnoxious, and even differentiated himself from his character’s free-spirited sexcapades saying he has “the monogamy gene.” Subtle and clever as it allowed even those who don’t know his character to help define him beyond the show’s hype.

So, here’s a charming, funny, understated young actor who we then find out not only makes documentaries, but has a show on The Green Channel called Alter Eco all about saving the earth and “helping the planet without sacrificing our lifestyles.” Wow! Adorable, smart, thoughtful and an environmental activist?  Maybe the future is brighter than we thought. And if his future is as successful as he was on this talk show, it’s all good. And there we are…with him all the way.

On yet another visit to The View, Sarah Jessica Parker lived up to her high expectations as a fashion plate, as demonstrated by the beautifully striking extremely tight dress and excessively high heels. But the dress was so tight that apparently she forgot to bring the “fun” out with her.  While in the past she was all about being the gracious and charming star of “Sex and the City” film, this appearance was all Parker the producer. No giddy, girlish laughter here, she was serious and forthright. She discussed the daunting difficulties of taking on such a “long and wonderfully laborious” project two years earlier — think booking sound stages and securing production teams is fun? The thrill of getting the over-40 female audience to come to the film — 41% hadn’t even been to the movies in the two months prior to the release of SATC. There was a discussion of the 81 costume changes for her character in the film, only 60 or so that made the final cut. All interesting, but this wasn’t exactly The Actors Workshop, it’s still the gab-fest known as The View.

Now, I’m not faulting her for her earnestness, I’m just saying that the fun factor was missing…and that’s a shame. Could it be that ever Parker has run out of amusing things to say about the two and a half-hour film?

It was a squealing fawn fest as Barack sat with the ladies on a recent edition of The View. Although it does bring to mind whether he is running for the President of the United States or Prom King. As usual, he handled himself beautifully, an almost perfect mix of humor and import, physicality and distance. Not only did he charm the panel with that natural charisma, but he took everything they threw at him in stride, including a lengthy barrage of questions about the controversial Reverend Wright, in which he remained calm, collected and thoughtful.

At one point, Joy Behar asked him about being related to Brad Pitt and amid the hoots and hollers, he commented that “Pitt got the better looking side of the gene pool.” To which Barbara Walters said “we think you’re very sexy.” Obama coolly feigned embarrassment, fanning his face with his hand. Oh, please!

Even right wing panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck found herself praising Obama’s 2004 DNC speech and gushing about how it inspired her, to which he said, “That was a pretty good speech.” Proving yet again, he’s got the aw shucks, self-deprecating thing down to a science at this point. Behar later asked if he’s tough enough to survive the republican “swiftboat” attacks that would certainly come out in the general election. To which Obama replied, “You know, I’m a pretty tough… I’m skinny, but I’m tough.”

At the end of the day though it was a “safe” appearance, at time echoing the now classic SNL parodies of press softball questions. There was not a lot of new information here, but Obama is so adept and comfortable with his smooth demeanor, that he makes it all look so easy.