Last week, Barbara Walters and the three middle-aged cohosts of the ABC daytime talk show "The View" bid farewell to Debbie Matenopoulos, the fold's bubbleheaded Gen-Xer. Although tabloids reported that the 23-year-old was handed her walking papers, the official word was that Debbie was leaving the show to "spread her wings and pursue some new opportunities" -- which may include acting in a sitcom and writing a book. Hmmm, looks like Debbie may be in need of some serious career counseling. Ever ready to help, EW Online asked a panel of experts what Debbie should do next.

GET THEE TO STELLA ADLER Kate White, author of "9 Secrets of Women Who Get Everything They Want" (Harmony Books) says Debbie should strike while her notoriety is hot. "One of the mistakes women make is to wait for the 'right' moment," says White. "If anything comes out now that seems the least bit good, she should jump on it while she's hot. But not such things as ads for No Excuses jeans, like Donna Rice did, or posing for Playboy." Final word? Says White, "She's the out-of-a-job 'It' Girl. She should work it."

GROW, DEBBIE, GROW What do the stars advise? Astrologer Shelley Ackerman thinks Debbie would be smart to hit the books. "Debbie should include a return to school as part of her agenda, and perhaps study journalism, law, and philosophy," says Ackerman. What about that pesky acting bug? No way, advises Ackerman, unless Debbie gets offers to play historical heroines in "philosophical dilemmas." Like the martyred Joan of Arc?

FIND THE INNER DEBBIE "My first recommendation is for her to sleep," says Richard Nelson Bolles, author of the job-hunter's bible "What Color is Your Parachute." "You might think, Oh, I can't sleep, I'm too upset to sleep, but you have got to sleep. Give priority to yourself on a purely physical level." And after Debbie wakes? She should figure out not only what she would really like to do, but ask herself some hard questions. "It's easy to say being a talk-show host, but that's not a skill, it's a task," says Bolles. Most importantly, he suggests that Debbie not dwell on being let go: "A lot of people get fired in high-profile ways. People who are fired often have no trouble finding another job."

DO A SHOW Don't write that book, warns image consultant Judith Ann Graham. "What is she going to write about? Her experience with three other women on a show?" Graham says Debbie should jazz up her image by wearing "younger" clothes like tight pants and twin sets, and, most importantly, she should try to stay on the air. But forget the sitcom. "She should do a show with Monica Lewinsky and Carmen Electra called 'The Do,'" says Graham. "They could talk about how they do hair, do the President, do Dennis Rodman. It would be a scream and a half."

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