Regis Philbin has announced that he'll be stepping down as co-host of "Regis and Kelly" later in the year - possibly late summer or early fall. The event could coincide with his milestone birthday as Reege turns 80 in August. The show has been wildly successful since the local New York City days in 1983.
I'm not a big TV talk fan - but I worked late-afternoons/early evenings on Magic back in the early 1990's (starting around 1pm) - and Regis and Kathie Lee (can't forget her) were my breakfast TV of choice. I just started drinking coffee - so usually I'd make a cup or two, plop down, read the paper, let the dog out to do his thing - and watch the show - at least the first fifteen minutes as the opening banter was always the best part.
Regis is a throwback to earlier TV times - and apparently shows up just a few minutes before the broadcast without any major preparation. Still, he' s so charming that he gets away with it. His niceness is contagious - and the generational differences with Kelly provide a nice in-house clash that we're all in on. Nice clash of course - and in many ways I think the success of this show enabled Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres to make a go with their more friendly/ traditional midday talk shows.
No word on a replacement yet - this news is still quite a surprise - but it has to be someone a bit like Regis - older, charming, somewhat skeptical about modern times. So, after five minutes on a wish list I only came up with one name: Tom Selleck. Wow! This is hard!
Busy during the day, I don't see the show often - but last time I watched - Reege was still Reege - and even if he's not going out on a peak - he's still going out strong. After so many years trying to make it big - he hit gold in his fifties! What a career!!! What a win for The Nice Guys!
I'm not a big TV talk fan - but I worked late-afternoons/early evenings on Magic back in the early 1990's (starting around 1pm) - and Regis and Kathie Lee (can't forget her) were my breakfast TV of choice. I just started drinking coffee - so usually I'd make a cup or two, plop down, read the paper, let the dog out to do his thing - and watch the show - at least the first fifteen minutes as the opening banter was always the best part.
Regis is a throwback to earlier TV times - and apparently shows up just a few minutes before the broadcast without any major preparation. Still, he' s so charming that he gets away with it. His niceness is contagious - and the generational differences with Kelly provide a nice in-house clash that we're all in on. Nice clash of course - and in many ways I think the success of this show enabled Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres to make a go with their more friendly/ traditional midday talk shows.
No word on a replacement yet - this news is still quite a surprise - but it has to be someone a bit like Regis - older, charming, somewhat skeptical about modern times. So, after five minutes on a wish list I only came up with one name: Tom Selleck. Wow! This is hard!
Busy during the day, I don't see the show often - but last time I watched - Reege was still Reege - and even if he's not going out on a peak - he's still going out strong. After so many years trying to make it big - he hit gold in his fifties! What a career!!! What a win for The Nice Guys!
