Regis Philbin Retiring From 'Live With Regis and Kelly'

By PopEater Staff Posted Jan 18th 2011 10:00AM

After 40 years in the business, 'Live With Regis and Kelly' host Regis Philbin is retiring from morning television. The 79-year-old host announced the news on Tuesday's episode of his hit show, stating that he will leave the program sometime in late summer, although his exact end date has not been specified.

"I don't want to alarm anybody, but this will be my last year on the show," he said, igniting a chorus of groans from audience members.

Philbin has helmed different incarnations of 'Live' since 1983, when it was called 'The Morning Show.' His co-hosts have included Cyndy Garvey, Ann Abernathy, Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa.

"It's been a long time," he said, "and it was the biggest thrill of my life to come back to New York, where I grew up as a kid watching TV in the early days, you know, never even dreaming that I would one day have the ability, or whatever it takes, to get in front of the camera and talk to it."

The veteran host then lightened the heavy mood with a bit of his trademark self-deprecating wit. "There is a time that everything must come to an end for certain people on camera -- especially certain old people!"

Philbin, who holds a Guinness world record for most hours logged on television, has hosted 'Live' for 28 years, the past 10 of which have been co-hosted by Ripa.

'The Morning Show'

Kathie Lee Gifford

Kelly Ripa

What's in a Name:
'The Morning Show' (1983 - 1988)
'Live with Regis and Kathie Lee' (1988 - 2000)
'Live with Regis' (2000 - 2001)
'Live! with Regis and Kelly' (2001 - 2011)

"I think I can only speak for America and all of us here," said Ripa, "when I say it has been a pleasure and a privilege and a dream come true. And I wish I could do something to make you change your mind."

"It has been my great honor to work with Regis since the Walt Disney Company nationally syndicated 'LIVE' in 1988," Janice Marinelli, president of Disney-ABC Domestic Television, said in a statement. "Regis is one of the great, iconic television personalities of our time and we couldn't have asked for a better friend and partner over the years. We will all certainly miss having Regis be a part of our day."

Philbin began to publicly ponder his retirement options a few years ago, telling reporters, "I do love being off. The years are going by, and I have reached a point in my life when, frankly, most guys my age have been retired for a few years."

According to ABC, the 'LIVE' franchise will continue after Philbin's departure and Disney-ABC Television Group will name a new co-host to join Ripa, who celebrates 10 years as co-host of 'Live' next month, sometime in the next few months. The show is already planning to "welcome top guests and feature special segments" as part of its farewell celebration for Philbin.

The three-time Emmy Award winner has been a fixture on television sets since the 1950s, when he came up working for local stations. His first taste of national exposure came in 1967 when he scored the sidekick role on Joey Bishop's short-lived late-night show.

After spending many years on the morning television circuit, primarily in Los Angeles, Philbin moved back to New York in 1983 to host 'The Morning Show.' Two years into the job, he teamed up with Kathie Lee Johnson, who later married football great Frank Gifford, and their show went nationwide in 1988.

Gifford left in 2000 and a year later soap star Ripa ('All My Children') filled the slot. Their show reaches an average of 4 million viewers a day, according to Nielsen statistics.

Aside from daytime TV, Philbin proved he could handle primetime when he began hosting the top-rated game show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' over 10 years ago.

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Comments

(241)

Tuesday 18 January

By mw

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Wonder who they will get to relplace him? If Kelly has her way, her hubby Mark will be the one. I see the show ending within a year. Don't watch anymore, can't stand Kelly and her attitude.

By joan

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I wonder if you mw ever watched the show when Kathy Lee Gifford was on it....That my friend was attitute personafied. I could not watch that show because of KLG. Kelly Ripa was like a breath of fresh air and has a great personality and is not me, me, me like Gifford was and had her children on the show to let everyone see how cute & spoiled they were. I wonder what you would be like on a show that is on live 5 days a week for 10 years? It is not easy script or no script....

By Patti

I agree, I don't like either of them. Kelly, she has an attitude that she is better than everyone else, she also looks sickly, too thin

By Marco

mw hit it right on the nose. The show is done without Regis. Kelly, even with Mark, will not last.

By elsie humphrey

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my husband and I will miss Regis so very . We love Kelly and feel she has done a great job. This is sad to us hearing abou Regis leaving.
ELSIE

By guymucci

Those here who think Regis and Kathy Lee consider themselves above the rest of us, just aren't sophisticated enough to understand dry humor. Find a show with Jerry Lewis-like humor, kids, or maybe you can watch reruns of the Three Stooges.

By Dr. J

I wouldn't knock Kelly, the ratings with her in the last 10 years have always been better than they ever were with the Chinese Sweatshop Queen! In fact, the ratings soared so much with Regis on his own in 2000, that they considered retitling the show "Regis Live WITHOUT Kathie Lee"!

By stu

mark is purrty to look @ but doesn't have much upstairs. oprah had him on a panel & he looked loss talking bout days events.
hire Clay Akens!

By Barb

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Didn't like Kelly or Kathy. After Matt and Meredith finish their show I leave NBC I love Regis but Kelly has to go too. I will miss Regis but can only take so much of him with Kelly as she always upstages him.

By lita

Actually, there is no Kelly "attitude." Much of her humor is self-decprecating (look it up), and stories about her personal life are stories that most of us would tell each other. She has been, indeed, a breath of fresh air--especially after Gifford, who was constantly bragging about her kids and her husband to the point of annoyance.

By Betty Goff

I'm sorry to see Regis go however, I stopped watching because I can't stand Kelly. Kathy Lee was bad but Kelly had taken over the show. Just a little bit of her goes a long way.

Betty Goff

By James

See ya!

By vz2jyt7

Sorry to see Regis retire,but all the years he's worked he deserves to retire. I can't stand Kelly, wish they'd get rid of her and her unemployed husband who she's always trying to get a job. When Regis goes so do I and all my friends. Gelman wake up and get 2 NEW hosts.

By Donna

Hey why not Mark to co-host, that would make a good team after all they were a good team on All My Children (my fav. show,but it should be renamed to Live with Kelly and Mark (the wife should get top billing), and of course the occasional fills in.
So Gelman, what do you think?
dj - GA

By Gloria

Love it!

By Julie Wright

I think thats a great idea

By hs

Kelly and Mark as co-hosts would be a mistake. Kelly needs another acerbic co-host like Regis. Anderson Cooper would be perfect, but I doubt he would want the job.

By GoodRiddance

He is a waste of space . Amerika will buy anything

By Tammy

I agree 100%. I LOVE it when Kelly and Mark are on together--even more than Regis & Kelly!

By T.J.

How many years was Kelly Ripa on Live with Regis and Kelly? Did you say 10? Hmmmm...guess our attention spans were so short that they had to put that nugget of information in there twice.

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