Regis Philbin is Retiring From Live

Yup, this really happened

Regis Philbin, who has been hosting a version of Live with Regis and a Lady for 25 years, announced on Live with Regis and Kelly today that he will be retiring sometime early this fall. The 79-year-old pro has been a consistent TV presence for decades (he has the Guinness World Record for most hours on camera) and the Live franchise, which started syndicating nationally with Kathie Lee Gifford in 1988, has been his rock. As opposed to a little something called Who Wants to be a Millionaire, which was his golden goose.

Details of his retirement are still being worked out, but we wonder if producers will replace Philbin with the same kind of open audition process they used to replace Kathie Lee. Or maybe they'll just use one of the guys who generally in for Regis on Fridays? We always liked Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa's banter. Though we totally wouldn't be surprised to see Kelly just make the whole thing a family affair and bring on her hubby Mark Consuelos. We'll find out, we guess. In the meantime, congrats to the Reege! We're sure this will make Joy happy.

And here's video of the announcement:

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By Garth Johnston in News on January 18, 2011 9:46 AM

Comments [rss]

HudsonJoe

Good Riddance! Regis is unfunny, untalented; and his patter is inane. The only reason I can see him staying on for a day let alone 28 years is that he must have pictures of someone doing something.

freddynyc

If I recall correctly wasn't his very first co-host at Live ( before it became nationally syndicated) one hot piece of ass? Perhaps Joy didn't approve?

halomom

neil patrick harris!!!! bring him in!!!! Love when he's on! love anderson cooper too. doubt they'd hire mark.

verbal

regis is the man, he deserves to retire on his terms.

Mordicai

People like Kelly Ripa, right? I don't know, I'm unreasonably fond of her due to long-ago memories of watching All My Children after school. So now the torch passes to her & we get some new blood?

What the heck, I am talking like I've ever watched Live in my entire life.

jacob1987

I doubt it will be Anderson Cooper, he will be doing his own daily syndicated show next fall, it's already been sold in all major markets and a lot of the other markets.