Today’s Batman review is being postponed a day so I can post this tribute. I said at the start of the month this has been a hard year for losing cherished celebrities. We lost another yesterday and this one is real tough. I wrote this nine years ago but am resharing, with some tweaks.
My first exposure to Regis Philbin was when he was on Hollywood Squares back in the 80’s. At the time, I had no idea who he was. The show had some fun with him, he had a reputation as the “king” of Los Angeles, and he had a throne on the show. Point is, I thought he was a huge jerk. Of course, I didn’t realize the show was just teasing him. Truth is Philbin was already an institution after starting his carrer on The Joey Bishop Show.
It was a year or so later, I was home from school and flipping through the channels. I came across this interesting new program, a guy was sitting at a desk with a girl, just talking. For fifteen minutes, just talking about their lives and current events. Honest to god, I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I kept wondering if they were going to do anything on this show. Then they had a guest, a child who had won a geography bee. I told my brother he had to watch this new show, it was strange and had a cute girl on it (we were young, don’t judge). The show, of course, was Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee.
If you’re younger, you need to understand the format this show used was not the norm at the time. Talk shows just didn’t do this. Now a lot do, and they have this show to thank for starting this. My brother watched the show sometime later, and had the same reaction. We were hooked. If we were home from school, Live! was on at 9:00. No question about it, it was probably the one show we agreed on during the day. Initially we were more into Kathie Lee Gifford, but as time went I learned to appreciate Regis more. He had a way of telling a story which is just great, he makes it interesting and funny. And you truly learned about his life, as if you knew him personally. When Regis and Kathie Lee got going you just loved it, their chemistry was just amazing. The show was not just about the host chat, they had great celebrities on there too. I loved how they would actually talk to the celebrities about their work unlike some shows where the celebrity comes on and talks about something we couldn’t care less about. When I went to college, Live was on if I didn’t have classes. Or I recorded it. Being away from home for weeks, this was in a small way an anchor. After four years at college, I got married and started working. Of course I could no longer watch this show every day, but I still checked in with it. For a time I lived with my parents and would watch the DVR’d show with them. My father got a kick out it, course he knew Regis from the old days!
There were a ton of TV shows Regis popped up in. He appeared in Mad About You, Fresh Prince, Becker and Seinfeld. Just to name a few . He did cameos in movies like Night in the City and Jack & Jill. He hosted the Disney Christmas Day Parade. He was the victim in a Perry Mason mystery, and appeared on David Letterman constantly among other programs. Did a lot for wrestling apparently. Even hosted Dick Clark’s New Years Rocking. He was even once animated into an episode of Lilo & Stitch. I bought one or two of his books. I even bought his Christmas album years ago (ok, that one is a little embarrassing and I resent that purchase to be honest). Then came an evening game show which took the world by storm. The show was Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and the star was Regis. He was perfect for the show, I don’t think anyone could have hosted it better (yes, that includes Meredith Veria. Though Jimmy Kimmel was fine). I loved watching it, until ABC buried it and the show ended.
When Kathie Lee left Live in 2000, I thought I was done with the show. However, along came Kelly Rippa and she was really fun. I always thought of it like Kathie Lee was the older sister and Kelly was the fun younger sister. Then in 2002, I went to a state fair and stood in line three hours, to see Regis live. Yes, really. I gotta tell you, it was a funny show. He told jokes and sang, and it was worth the sore feet I had the next day. He was a tre entertainer, because he knew how to do it. He didn’t just stands there and sing he engaged the crowd, talked to people, and really made it a fun experience.
As the years have passed, Regis was always in the background. If something significant happened, I would tune in to see what Regis had to say about it. How could I not get sentimental, in the time Regis has been on I have started and graduated from high school and college, gotten married and divorced, and no matter what was going on in the world or in my life, I could always turn on Regis and get a laugh and forget my problems for a little while. After Regis retired I tried to follow where he went but of course he had a lower profile.
I think the coolest thing about him was how he embraced life. He didn’t let illness stop him. He’d do antthing, try anything, and always with a smile. I am beyond sad at this news, but I’ll always have memories.
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