Honestly, he is NOT retiring!  Moments ago after 28 1/2 years, and a combined on-air time over 53 years of 17,000 hours (a Guinness record), Regis Philbin said goodbye to HIS show.  He moved from NYC to California years ago after graduating from his beloved University of Notre Dame.  In 1983, he returned to his home and eventually created what I have enjoyed since it went national in 1985 (not every day, but every day I was able).  Whether it was with Kathie Lee or Kelly (Lee as Letterman refers to her),  the warmth that Reege brought to millions will never be replaced.  Succeeded but never replaced.

The celebration of his career in the morning began almost minutes following the announcement of his vacating the role on January 18, 2011.  Support from fans both in the limelight and we ordinary joes poured in from all over the country.  It culminated the past few weeks with extended tribute segments paying tribute to the legend.  Last night, a Katie Couric special followed his backstage ritual and around the city.  Something that surprise me as they made their way to Cardinal Hayes High School and the auditorium that was named after Regis:  He never performed on the stage during his time at his alma mater.  I could tell that he wished he had.  During his “exit Interview,” Big Daddy stated that he was happiest when he was entertaining people (so he won’t be gone long).  I could NOT agree more.

Later, David Letterman presented a gift to his frequent (scheduled or otherwise) guest: a motorized scooter.  Regis went outside the Ed Sullivan Theatre (been there, inside, AND performed… but that is another post) and proceeded to crash after about five feet!  Way to go Dave; kill the man hours before his final bow!

This morning was a fantastic send off.  The audience was filled with friends, dignitaries, and other special people.  We finally got to hear the details of Regis and Joy’s honeymoon…. something that has been hinted about for several years.  Also interspersed were “Reflections by Regis” on his life.  And what would a Regis celebration be without the 100s of people who have (for better or worse) come up with their own interpretations on the King’s unique personal.

For me, the greatest part of the show has been Regis, himself.  He’s like the uncle everyone wishes they had (or actually do have, who knows).  He is a remarkable story teller.  In fact, I tuned in every morning I could to see the first 15 minute host chat and if the guests did not appeal to me, I turned the channel.  He created a totally family feeling atmosphere by introduced his audience to Joy, his daughters Joanna and JJ, his son-in-law Michael Schur  (a writer on The Office), and his grandkids Mr. Trouble and Ivy.  Everyone on the show from Kelly to his executive producer Michael Gelman to the “Executive in Charge of Production” Art Moore (whatever it is he does besides sit in the corner begging for air time) were like an extended family coming into homes every weekday morning for an hour. Regis really did entertain for an hour with the extraordinary brand of “guerilla television” and made us feel better.

Thanks for the memories, Reege!  We will see you soon!

And anyone looking for that GREAT Christmas gift idea: How I Got This Way. I do like some reading material in actual book form instead of downloading it onto my Nook. 😉

This morning, I was able to catch most of Regis and Kelly (the ONLY celebrity focused morning show I enjoy watching).  As I made mention of earlier, John Stamos is now in previews for Bye, Bye Birdie for its return to the Broadway stage since the debut 50 years ago (WOW!).  Mr. Stamos will be playing the lead part of Albert Peterson.  Dick Van Dyke originated the role of Conrad Birdie’s manager in the original production as well as the original movie.  The cinematic experience does not do the stage version justice at all.  Not sure why but like many musicals it is much better to have that live, theatrical experience.  I honestly cannot think of many musicals that have translated better or at least as enjoyably on the screen.  I guess I would say The Sound of Music only because it has been so ingrained into pop culture as a movie that many forget or don’t realize that is was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s theatrical swan song.  That reason and the puppet show version of “The Lonely Goatherd” is my favorite part of the movie and IS NOT in the stage version.

Ok… back to my original topic.  During the interview, Reege made mention of the fact that Ann-Margrock (err.. Margret) played the young girl, Kim MacAfee in the movie.  Shortly after the movie was filmed, Ms. Margret would be Presley’s leading lady in my mother’s favorite Elvis movie, Viva Las Vegas.  However, Mom was not aware that she was in the cast of Birdie.

Here’s a few more tidbits: one of our fellow tangenteers has played the role of pop singing idol/draftee Conrad Birdie. I assisted in the directing of my high school alma mater’s production a few years ago.  AND there was a veery short lived sequel (4 performances) entitled Bring Back Birdie which was set twenty years following the events of the original.  Twenty years is quite a LONG time to wait to attempt a comeback.

This morning, I caught the opening chat fest on Regis and Kelly.  If I see nothing else on the show (when I am able) this is it; many times the guests do not interest me.  However, I love the chemistry between the hosts.  Bantering, poking fun, reporting on the headlines, etc.  Also the trivia contest in which a caller selected at random attempts to answer a question about a previous show in order to win a fantastic trip.  Today’s question: “In which 2008 movie did Sir Ben Kingsley co-star with Mike Myers.”  It took me nearly the full 20 seconds to come up with the answer, unfortunately for Christine Neves from Cumberland, IN, she could not come up with the correct answer to win her stay in Gren-ah-da/Gren-A-da (however you pronounce it).

I won’t even go into the details of The Love Guru only by saying that I have heard many poor unfortunate souls who have seen it and have said that they wished that they could have gotten not only their money but also their time refunded.  I’m not sure but I think Mike Myers has gone the way of Eddie Murphy who has also added to his list of stinkers this year. Anyone remember Meet Dave?  That’s ok, I don’t either; I think it lasted a minute or two in theatres.  I’m not sure if even Austin Powers or Shrek can resurrect Myers’ movie career.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE 3-27 EPISODE OF ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER (AND CARE TO) SKIP THIS POST)

Last thursday night on the coming attraction for tonight’s “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader”, it was announced that someone gets to the million dollar question and answers it. I was totally flabergasted that they would actually announce that someone would finally win the top prize more than a year after the show first aired. Then I remembered watching “Live with Regis and Kelly” (or was it Kathie Lee at the time…. who cares). On one particular morning, Regis announced that on that very night someone would win a million on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” At the time, it seemed exciting and of course I watched. I even remember the question (Which president made an appearance on the television series “Laugh In?”). Over the past few years, it seems like a cheap way to increase ratings.

It seemed like deja-vu while watching 5th Grader until the contestant who graduated from UCLA and has an MBA from USC got to the second question:

“What is the subject of the following sentence? Sierra baked a cake for Olivia.” He even got the three choices:

A: pronoun; B: proper noun; C: common noun

Unfortunately, this smart (?) guy thought the subject of the sentence was “cake” so he chose answer C. Sorry to say, the fifth grade student who could have saved him also chose the wrong answer. So the bright guy who knew he would be the first million dollar winner on the show flunked out on the second question and went home with nothing.

AH, but wait….. since the man was sooooo sure that he would not only get to the top question but answer it correctly, Jeff showed the question and it was answered correctly.

I guess the advertisement did not say that the million dollars was actually won only that the question was asked and answered. CHEAP RATINGS PLOY. If it were five days from now, some would have shouted “APRIL FOOLS!!!“