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Live with Regis and Kelly is a syndicated American television talk show, hosted by Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. Before 2001, the show was known as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, with Kathie Lee Gifford co-hosting with Philbin. Live's mixture of A-list guests and the interaction between co-hosts have made it one of daytime's most popular and venerable talk shows. The program has aired for 23 years in its home market of New York City in its current format, and more than 17 years nationwide.

History

The show began in 1983 as The Morning Show, a local New York program on WABC-TV with Philbin and Cyndy Garvey as co-hosts. They were previously co-hosts on a similar program on KABC-TV in Los Angeles, A.M. Los Angeles. In 1985, Gifford, then known as Kathie Lee Johnson, replaced Garvey (and her successor, Ann Abernathy), and the show -- which had held its own against Phil Donahue's show in the local market -- took off. In 1988 Buena Vista Television (which would eventually become co-owned with WABC, as ABC, WABC's parent, would be acquired by Disney, BVTV's parent, in 1996) began syndicating the show nationwide. The title was also renamed to Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.

In mid-2000, Gifford decided to leave the show amidst several personal scandals. Philbin wanted to continue with the show and also wanted to search for another co-host. The show was renamed Live with Regis, as Philbin hosted alone or with varying guest hosts. During this time, Philbin won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host, and was also hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. During "auditions" for co-hosts, Ripa became a favorite and front-runner, especially after a segment where psychic Char Margolis correctly predicted that Ripa was pregnant. Ripa had only told a small circle of friends about the pregnancy, and not ABC (as she was an actress on All My Children at the time) or the public. Ripa was named the permanent co-host on February 5, 2001, and began her duties on February 12.

The show is still owned and produced by WABC-TV, and shares the same studio as WABC's venerable Eyewitness News broadcast. Not seen in the nationally syndicated show is a WABC Eyewitness News update, which is produced from its newsroom, as are all of its updates during Good Morning America due to the shared studio situation.

Production

Live, as implied in its name, is broadcast live weekdays at 9 a.m. ET, except for some special editions or reruns. (Instead of true reruns, Live will usually air previously aired celebrity guest and other non-"host chat" segments and record a new "host chat" segment to accommodate ongoing trivia contests.) It is aired throughout the United States and Canada usually at 9 a.m or 10 a.m. local time; this implies that many East Coast affiliates receive the live feed of the show.

The show features bantering between Regis and Kelly, phone-in contests, and celebrity guests. It is produced by Michael Gelman. The first 15 minutes, known as "Host Chat," is known for being improvised, often involving Gelman somehow. Other foils for the co-hosts have included WABC-TV program director Art Moore, who supervises Live; WABC-TV weatherman Sam Champion, and other station staffers who happen to be on duty.

The theme and other music for the show was composed by award winning composer Shelly Palmer, who also did the current "Channel 7 Late Movie" theme for WABC.

The Live series has fared so well that it inspired similarly formatted talk shows. Some have been successful (The View), while others have not (Living It Up! With Ali & Jack). The now cancelled British television series Today with Des and Mel was based on Regis and Kelly.

List of notable guest co-hosts

Most episodes of Live will feature both co-hosts. When either co-host needs a break, a guest will fill in as the other host, usually (but not always) of the same gender as the vacationing host. The following list displays co-hosts which have appeared alongside the regular co-host, and are notable for their frequency of appearances or attention the co-host brought to the show:

External links

Television spin-offs | Television talk shows | 1980s TV shows in the United States | 1990s TV shows in the United States | 2000s TV shows in the United States | Syndicated television series | Television series by Buena Vista Television

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Live with Regis and Kelly".

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