LOS ANGELES — Regis Philbin said goodbye to his “Live!” fans on Friday after co-hosting the program for more than 25 years.
Philbin
was greeted with a standing ovation as he walked on stage, holding
hands with co-host Kelly Ripa. “It’s all about you today,” she informed
Philbin.
What followed was an hour of clips and
special guests stopping by to pay tribute to the ubiquitous TV host, who
is capping off a career of roughly 16,500 hours on the air. (In 2004,
he broke the Guinness World Record of most hours on camera with 15,188
hours.)
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came
on to present Philbin with the key to the city, while Disney President
Bob Iger brought a plaque commemorating Philbin’s career that would be
placed in the studio where the show taped. “It has been a true pleasure
to consider you a colleague and a friend,” Iger said. “I have a gift for
you, but it’s a gift you can’t take with you. Sorry, we’re a little
cheap here.”
Other guests on the show included
Philbin’s former co-host (and current “Today” co-host) Kathie Lee
Gifford, Donald Trump and Tony Danza. A younger generation of stars,
including Anne Hathaway, Justin Timberlake, Kevin Connolly and Emma
Stone, shared their own memories of what appearing with Philbin meant to
them.
Philbin’s wife and fill-in co-host, Joy,
joined him on stage to share her memories of the show, with their
children watching from the audience. Joy finally told Ripa the story of
the couple’s honeymoon, when Philbin neglected to make a reservation at a
motel for them after the wedding and they ended up drinking wine at a
Du-Par’s restaurant in a rainstorm.
The cast of
the Broadway musical “Rent” came on to sing the anthem “Seasons of Love”
with lyrics specially rewritten for Philbin, commemorating his many
hours and minutes on the air. Philbin watched from the sidelines and
appeared to become truly misty-eyed for the first time during the
broadcast.
Ripa read a prepared and emotional
speech from a sheet of paper. “How many steps does it take to change the
course of a person’s day?” she read. “I happen to know it takes exactly
43 steps.” That’s the number of steps from her dressing room to the
stage. Ripa gave thanks to Philbin for taking a “soap actress” and
changing the course of her life.
Philbin had just a
few minutes at the end of the broadcast to give his own goodbye to his
audience. “Why has the show stayed on so long?” he said. “It’s answered
to me every time people tell me why they watch it. They watch it, they
say, because it makes them feel better. And it can’t get better than
that.
“I’ll never be able to answer all the cards
and letters and messages,” he continued. “Especially in the last few
weeks. Thank you for all the great years together. God bless you all,
and I hope I see you again real soon.”
Then he was joined on stage by his family as the credits rolled.
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