Regis Philbin's Finale - 2011 Television Moment

By now, most of you have heard about the kerfuffle that has been going on behind the scenes of the morning show "Live with Kelly and Michael".  But in case you haven't, here's a refresher.

For four years, Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan have hosted a show together, and we were all lead to believe that they had terrific chemistry together and we all believed that the show that featured a former soap star and football player would last for years to come.

At least, that was the case until April 2016, when Strahan made the announcement that he would be leaving the show to join "Good Morning America" full-time.

The only problem?  He reportedly made the decision without informing his co-star, or executive producer Michael Gelman.  And this prompted Kelly Ripa to take some time away from the show to recover from the fact that she felt blindsided by the news.  And as news outlets reported the news, word got out that the chemistry between Ripa and Strahan might not have been as strong as we would have liked to believe.

As it stands now, Ripa has returned to the show that she has been a part of since 2001, and Strahan's last day on the show will be May 13.  Nobody has been announced to take Strahan's place yet, but some names that have floated around are Anderson Cooper, Neil Patrick Harris, and even Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos.  Time will tell what will happen next.

But you know, I look at the way that this went down and I think that it was so vastly different from how things were five years ago.

You see, back in November 2011, Kelly Ripa had to say farewell to another one of her co-hosts.  And unlike the Ripa/Strahan kerfuffle, this one was more heartfelt and touching - at least, that's how it seemed to me when I was watching it.

And I suppose the fact that the co-host that was leaving had been a part of this program since it began over thirty years ago.

Yes, it was five years ago this week that Regis Philbin called it a day and hosted his final show with Kelly Ripa.  Back then, the show was called "Live with Regis and Kelly".  But some might remember when the show was called "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee", back in the days in which Kathie Lee Gifford was his co-star before she left to host "The Today Show" with Hoda Kotb.

And some may even remember the days before the program was syndicated before Kathie Lee was even a part of the show - when it was just known as "The Morning Show".  That's going way back!

But you know, I have to say that when it comes down to it, I did like the show when Regis and Kelly were hosting it - at least in the first few years anyway.  When Kelly first appeared on the show, she was one of the fill-in hosts shortly after Kathie Lee's departure in 2000, and although she was currently playing Hayley Santos on "All My Children" at the time she auditioned for the gig, she still wanted the job. 

In November 2000, Kelly Ripa was officially named the new co-host of Regis Philbin, and she began her job in February 2001.  Immediately, the show picked up in ratings - some sources say that ratings increased by 80% among the 18-34 demographic alone between 2000 and 2001!  And certainly, Kelly brought a whole new perspective to the show.  Certainly she had a lot of charm to her - at least I thought so anyway - and just to put into perspective how great a chemistry they had, I share some clips from the YouTube channel Our Daily Ripa.

Of course, Regis and Kelly's partnership lasted eleven years, and during their time together, they received many accolades from both fans and critics.  They even won a couple of Daytime Emmy Awards in 2001 and 2011 for Outstanding Daytime Talk Show Hosts.

But right around the time the duo celebrated their tenth anniversary together, Regis made the decision to retire from the show in early 2011.  That finale episode aired November 18, 2011.  And I thought it would be a good idea to post a link to that episode below.  I wonder if Michael Strahan's exit will be just as poignant.  I guess we'll have to wait and see...