TVSquad

He's the Guiness World Record holder for the most time spent in front of a television camera, and now he plans to defend that title for at least three more years. I'm speaking, of course, of Emmy-winning TV host, Regis Philbin.

Regis Philbin renewed his contract with Disney through 2011, assuring that he will be sitting beside Kelly Ripa on Live with Regis & Kelly till he's 80-years-old.

Make that 80-years-young because even though Regis comes on as a curmudgeon, nobody would call him a grouchy old man. In fact, he's still a hoot to watch in the morning as he goes on about the tabloid headlines, the parties and openings he attended with Joy, and the status of the New York Yankees and Notre Dame football.

Frankly speaking, I'm glad that he's chosen to remain active. To me, ever since the day Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show, that show has never been the same. The Jay Leno years just don't compare. Johnny retired too soon.

Regis should learn from that situation. Live would never be the same without him. An occasional sub, like Anderson Cooper, is okay, but definitely not the same. It's ironic, really, because without Kathie Lee Gifford, the show has perked along just fine. Kelly Ripa, in fact, is more my cup of tea.

Since 2007 when Regis had his triple bypass heart surgery, he's been working non-stop on Live, as well as last summer's reincarnation of the game show, Million Dollar Password. The program is set to return in the beginning of 2009, but the air date is still to be determined.

However, Regis may not be involved. One of the problems with his new contract, may be be gigs outside of Disney. Reportedly, the new deal would limit Regis's working for other networks. Therefore, stay tuned to see if he comes back with MDP does.