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.

Near the end of today's Live with Regis and Kelly, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa offered their apologies to the Dominican community over remarks they made on the show last week. It seemed like a sincere apology, even if it was read from a teleprompter.

Anyway, since I don't watch the show every day, I had no idea what remark they were talking about. So I immediately fired up the ol' Google search machine and plugged in "regis kelly dominicans." Sure enough, a story (and accompanying video) came up from our cousins at TMZ about the Reege laughing at a joke where Kelly associates "donkeys" with "Dominicans," and the ensuing protest by Dominican organizations.

But then a click on the video clouds the issue a bit.

Look, I don't know what it is, but I'm kind of obsessed with Regis Philbin. Maybe it's the way his hair doesn't look like it's moved since 1956, or the way he doesn't even bother to hide the fact that he has no idea who half the people are who he interviews. The point is, I get really excited any time I come across some Regis news, so I'm totally psyched that he's set to guest star on How I Met Your Mother.

Philbin is going to play himself on the sitcom's second episode of the season. Apparently the gang runs into him at Marshall's favorite NYC burger joint.

While having Regis Philbin on the show may not earn them quite the record-breaking ratings that Britney Spears did, it does offer a distinct advantage: The possibility of one of Neil Patrick Harris' famous Regis impressions. Harris, who has filled in for Philbin on Live With Regis and Kelly on several occasions, is known for doing one of the best "Reeges" out there, and that, to me, beats staring at Britney's extensions any day.

You've heard of Ryan Seacrest, right? Well, one of the most reliable news source in the world, The Globe, tells us now that the folks behind Live are courting Ryan Seacrest to replace Regis Philbin on their morning staple. It makes perfect sense. Consider that Regis, who turns 176 this year, has racked up more hours on television than anyone in history, but now has announced he'll be cutting back his television work to three days a week. Then we have Ryan, who can be seen and heard everywhere from his work on E! to American Idol to New Year's Rockin' Eve to his radio show to American Top 40. Maybe he'd give up his morning radio gig for a morning TV gig. Or maybe record one during the commercial breaks of the other.

I almost missed this story, though, because that same issue of The Globe promised to show me how to win the Lottery and I'm busy spending all the money I'm gonna win! So for now, we'll say the rumor's unsubstantiated but if the Weekly World News or The Onion picks it up, then it's official!

[via AOL]

Everyone knew that Regis Philbin is the king, now he'll have some extra hardware to prove it. Like a Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. At the upcoming 35th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, June 20 at Hollywood's Kodak Theater, NATAS will present the special honor to Regis, host of Live With Regis and Kelly, during the primetime ABC broadcast. There will be a salute to Regis, no doubt including Kelly Ripa and/or Kathie Lee Gifford, his daytime co-hosts over the years, but the details haven't been announced yet.

Yesterday we told you about Kathie Lee Gifford making her first appearance on Live with Regis & Kelly next month, and now she is revealing for the first time why she left the show in the first place.

She left in 2000 because her dad was dying. Gifford says she had an "epiphany" while guest-hosting David Letterman's show when he had heart surgery. She realized that she wanted to be with her dad and be with family without having cameras in her face and having to talk about it on the show all the time.

First Kelly Ripa rants about Clay Aiken, and now Rosie O'Donnell rants about Kelly Ripa. TV is just one big happy family!

This morning on The View, Rosie accused Ripa of being homophobic when she made certain remarks about Aiken and how he acted towards her when he cohosted Live with Regis & Kelly last Friday. Rosie took issue with Ripa's "I don't know where that hand has been" remark (after Aiken put his hand over Ripa's mouth on the show), and said "if that was Mario Lopez, she wouldn't have said the same thing." Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, he did costar with Screech all those years on Saved By The Bell, and we know what he's up to now.

The best part? Ripa called into The View and told Rosie that she has to be more responsible about what she says, and that "not everyone is homophobic." They did the usual "I respect you" and "I love you" showbiz lines, but I truly doubt you'll be seeing Rosie at Kelly's house on Thanksgiving this year.

You can see both videos at the second link above.

[via TV Tattle]

And my lifelong dreams for a Guinness book listing with it.

I'm an extremely accomplished insomiac and above average TV viewer all, but even I hit my limit after 24 hours when my heart starts to palpitate and my hands tingle - this guy went for almost 70 hours.

And he did it in the lobby of WABC-TV as a part of Regis Kelly and watching only ABC shows. I would have shot myself after 5 hours.