Reege after all these years

As Regis Philbin waves good-bye to that little morning show, the tributes rain down. A Fort Wayne site provides a nice slideshow of Regis' career.

The first shot displays an impossibly young-looking Mr. Philbin on local TV in San Diego. Reege and I have both aged considerably. Naturally, one of the shots has Regis in the Millionaire host's seat. Which doesn't even exist any more. They make Meredith stand through the whole show, the meanies.

Reege was perfect for the return of game shows to broadcast prime time. Everyman, folksy, completely trustworthy and non-threatening. Sure, the format was so strong that it could have withstood even an obnoxious, incompetent host. But relaxed and friendly Regis helped a lot.

Just finished watching Regis on one of GSN's endless repeats of Million Dollar Password. Again, a strong format helped, but Regis sure didn't hurt, either. Too bad the demos killed the show before CBS really gave it a chance. At least MDP still does pretty good business on our little game show network.

You'd think that Regis might consider retirement at age 80. But he's been on camera so long, I can see why he thinks he can keep going forever. I don't expect him to disappear.