‘Live’ Turns 40: See the Show’s Evolution of Hosts
The show now titled Live With Kelly and Ryan debuted four decades ago, though you’d hardly recognize it. At the time, it was called The Morning Show, and it was a local program for the New York City market. But late TV personality and longtime Live co-host Regis Philbin was one of the faces of The Morning Show way back then, and he and Kelly Ripa are the common link between all the show’s many shakeups in the intervening decades.
And does Ripa have some stories to tell. In a recent interview with Variety, the 52-year-old said she was relegated to working from a janitor’s closet until Philbin’s departure, and she had to use the same public restrooms as audience members, even when she was pregnant. And then there was her 2016 standoff with ABC brass over co-host Michael Strahan’s abrupt departure from the show…
Now, however, Live is entering its fifth decade on air, and Ripa’s next co-host is a man near and dear to her heart. Scroll down to see a timeline of Live hosts, including those from the Morning Show days.
Regis Philbin and Cyndy Garvey (1983–1984)
The Morning Show debuted as a 90-minute show on April 4, 1983, with Philbin hosting alongside Cyndy Garvey, with whom he had hosted A.M. Los Angeles for KABC-TV. Garvey was let go in 1984 but continued to get a salary for an additional year, as she wrote in her memoir, The Secret Life of Cyndy Garvey (per Decider).
Regis Philbin and Ann Abernethy (1984–1985)
After Garvey, Philbin’s next co-host was Ann Abernethy, who stayed with the then-60-minute show until the summer of 1985, when she left The Morning Show to join her TV executive fiancé in Los Angeles. Bill Fyffe, then WABC’s station manager, told the Daily News that the station was “looking at a lot of people” in its search for a replacement, seeking “a person with the right chemistry for Regis.”
Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford (1985–2000)
Kathie Lee Gifford, then going by Kathie Lee Johnson, joined The Morning Show in 1985, and their chemistry was so potent that the show hit syndication in 1988, with the title Live With Regis and Kathie Lee. “We kind of came across as diametric opposites, which seemed to give the audience as much of a kick as we got from our silly ribbings of each other,” Philbin once said, per Variety.
Regis Philbin and guest hosts (2000–2001)
Gifford made her exit in 2000 — only revealing several years later that she left to take care of her ailing father — and Philbin continued on what was then called Live With Regis and even won an Emmy for his work. Along the way, he had a rotation of guest hosts, including Broadway star Bernadette Peters, Survivor contestant Susan Hawk, the real-life Erin Brockovich, and even Philbin’s wife, Joy (seen here).
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa (2001–2011)
Ripa, then famous for her All My Children role, tried out for the co-hosting gig later in 2000, and in that debut appearance, a psychic correctly asserted that Ripa was pregnant with her second child. (“I haven’t told my boss yet!” a stunned Ripa replied.) Three months later, Ripa landed the permanent job on what was then called Live With Regis and Kelly. Philbin later recalled in his memoir How I Got This Way (via The Washington Post) that Ripa had “a natural, quick-witted, unaffected, confident, fun-loving kind of sparkle” about her and that her tryout made it clear she “was the right choice and really the only choice.”
Kelly Ripa and guest hosts (2011–2012)
Philbin left the show in 2011, calling Live “the biggest thrill” of his life and observing that “there is a time that everything must come to an end for certain people on camera, especially certain old people” (per Insider). As Philbin did a decade earlier, Ripa then shared the screen with many guest hosts on the show, including Josh Groban (seen here), Alec Baldwin, Jim Parsons, and even Kim Kardashian.
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan (2012–2016)
In the end, it was guest co-host Michael Strahan, a former defensive end for the New York Giants, who became Ripa’s partner at the Live desk in 2012. “As a guest co-host, Michael’s chemistry with Kelly was off the charts, and continued to grow each time he visited the show,” executive producer Michael Gelman said in a statement at the time (per The Hollywood Reporter,) heralding the partnership that would anchor Live With Kelly and Michael. “Kelly and Michael’s ability to play off of one another and just plain have a good time together creates great TV for the audience.”
Kelly Ripa and guest hosts — again (2016–2017)
Strahan left Live for Good Morning America in 2016 in a shakeup that blindsided Ripa, as she told People. “I get it. We’re excited for Michael. He wanted that job, and it’s great for him. I think it is a perfect match, I really do,” she said. “However, what nobody considered is, there’s a whole other group of people that it really impacts, because we have to now find another great person.” During that search, celebs like Anderson Cooper, Carrie Ann Inaba, Morris Chestnut, and Jimmy Kimmel (seen here) guest-hosted.
Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest (2017–2023)
In 2017, Ryan Seacrest went from occasional guest host to full-time co-host, joining Ripa, his friend of many years, on Live With Kelly and Ryan. “Ryan is a quintessential broadcaster and at the top of his game. I am thrilled to start my mornings with him every day, and we are so fortunate at Live to have him join the family,” Ripa said in a statement at the time, per Variety. “Ryan is a close friend, and his star shines as brightly off camera as it does on. His tremendous success is only matched by his impeccable reputation. Plainly said, everyone loves him, and so will our daily viewers.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos (2023–)
Live will become “the nation’s weirdest social experiment” on April 17, as Ripa quipped, when Mark Consuelos, her husband and former All My Children costar, becomes co-host of what will be called Live With Kelly and Mark. And the husband-wife pairing matches the intent for the morning program. “The real concept of the show, in a symbolic sense, is that they are husband and wife,” Gelman has explained, per The Hollywood Reporter. “They have their coffee mugs and they’re chit-chatting about what’s going on.”
