Regis returns to television — the replacement-host union calls it quits.
I just finished watching Regis’ return to Live after being on the DL for six months following heart-bypass surgery. The episode itself was kind of meh outside of having Letterman on as the guest (which I’ll get into more in a minute). Of course, Live wasn’t going to be able to do what The Late Show had done with Dave because Live isn’t the same kind of show as The Late Show. If I were a die-hard daytime television viewer and rarely stayed up past 10pm, I’d probably have thought yesterday’s Regis tribute was top-notch. However, I am not a 55 year old woman, and thus it didn’t strike me as monumental television.
Honestly, Regis seemed a little rusty — like he maybe came back a week or so too early. Even the desk-chat segment seemed off. At one point Regis tried to steer the conversation away from his repaired ticker and toward the news about Rosie leaving The View, presumably in hopes of returning the segment to its current-events roots and away from himself (not a technique known by Kelly Rippa). It completely stalled the conversation and after about 20 seconds Regis just didn’t have anything to say on the subject, despite him being the one who directed the conversation in that direction in the first place.
Regis looks like a million damn dollars, but at the age of 75, why rush the return?
As for Dave’s appearance, I can’t exactly say it was fantastic (most of his best lines were recycled from 2000 — This was my first bypass since I didn’t get The Tonight Show), but it was certainly interesting to watch — especially for fans of his show. It’s weird to see the man out from behind the desk.
He clearly isn’t comfortable in this capacity, which I suppose is what makes it kind of fun to watch. In my experience Dave outside of The Late Show can get you two different personae. One would be the quiet DeNiro-esque non-responder, like when he was interviewed by Ted Koppel back in 2002. The other would be the loud storyteller, like yesterday’s appearance on Live or any number of appearances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. neither one seems like it represents the true “Dave” which we’d have to believe is best represented weeknights at 11:35 on CBS.
Tags: Daytime Television
