Regis Philbin has lived a lifetime on television. Logging 15,188 hours on the tube has yielded him fame, fortune - and now a place in the record books.Friday's broadcast of "Live With Regis and Kelly" gives the talk-show host the Guinness World Record for most hours on camera. He passes broadcaster Hugh Downs for the record, as calculated by Guinness World Records researcher Stuart Claxton.
"Now it's all a big blur," Philbin told The Associated Press Thursday as he looked back on his career that began as a San Diego news anchor in 1958. "When you look back that's a lot of hours on TV."
With now officially the longest resume in television, Philbin wonders, "You'd think it might make me better, but I don't know."Philbin, who will turn 73 next week, has hosted the syndicated "Live" in all 16 of its seasons - now with Kelly Ripa. In his 46-year career, he's hosted numerous news and entertainment shows, as well as the ABC game show "Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire."
Of all the experiences, Philbin most remembers the interviews of other talk-show hosts - people, he says, "that do what I do. People like Jack Paar, Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson, David Letterman that know what being a talk-show host is about."
More musicians join in attempt to unseat Bush
NEW YORK - The coalition of the willing-to-rock is growing. Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson and Crosby, Stills & Nash have joined the nearly 20 other musicians trying to unseat President Bush in November.
Crow and company were added to the Vote for Change tour, which boasts a lineup of artists including Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band. The musicians will perform in an array of combinations at some 38 shows in 32 cities over the course of 12 days in October, concert promoters announced Thursday.
Money generated from the concerts will go to America Coming Together (ACT), which promises on its Web site to "derail the right-wing Republican agenda by defeating George W. Bush." The shows will play in election swing states. They'll be presented by MoveOn PAC, the electoral arm of the liberal interest group MoveOn.org.
While some of the performing musicians are accustomed to expressing political views, many are new to the arena. Dave Matthews earlier told The Associated Press: "It's the first time Bruce and the E Street Band ever stood up and made a clear political statement. This is the first time we've ever stood as a band, unified, and said we want a change."
The Vote for Change tour makes it clear that by purchasing tickets, concertgoers are making a federal political contribution to ACT.
Concert to mark punk group's 30th
Hey! Ho! Let's Go! ... to the Ramones anniversary party. The punk band will celebrate its 30th anniversary Sept. 12 with a concert at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, Calif. The previously announced "very special guest band" will be the Red Hot Chili Peppers, concert producer Arturo Vega told The Associated Press Thursday in New York.
CJ and Marky Ramone will perform the band's classics such as I Wanna Be Sedated and Blitzkrieg Bop. They will be joined by special guests Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins and Pete Yorn. Rob Zombie will host the concert.
The 30th anniversary of the Ramones is traced back to what the band considers their true birth: their first concert at New York's CBGB on Aug. 16, 1974.
Singer's cancer has spread, mom says
Dan Fogelberg, known for hits such as Leader of the Band, Run for the Roses and Same Old Lang Syne, is undergoing experimental treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Fogelberg, 53, was diagnosed with the cancer two months ago during a checkup to prepare for a tour of the East Coast and Florida. The Peoria, Ill., native has canceled the 16-city solo acoustic tour while he fights the illness.
His mother, Margaret Fogelberg, said the cancer has spread to his bones and that he is being treated at Harvard Medical School. "We're all very hopeful," she said in Thursday's editions of the [Peoria] Journal Star. "But we're also a bit leery."
Showtime to feature Story of Smile
Smile, the Brian Wilson album that was famously unheard by the public for almost 40 years, will be the subject of a Showtime documentary. Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile is in production and will debut Oct. 5 on Showtime, the channel announced this week in Los Angeles.
The film will include interviews with Wilson, the Beach Boys' creative genius, and footage of February's triumphant Smile debut concert in London.
"Smile is the most important piece of music that I ever composed, and I'm thrilled that Showtime feels so strongly about it that they are going to let me tell the story of Smile in this film," Wilson said in a statement.
Smile was to have followed the Beach Boys' groundbreaking 1966 album, Pet Sounds. After carefully crafting the album's multilayered sound, Wilson shelved it shortly before its scheduled 1967 release. He said the songs were "not commercial." Over the years, Smile gained a reputation among fans as the band's lost masterpiece and was hailed by critics at its London debut.
Clinton library event to star Aretha
Little Rock, Ark., will get a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T when Aretha Franklin performs Nov. 16, as part of the festivities leading up to the Clinton Presidential Library's grand opening.
"This is huge," Skip Rutherford, president of the nonprofit foundation building the $165 million library, said Wednesday. The library's grand opening will be two days after Franklin's concert.
New board game Trumps Monopoly
First the board room, now the board game. At his Fifth Avenue Tower in New York on Wednesday, Donald Trump unveiled his newest business venture: a new Parker Brothers board game with high stakes dealmaking and dollar sums in the billions. Move over, Mr. Monopoly.
Trump the Game, which retails for $24.99, is played by up to four players bidding on real estate, buying big-ticket items, such as islands and office buildings, and making billion-dollar business deals -- just like The Donald does in real life.
There is, however, no gaming equivalent of bankruptcy, which has recently been a part of the Trump experience. On Aug. 9, Trump Hotel and Casino Resorts announced plans to file for Chapter 11 and to form a new corporate structure where Trump surrenders much of his control.
Of course, players can terminate their opponents using the two words -- "You're fired" -- made famous on Trump's reality TV show The Apprentice.
Joan Rivers will be a Nip/Tuck guest
Joan Rivers, the fashion critic who has openly joked about her own cosmetic surgery, will guest star as herself on the season finale of the FX drama series Nip/Tuck.
In the episode to air Oct. 5, Rivers will play herself and meet with the show's plastic surgeons, played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon, for an unusual cosmetic consultation. It is so unusual that in the show, Rivers flies to the surgeon's Miami practice to avoid the glare of the paparazzi.
Though FX is tightlipped about the nature of the discussed procedure, Scott Seomin, a publicist for the cable station said in New York: "It's definitely not something she's had done before."
J.Lo to revisit Will & Grace
Jennifer Lopez will return to guest star on the season premiere of Will & Grace. The singer-actress will continue in the role of herself in an episode to air Sept. 16 on NBC. In last season's finale, Lopez was recruited by Megan Mullally's character to sing at her Las Vegas marriage to another guest star, John Cleese.
In this episode, J.Lo returns to New York after her summer tour, where Sean Hayes' character accompanied Lopez as a backup dancer.
Yet more guest stars are on the way for NBC's Will & Grace. In the seventh season's second episode, Janet Jackson will appear.
