It comes as no surprise that the last two weeks have been quite difficult. The absence of my daily dose of Regis Philbin has been made ever harder by the show’s choices of stand-ins. Anderson Cooper was there on day one, to soften the blow, but we all know he has far better things to do. Damien Fahey’s desperate attempts to woo Kelly and save himself from the rapidly sinking MS TRL are an annoying waste of time. And Howie Mandel’s disturbing ability to permeate so many hours of daily programming is almost a punch in the Rege’s recovering heart. Deal or No Deal is no Millionaire, good sir! Isn’t there any suitable replacement? Is there any man on this earth with one iota of Regis’s charm or his knack for tennis-like banter with the Ripa? Turns out… there is. His name is Neil Patrick Harris, and I would like to take a moment to profess my undying love for him.
Neil, formerly Doogie Howser MD, recently homosexual and perpetually legendary, has brightened my Monday nights for the last two years and single handedly saved the formulaic sitcom with his portrayal of Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. And this week, he came to the rescue on the temporarily de-Regis’d Regis and Kelly. Sauntering onstage with confidence of someone actually deserving of the left swivel chair and quickly engaging Kelly in some candid American Idol convo (he hates Haley too!), Neil gave me back my morning shot of whimsy. Neil is funny, charming, crazy handsome and deserving of being on my television as much as humanly possible.
Quite cranky and a sporadically lucid, Today’s phone-in to Regis himself lends the impression that he might be out of commission for a little longer than expected. So this is a plea to Neil Patrick Harris to save me from Howie-redux or the Pat Sajak and Bryant Gumbel shifts that no doubt loom on the horizon. Come back as often as possible, and feel free to do more of this:
I want more Howie!!!!!!!!! This dude’s okay, as well, but I LOVED seeing Howie this week.
I caught one episode of NPH co-hosting while I was on vacation, and it was fantastic. He is so charismatic and funny. Did you hear that How I Met Your Mother might not be a shoo-in for renewal? If they cancel that wonderful show, I might just cry.
I DID hear, and I’m blazin’ mad!