SIX YEARS AFTER REGIS PHILBIN’S PASSING, HIS SON-IN-LAW SHARES A HEARTFELT TRUTH THAT HAS FANS IN TEARS. K2

Regis Philbin; Mike Schur

Regis Philbin; Mike Schur.Credit: Rob Kim/Getty; JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

For Parks and Recreation co-creator Mike Schur, he was always in a good place when with his late father-in-law, Regis Philbin.

Six years after the death of the legendary talk show host, Schur reflected on the dad of his wife, J.J. Philbin.

“He was exactly the grandfather you would imagine, which is to say delighted to have grandkids, incredibly funny and attentive and sweet with them,” Schur said on Nostalgia Tonight With Joe Sibilia. “The thing I always say about him is he was exactly the same off camera as he was on camera. There was literally not an ounce of difference in the man. What you saw was what you got with him, which was what you wanted out of him.”

Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on 'Live with Regis and Kelly'
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’.Robin Marchant/FilmMagic/Getty

Beginning in 1988, Philbin was a daily fixture on television, cohosting Live With Regis and Kathie Lee Gifford until 2000, when Kelly Ripa replaced Gifford. Philbin eventually retired from the show in 2011.

“Because he was in people’s homes for an hour every single day, just talking about going to the dry cleaners or parking his car or eating out at a restaurant in New York or whatever, people believed deep in their souls that he was their close friend,” Schur said of Philbin. “He never disabused them of that notion, which I always thought was such a wonderful and human thing to do. I never once saw him say, ‘I don’t have time for you,’ or, ‘I’m sorry, I’m with my family,’ or whatever and blow people off.”

Schur married J.J. Philbin in 2005, and the couple share two children. Schur boasts one of the best comedy résumés of the 21st century, having created or co-created Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place. J.J. Philbin followed in her father’s TV footsteps and has written episodes of The O.C. and Only Murders in the Building.

Before Philbin died in 2020 at the age of 88, he’d set the Guinness World Record for the most hours spent on U.S. television, between his memorable gigs on Live and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

“You want to see a career no one will ever duplicate? Here it is,” Schur said of Philbin upon his passing. “Regis hated ‘memory lane,’ so I hope he forgives me for this one last trip. No one will ever be what he was, in the medium he dedicated his life to. What a run.”

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