Regis Philbin's First Appearance on Letterman, May 26, 1983

[@StevenTorrey]

A marriage made in heaven. Many times, with Letterman, you get the feeling he is mocking the guest even a he interviews the guest. But with Regis, there was a real sense of admiration. A sense of mutual admiration.

[@TM-zj1xt]

And THIS segment defines why Regis was so wonderful. He’s just himself. Wins audience over within 60 seconds. Loved this guy. Ambushed him crossing Columbus Ave once. Saw him coming and I said, “Regis, baby!” And he looked up stunned ready to smile, saw me, frowned and walked on.

[@CH-fk5tk]

The start of, in my opinion, the best guest/host combination in late night history

[@Gam3Junkie]

agreed

[@queenslander954]

What a Legend he was & a very funny bloke , RIP Regis 🙏

[@NightWarriorAlive]

RIP Regis- what a great guy! It's also interesting to look back and see that the chemistry between these two was right there at the start.

[@billslocum9819]

I never thought having Regis Philbin on once would work for "Late Night." But these two very different, awkward creatures of show biz kept striking a surprisingly human chord in one another.

[@thegrimyeaper]

2:07 It's like they became each other's fans at this exact moment.

[@samsungtelevision695]

A thing of beauty

[@mikestevenson576]

Regis had two qualities that were huge for having such a regular role with Dave: always available and not hung up on personal dignity.

[@colinwilliams553]

Ahhh Regis, Regis, REGIS!!....I miss you already.R.I.P Regis.

[@barb6868]

Me too!💔🙏

[@OhSankYouDoktor]

Genuine class! Equally brilliant as a guest as he was a host.

[@carls.1000]

It is interesting to see how they become friends and comfortable with each other over the course of 13 minutes. Regis tries so hard to make Dave like him and Dave tries so hard not to fall for it and by the end of the segment they seem to have decided each is ok...wonderful TV.

[@margaretgelwick7513]

⁰

[@benjones7634]

Dude, Regis is the least intimidated guest ever

[@dvd9171]

I love you Reg! Thanks for all the laughs, you're the best.

[@TylerSorensen]

Never seen Letterman so off-guard for an interview like this.

[@TRJ2241987]

I can imagine a young Dana Carvey watching this and being completely fascinated

[@Ramy_G]

Regis was the same guy throughout the decades, while Dave changed and evolved; it worked for each of them.

[@ELMS]

He was exactly the same person back then that he is today! Stick with what works. 😃

[@matthewrock4725]

God I'd love compilation episodes of Regis with Dave

[@dongiller]

It was in the planning stages after Regis had passed, but it’s now not to be.

[@barb6868]

Loved Regis! So beloved by everybody! He was so funny and always made me laugh on Live with Kathy Lee. What a loss. RIP🙏💔

[@229BlackHat]

I actually saw this like a month or 2 ago, I looked up the album “It’s Time For Regis” and listened to it. It absolutely SLAPS. It’s literally fucking fantastic. Also, I agree, they should’ve blessed the crowd with some Swanee instead.

[@evankeal]

He reminds me a little bit of Don Rickles and Dennis Miller. Regis is a great host or guest.

[@LARRYLONGSTRETH]

RIP, Regis. This was almost exactly half his life ago. Very surreal to imagine.

[@johnmoeller8654]

Old school gentleman, represented the humble American sincerity we lost from the WWII and Korean War generations that have left us the last 25 years.

[@oaktree1628]

Funny how the audience reacted to Regis’ joke about hoping Letterman’s next questions for him were better than the previous ones.

[@WizardGlik]

REGIS is KING!

[@johncritch6812]

Always a great sport right from the start !

[@Musicradio77Network]

Regis and David Letterman were best friends of the show. Now Regis is gone, and his legacy lives on. 8:19 - Regis did his album at one point called “It’s Time For Regis” in 1968 on the Mercury label. I have to find the album somewhere on KZbin to look for. I have not listened to his album before. I also have a Christmas album as well. He was mostly a singer at the time.

[@ryanellis4474]

The two together are so good!

[@finnibertlunchiken7792]

Look at Regis master of the panel and Dave as his goofy sidekick. Maybe Regis' show shoulda been 'Regis with Letterman'. We'll never know how good that could have been. Good thing Dave came well into his own within a year or two.

[@afweath05]

For a man who "has nothing to talk about" he sure had a lot to say.😂😂🤷‍♂️ I loved Regis on Letterman. I'm glad we had those moments.

[@ernestconnell8087]

Regis driving his own interview

[@jamiegrennell3159]

I knew when this day came I would be so sad. I just said it to my son s year ago and then the text came through from him. He was such a stand up guy. The funniest too.

[@barb6868]

What a gem! Regis was by far the best!!🙏

[@Thunderbirds501]

Here comes the flood of people after hearing about Regis's death...so sad.

[@jamespfitz]

You're the first

[@terrywright8731]

This is great stuff.

[@clubredken13]

Regis loved Dave. Over the years he'd call him the 'Big Man'. And Regis would go the extra mile for Dave whatever he wanted to do. One time Don Rickles called in and told Regis he had to stand up and drop his pants and 'fire off a rocket'. Dave is Regis doing it? Not yet Don. Well tell him to do it. And Regis had the deer in the headlights look that we all love.

[@MrVato53]

The first time I saw Regis was on the Joey Bishop show. Regis was the Ed McMahon for Joey Bishop. 1967. It went on till 1969. But like all the other late nite shows it lost out to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I liked it. I would switch channels between both shows.

[@justinm.1]

He looks so young here 😱

[@TinyEpics]

He was in his early 50s.

[@binxboi7156]

Top tier Letterman guest.

[@royalsfan]

So it begins... :P

[@kpmcdonnell3633]

Always got a good vibe from Regis he made me laugh and I know looks can be deceiving but he seems like he was a good guy.

[@dhpbear2]

3:01 - Regis' delivers his first 'oh, snap!' zinger to Dave! :)

[@RachaelHful]

Damm May of 1983 I wasn't even produced yet lol

[@susanhere4140]

OK so now there is tons of pressure to put up the ultimate REGIS COLLECTION asap. :-) Surprised it's not already here but it is a massive undertaking.

[@wecontrolthevideo]

I read that Regis appeared 150 times on Letterman, the collection would be a BIG one.

[@ExtremeBeatlesArchive]

Regis channels Rickles perfectly

[@bishopaz]

That bit with Tom Jones was epic.

[@sublime88sublime]

He looks like a cross between Joe Pesci and Robert Deniro in Casino

[@jameshudson169]

i didn't want to come on he says! 150 appearances later......

[@timmcleaners1987]

Regis!

[@dhpbear2]

12:17 - 'Oh, snap!' zinger Number 2!

[@Subo23]

"It's the same thing we do for Lou Piniella."

[@theunpopularmindset5273]

Damn, that guest looks like a younger Regis Philbin.

[@bbbart77]

The last great American. R.I.P.

[@Sebastian_Dinwiddie]

For the rest of the day I’ll be singing (yelling?), “What’s new pussy cat?!”, with a smile on my face

[@robertmills3830]

rest in peace

[@bartonlynch]

RIP Regis

[@trentaccid2177]

I MET REGIS WHEN HE CAME TO PHILADELPHIA TO DO AM/PHILADELPHIA AND MY MOM AND I WENT TO THE SHOW AND WHEN WE TOOK PICTURES WITH HIM HE KEPT TALKING TO US FOR LIKE 20 MINUTES AND ASKED US WHERE WE LIVED AND WE TOLD HIM RUNNEMEDE IN SJ AND HE KNEW WHERE IT WAS BECAUSE ONE OF HIS RELATIVES LIVED IN GLENDORA WHICH WAS THE TOWN NEXT TO US AND HE WAS RIGHT GLENDORA IS THE NEXT TOWN AND MY MOM SAID TO HIM ARE YOU KIDDING AND HE HUGGED MY MOM AND SAID DORIS WHY WOULD I JOKE ABOUT THAT HOW WOULD I KNOW THE TOWN NEXT TO YOURS AND SHE SAID SHIT YOUR RIGHT AND HE STARTED LAUGHING. I SAID TO HIM WELL NOW THAT WE ARE ALL FRIENDS WHY DON'T YOU INVITE US UP TO YOUR REGIS AND KATHY SHOW OF WHICH HE THEN PULLED OUT A CARD OF HIS "I SWEAR HE HAD A BUSINESS CARD" AND WROTE HIS PHONE NUMBER ON THE BACK AND SAID CALL ME IF YOUR EVER GOING TO BE IN N.Y. . MOM AND I BOTH THOUGHT HE WAS BULL SHITING BUT IN 3 MONTHS WE WERE GOING TO SEE THE RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL CHRISTMAS SHOW SO WE CALLED HIM AND I SWEAR HE ANSWERED AND TOOK CARE OF US FOR COMING TO SEE THERE SHOW. NOT ONLY DID WE GO BUT HE BROUGHT US BACK TO THE GREEN ROOM AND THEN CAME OVER DURING THE SHOW AND INTRODUCED US AND TOLD ME TO TELL THE STORY I JUST TOLD YOU ALL FOR THE FIRST TIME. WHAT A DAMN NICE GUY WHY DO WE ALL HAVE TO PASS AT SOME TIME ITS JUST NOT FAIR.

[@jfjoubertquebec]

convertcase.net/

[@sasha42196]

Next time before you type anything, first take a moment to locate a couple of important buttons: one would be Caps Lock - it's on the left side of the keyboard right next to the letter A; the other button is a comma - it's just above the spacebar and has a comma painted on it. Now, before you start typing, make sure the Caps Lock light is OFF; if not, hit the Caps Lock button once. To capitalize the first or any letter, such as a name (Regis, Glendora, etc.), hold Shift, but let it go after so the rest are lower case. Bless you in advance.

[@sasha42196]

@@jfjoubertquebec Nice, bookmarked.

[@sweydert]

@@sasha42196 And thank you for demonstrating the correct use of all caps (i.e., very sparingly).

[@bishopaz]

Great story. I'd like to know if their are any personalities today who would do what Regis did with you. RIP Regis.

[@avigail7105]

HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. ONLY ONE REGIS. ... RIP. WE LOVE YOU

[@redcomic619]

He looks older here than he did during the WWTBAM days!

[@candyforthemind385]

Regis look bigger than dave...the older he get the smaller he be

[@NineteenEightyFive]

"do you want to hear the story or not?" LOL

[@barrettus]

I suspect a Regis montage would be a big task. I imagine Tony Randall might be too.

[@dongiller]

Tony's in the In box. Regis not so much. I did put up his first appearance here, May 26, 1983: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anrUan6uatt-qdk And he interviews Dave at the end here, December 27, 1983: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pajZen56mLqdfJo And Dave visited Regis's morning show here, May 25, 1984: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHurYZ-jd72Dp6s And included here, September 17, 2001: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHXGlYmnntudnc0

[@barrettus]

I wasn't really planning to be productive today. Thanks! Take care.

[@annahbunnyi172]

Rip

[@kiko1935]

He was already 52 here. Regis was probably 50 in the 1940's.

[@rudy1999]

Letterman was better looking in 2010's than here lol

[@brettfavreify]

Pretty restrained conversation between these two.

[@tvbarn]

W o w

[@trentaccid2177]

I JUST SAW DAVES INTERVIEW WITH KENNY ROGERS WHO I DID NOT EVEN KNOW KENNY DIED.

[@jameshudson169]

j. fred muggs' still alive!

[@rosg1746]

On videotape

[@barrettus]

1 down... 160 odd to go

[@Clay3613]

Regis retired way too early.

[@basu11111]

RIP Regis