Regis Philbin teases his Single Parents guest spot and weighs in on new Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
After almost 60 years in Hollywood, Regis Philbin is pretty selective about the jobs he accepts. But when his daughter, JJ Philbin, asked if he wanted to guest star on tonight’s episode of Single Parents, it was an automatic yes. In fact, the TV personality tells The A.V. Club that the whole thing came together in “about twenty minutes. JJ called me and next thing I knew I was on set. She’s lucky I was available!”
JJ Philbin—who produced The O.C., Heroes, Kings, and New Girl before creating Single Parents with Elizabeth Meriwether—recruited her dad, 88, to play himself on her ABC comedy, which stars Taran Killam, Leighton Meester, and Brad Garret. “I’m wandering around a hospital trying to get a cell phone signal. Very juicy stuff. Role of a lifetime,” Regis jokes about the part. “But honestly, I’ve seen the episode and it came out just great.” As for the working with his daughter: “It was very exciting. And I could tell she enjoyed bossing me around. Maybe a little too much!”
This evening will be a Regis Philbin night of sorts for ABC. After his episode of Single Parents at 9:30 p.m. ET, the network will air the second episode of the new, Jimmy Kimmel-hosted celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a spinoff of the game show Regis hosted regularly from 1999 to 2002. (Regis returned for various specials and episodes of the syndicated version over the years, most recently appearing as the host of the show on a 2019 episode of Fresh Off the Boat.) “I watched the first episode and thought Jimmy did a great job,” Regis says of the new version, which airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET. “He was the perfect choice to host. Although he would have looked better if he wore one of my old ties. Remember those? God I looked sharp!”