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Regis Philbin watches Democracy Now!

DN! in the NewsDecember 20, 2007
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    Regis talks about his dinner with Amy Goodman on his show Live with Regis and Kelly.

    TRANSCRIPT:

    REGIS: So I went to the annual Phil Donahue/Marlo Thomas Christmas party last night.

    KELLY: Yes, tell me.

    REGIS: Well, it’s just a lot of fun, you know. And the violins are playing

    KELLY: It’s beautiful. They have a beautiful home, right?

    REGIS: Yeah, it’s a penthouse up on Fifth Avenue. Just great. And so — and Phil is there with the bowtie. Incidentally, Phil produced a documentary that got a lot of acclaim at the Golden Globes, got his nomination for it. And they’re thinking maybe it could get a nomination for the Academy Awards, too.

    KELLY: Oh, my gosh!

    REGIS: It’s Body of War. It’s a documentary on Iraq. You know, you don’t know what Phil Donahue is doing, because it’s so quiet, and then all of a sudden this movie is coming out. Anyway, Mike Wallace was there.

    KELLY: Love Mike Wallace.

    REGIS: Mike Wallace looks absolutely fabulous, looks like, honest to God, like a leading man… But then you’ve got to worry about who you’re going to sit with and what kind of a conversation you’re going to have. So anyway, on my left was Elaine May, you know, the screenwriter —

    KELLY: Yes.

    REGIS: — former comedian, very funny lady. And on my right was Amy Goodman. And so, I didn’t — I was unfamiliar with the name. “What do you do, Amy?” She says, “Well, I have a show on PBS.”

    KELLY: OK.

    REGIS: “What do you do?” She says, “We cover global events.”

    KELLY: Oh, my gosh!

    REGIS: Global news.

    KELLY: No wonder we haven’t seen it.

    REGIS: Well, now, excuse me, but what am I going to have in common with someone who covers global news?

    KELLY: What is the global news?

    REGIS: The beautiful baby contest? That ain’t going to do it!

    KELLY: Right.

    REGIS: Santa Claus getting pawed? No!

    KELLY: Yes.

    REGIS: I’ve got nothing in common.

    KELLY: Yes. I know what you’re saying. I’ve been there.

    REGIS: Sure.

    KELLY: I’ve been in that anxiety situation, where you realize that you are the weak link at the table, where you go, “Oh, I see. I’m the weak link. I’m the person that —

    REGIS: You may be better known than anyone else, because they see you every day on television, but what have we got to say? Nothing.

    KELLY: Nothing.

    REGIS: We’ve got nothing to say.

    KELLY: Nothing. And they know — and they already know what you’ve got going on, because you’ve talked about it that day.

    REGIS: We’ve got nothing.

    KELLY: Right.

    REGIS: So, what did you do? We talk about nothing.

    KELLY: Right.

    REGIS: That’s it.

    KELLY: Mm-hmm.

    REGIS: That’s it.

    KELLY: And then it’s sweet, though, because like heady people who are very accomplished —

    REGIS: Very smart, very sharp.

    KELLY: — they’re very good at like, you know, sounding interested, or like, “Well, it must be fascinating, what you’re doing.” I’m like, “It’s very fun. We had hot toys on yesterday. And then, today we’re going to make our own shirts out of waste.”

    REGIS: You’re absolutely right. You realize then —

    KELLY: You’re lacking contribution.

    REGIS: — what you are doing. You’re doing nothing!

    KELLY: Nothing! Gosh, how can you stand us?

    REGIS: It’s just so sad. It really is. Anyway —

    KELLY: You know what you should do, you should make things up that you’re doing.

    REGIS: Yeah.

    KELLY: You know.

    REGIS: Oh, yeah. We’ve covered the Iraq situation. We’re moving on now to global warming.

    KELLY: Good, yes. Say that. And I’ll stand by you.

    REGIS: Absolutely.

    KELLY: In case I ever get invited to a dinner party, I’ll say that, too.

    REGIS: “What are you doing about global warming?” “We’re staying cold.” Woman was very interesting, so I tuned her in. She’s on from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning.

    KELLY: Oh, fantastic!

    REGIS: Channel 34, one of those PBS stations. And not only do they have it on TV, but then they take that hour, and they play it on, I guess, PBS radio. PBS have a radio thing, too? Yeah. They play it on the radio from 9:00 to 10:00.

    KELLY: That’s great!

    REGIS: In case you missed the 8:00 to 9:00. So anyway —

    KELLY: That’s really good. So I’m going to tune her in, too.

    REGIS: Yeah. Yes, Amy Goodman.

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