Thursday, September 7, 2006

The week of 12-15 September, American talk show Live with Regis and Kelly will play host to various attempts to set world records, for Guinness World Records. Announced are attempts involving cartwheels, pirouettes and tango spins, and cutting apples with a sword.

Today the show previewed the week, with a man who set the record for most ice cream eaten in 30 seconds, 12.5 oz.

Last year, Canadian Suresh Joachim set the record for longest continuous time watching television, 69 hours, 48 minutes. Joachim chose to only watch ABC the entire time. Another successful attempt was most watermelons broken by one’s head in one minute. Both were nominated for Relly Awards, a sell-congratulatory honour that series producers award guests and the show’s hosts, to make up for a lack of Emmy wins.

Co-host Regis Philbin was named a Guinness Record holder himself two seasons ago. Philbin has been broadcast on-camera more hours than any other television personality. Philbin’s television experience goes back to the late-1960s as the sidekick to Joey Bishop, then continued with a short-lived series with Mary Hart, then the long-running Live, with co-hosts including Kathy Lee Gifford, the popular ABC game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the 2005 New Year’s broadcast for FOX, and NBC talent series America’s Got Talent.

Live launched its new season on 4 September, after a few weeks of reruns and “best of” specials. This is Kelly Ripa’s fifth season as co-host of the series, which has long past the two-decade marker.

The show features a revamped set, containing various art deco elements, and additional plasma televisions to decorate.