This morning, Regis Philbin announced to his co-host Kelly Ripa and his audience that he will be having triple heart bypass surgery later this week. He said he's been having chest pain and shortness of breath and "all those little symptoms you hear about". Reg, 75, would've preferred an angioplasty, he said, but there's too much plaque build-up in his arteries so major surgery is necessary. To lighten the mood, Kelly offered to be Regis' nurse and give him sponge baths.

It's not yet clear who is going to fill in for Regis, or for how long. It will probably be a rotating list of celebrity hosts. I can only hope that David Letterman will make an appearance or two- since Regis was so supportive and filled in for him when he had his quintuple bypass 7 years ago.