Could Seth Meyers Be The Next Regis Philbin?

Since Regis Philbin retired from the morning talk show Live! with Kelly, leaving his cohost Kelly Ripa to entertain not only her guests, but a veritable bevy of guest hosts, no one has seemed appropriate to step into the gig full-time, and Ripa is managing to keep ratings high enough that the network can take its time in replacing Regis

In the past 18 months since Regis' departure, Ripa has co-hosted multiple stints with Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba, How I Met Your Mother funnyman Neil Patrick Harris, musician Josh Groban, reality star Nick Lachey, Jerry O'Connell, and even Kelly's own hubby, Mark Consuelos. Now it looks like Saturday Night Live's own head writer and "Weekend Update" anchor Seth Meyers, 38, is the next potential candidate everyone is buzzing about.

The speculation comes with the news that Meyers, who has co-hosted the show with Ripa before, will be filling in from Monday through Friday all week next week. Meyers is reportedly the frontrunner for the coveted hosting gig, followed closely by Groban and Strahan, according to Showbiz411 and rampant Internet rumors.

Though Anderson Cooper, who came out as gay just last week, was on the top of Ripa's list to take the seat, he is otherwise occupied with his commitments to CNN and his daytime talk show, Anderson.

Overall, people seem to be in favor of a Ripa-Meyers pairing on Live! "The chemistry that Seth had with Kelly when he's filled in before shows that he would do well there," Bill Carroll, the vice president and director of programming at Katz Television group, said, reports the New York Daily News.

However, no one can be certain until the mystery name goes on the dotted line, and the network isn't talking, making it clear that there will be "no comment" about the speculation, reports USA Today. Anything could happen. "No one had initially speculated that Kelly would be Kathie Lee Gifford's replacement at the time [she was guest-hosting]," Katz told the New York daily paper. "It could end up being none of them, but it probably will be. Seth Meyers is among the logical choices."

If Meyers, who has been on Saturday Night Live since 2001, did climb up to fill octogenarian Philbin's Live! role, he would likely have to step down from his position as head writer at SNL, but he could probably continue on as the "Weekend Update" anchor.

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