With The Vanilla Ryan Seacrest Leaving ‘Live’, The Best Version Of Kelly Ripa Will Once Again Be Unleashed

Back in 2017, when it was announced that Ryan Seacrest had been selected to be Kelly Ripa’s permanent co-host on Live!, I threw up my hands in frustration. After four years of boisterous rising star Michael Strahan sitting next to Kelly, and another year of interesting guest co-hosts that filtered through after Strahan was abruptly (and controversially) moved to Good Morning America, I felt like ABC went for the most boring, unobtrusive person to fill the chair that Regis Philbin sat in for over 20 years, first with Kathie Lee Gifford, then with Ripa.

I couldn’t have been more right on the money.

Listen, morning TV isn’t the place for controversial or quirky talent — just ask David Letterman. Heck, even Bob Saget tried his hand at morning TV and failed. People want their morning TV companions to be funny and folksy, with the ability to be serious when the topic warrants it. They want to feel like they’re sitting at the breakfast table with them, sipping coffee and listening to them talk about their lives as well as the funny things that came across their social media feeds (provided to them by producers, of course).

But the thing they want the most is someone who is fun and interesting. Seacrest was neither. Despite a quarter-century career where he’s done everything from his own morning radio show (which he still continued to do from the basement of the building where Live! was shot) to taking over for Dick Clark on New Year’s Eve, to hosting an infinite number of awards show red carpets to helping launch myriad superstar careers on American Idol, Seacrest always came across as slick and closed off, unwilling to let audiences into his personal life even a little bit, and coming off like the tourist he was when he spoke of living in his new base of operations in New York.

Why did we love Regis on Live! for all those years? Because he’d go out with his wife Joy the night before and tell stories about it with a faux-outraged tone that was only rivaled by Larry David. Kathie Lee, annoying as she was reporting every “boom-boom” her then-toddler children made in their diapers, at least gave us insight into her home life with Frank Gifford.

Ripa was always appealing because, despite a penchant for mugging for the loving attention of the camera, she talked about fights she got into with her husband, Mark Consuelos, and the squabbles they got in with their kids as they grew from adorable kids to surly teenagers.

Seacrest never had any of that to fall back on. He would talk about his jogging, his multiple jobs, and sometimes he’d mention his parents or whoever he’s dating. But you never got that warm fuzzy feeling from him, like he was inviting you to shoot the shit. (He barely even dished about his recent feud with Andy Cohen!) In fact, his closed-off nature brought out Ripa’s worst instincts, as she’d start dominating the host chat segment that kicked off the first 20 minutes of the show, just to keep things moving.

Now, with Consuelos slated to permanently replace Seacrest, things should immediately improve. Whenever Consuelos guest hosted alongside Ripa, you could see their 27 years of history as a married couple right there at the desk. They flirted with each other, told stories about the things they did that annoyed the other, went back and forth telling stories about the vacations they went on and extracurricular activities they did with their kids. Even tales of Back to School Night felt like fun when Ripa and Consuelos told them.

Six years ago, I thought Consuelos would be the perfect replacement for Strahan, but at the time his acting career was ramping back up and they told the entertainment press that they thought working together full-time would be bad for their marriage. But now, with Consuelos’ work in Riverdale over and the two of them re-finding their groove as empty nesters, the time seems right for them to spend their days and nights together. At the very least, it might get back some viewers (like me) who got so bored of Seacrest that they tuned out.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.