Daytime TV drama alert. Yesterday, when we learned that Michael Strahan would be leaving Live! with Kelly and Michael to appear full time on Good Morning America, it seemed like a nice transition for the former football player. However, now there are some major grumbles coming from the set of Live!, namely from the show’s other host Kelly Ripa, who is reportedly none-too-pleased that Michael Strahan is leaving her four years into his gig.
By none-too-pleased I actually mean Ripa sounds furious. This morning, Kelly Ripa didn’t even bother to show up to the set of Live with Kelly and Michael. Per Variety, Wednesday’s big taping was the one where Strahan made his official on-air exit news. Of course, Kelly Ripa could have taken the day off before today’s taping, but there are other major indications that the early morning host is pissed.
TMZ says there are major behind-the scenes politics going on at ABC related to the Michael Strahan changes. Because Strahan is moving over to Good Morning America, the network is looking to pull the Live! show and add a third hour of GMA to the schedule. This could mean that Kelly Ripa is out of a job at worst or moved into a later timeslot at best.
Then, to slap Ripa in the face a little harder, reports indicate that ABC didn’t bother to tell her about Michael Strahan’s departure until Disney was already set to make the announcement to the public yesterday. That’s a lot of potentially bad news to be taking in a very short period of time.
The news is strange, considering that Live with Kelly and Michael has done well for ABC, and people really seem to have liked Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan’s onscreen rapport. Ripa has been an on-air personality for ABC a whole lot longer than Strahan, too, and has been with Live! since 2001, when she first started hosting opposite Regis Philbin.
Good Morning America has been crushing in the ratings for the past few years, but the show made news just a few weeks ago when it ceded its #1 standing to Today for the first time in a long time. Maybe the network is hoping that an extra hour and adding more Michael Strahan will be enough to continue to entice audiences to watch Good Morning America over NBC’s early morning programming.
Michael Strahan said live on the air this morning that he would be happy to return to Live! should the opportunity to guest host ever arise, but who knows if there will even be a show to return to? For now, Strahan will still appear on Live with Michael and Kelly through September. At least, that's the plan...
