by Ted Sherman

Created on: July 12, 2008

I like and admire both of the ladies, but I must vote for Kelly, simply because she is here and now. That's the rule for showbiz. If you're old enough to remember the leprechaun's lament from "Finian's Rainbow", you'll know what I mean.

"My heart's in a pickle,
It's constantly fickle
And not too partickle, I fear.
When I'm not near the girl I love,
I love the girl I'm near."

Unlike Kathie Lee, who couldn't stay away from bad publicity when she starred with Regis, Kelly seems to maintain an image of sunny competence and considerable talent.

Although still youthful-looking and razor-slim, the 38-year-old Kelly Ripa had a successful showbiz career before she was selected out of a jillion candidates to replace Kathy Lee on the then-called, "Regis and Kathy Lee" morning talk show in 2001. Before that, she had achieved stardom as a regular on the soap opera, "All My Children", and married her co-star Mark Consuelos in 1996.

She was already pregnant with her second child when she started on the Regis Philbin partnership. Her sunny, chatty personality has made her an unquestioned star of both soap opera and the now-called, "Regis and Kelly Show." Now the mother of three, anyone flipping on a TV set can't escape the many lucrative commercials Kelly does to supplement her already multi-million-dollar income.

She seems to thrive with the image of the seamless working mother who can balance a husband, three kids, many commercials, a soap opera and Regis all at the same time with ease and a blindingly bright smile. You can't help loving her, or at least be jealous as hell.

On the other hand, the former Kathryn Lee Epstein, 1970 Junior Miss from Baltimore, is no slouch at handling the complexities of motherhood and a career. The fact that she survived 15 turbulent years as the co-host with Regis on the morning gab show (1985-2000) is a testimony enough to her talent and staying power. While Kelly seems to be floating along on a love boat of successful marriage and career, Kathie Lee has had a much more controversial time of it.

She suffered two big scandals while on the Regis show. The negative publicity was doubled and tripled by the media, because Kathie Lee's goody-goody, know-it-all born-again Christian image made her a prime target for snooping and scandalizing. One bad time hit her when it was revealed her Kathie Lee clothing line, sold at Sears, was made in slave-labor type sweatshops in Asia. Of course, since then, most Americans have accepted the fact that, fortunately or not, virtually all clothing sold today by the big box stores is made by sweatshops in China. But back then, everyone made a big deal out of it.

The other scandal involved her husband, former pro football star, Frank Gifford. He was seduced by an airline hostess to a hotel tryst, and the news media found out about it. Although the entire happening may have been deliberately set up, Gifford was at least guilty of straying from the Kathie Lee bed at least that one time. The couple, now with two teenage children, seems to have made their peace with each other.

After nearly a decade of trying and failing to return to show business stardom, just two months ago, Kathie Lee was back in a big way, starring in a gabfest segment of NBC's Today Show. While my vote still tilts toward Kelly, all I can say to the newly-emerging Kathie Lee is: Welcome back. We've missed you.

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