Why Regis Philbin Hated His Seinfeld Cameo

Over its nine-season run, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David enjoyed corralling celebrities to play themselves on the groundbreaking NBC sitcom "Seinfeld." Who can forget New York Mets great Keith Hernandez getting accused of spitting on Kramer and Newman while also finding the time to romance Elaine ("I'm Keith Hernandez")? Or the time George asked Marisa Tomei out on a date before his deceased fiancée Susan had even been buried? And then there's Jon Voight, who once took a bite out of Kramer's arm in a taxi.

"Seinfeld" was delightfully random in its choice of celebrity cameos, but every single one felt like they belonged in the show's off-kilter universe. Raquel Welch, Mel Tormé, and Bryant Gumbel were, for whatever reason, destined to find their way onto the show about nothing. Some cameos were certainly more obvious than others. Considering how many times Seinfeld had been a guest on his show, David Letterman turning up (if briefly) made perfect sense. And it felt like it was only a matter of time before Jerry stopped by "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee."

Here, however, Seinfeld and his writers threw a curveball. Instead of Jerry coming on the popular morning show, they had Kramer drop by to promote his "The Coffee Table Book of Coffee Tables." As with all things Kramer, this appearance turns out to be a disaster. But the cameo itself wound up being a source of profound disappointment for Regis Philbin, who wasn't happy with the way he was written.

In his memoir "How I Got This Way," Philbin revealed that his dissatisfaction with his "Seinfeld" appearance centered on the repeated use of one phrase: "This guy's bonkos." As he wrote in his book, "I had never said the word 'bonkos' in my life. I'd never even heard of the word! I mean, it just wasn't funny — and why should I become the only 'Seinfeld' guest in history who never got a laugh?" Philbin took his displeasure straight to Seinfeld, but the star refused to rewrite the lines. "Jerry, too, thought 'bonkos' was hilarious," he wrote.

Philbin was proven right when he shot the scene and got nary a laugh by repeatedly uttering "bonkos" aloud. "I will never forget that silence, nor will I ever get over it," stated the talk show host. "It remains embarrassing to this day." Though Philbin is sadly no longer with us, I will shout into the cosmos loud enough for him to hear that "bonkos" is incredibly funny now that I know Seinfeld and his writers forced him to say it — and it's funny precisely because it's so unnatural. When it comes to knowing what works comedy-wise, Jerry Seinfeld is anything but bonkos (though "Bee Movie" was pushing it).