‘Live With Kelly and Ryan’ aims for another happy Halloween
Whether spoofing “I Love Lucy” or “Game of Thrones,” Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest know they’ll have elaborate, costumed fun on Halloween. The Oct. 31 episode is an annual highlight for “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” and the syndicated weekday program does it again Thursday by satirizing viral videos. While it will mark “American Idol” staple Seacrest’s third round since joining the traditionally high-rated talk show, Ripa is an 18-year veteran of “Live” ... and last year, she enjoyed reuniting with “All My Children” castmates in a Halloween parody of her former daytime serial. Also involving studio-audience members by encouraging them to dress up for a contest, the hosts talked about their Halloween history for this article. Q: Since you still act occasionally, Kelly, do the Halloween skits help service that yen for you? Ripa: It’s truly one of the reasons I think I’ve been able to work here for so many years, knowing that we have the Halloween show coming up. It satisfies that tiny, remaining bit of creativity I have left – and a little-known fact about Ryan is that as good a broadcaster as he is, he could have been an incredible actor, had he wanted to take a substantial pay cut. He understands what it takes to embody another person, and I love working with him. Q: Ryan, are you used to the show’s Halloween shenanigans by now? Seacrest: Well, you know, it’s funny. One of the things that first went through my head, because I’d watched the show for so many years, was (doing) the Halloween special. I thought, “How great is it going to be that the two of us will get to dress up and pull off some of these pop-cultural skits?” Then I got to the show and started to work on them, and I realized how laborious it is ... so now, I’m a little intimidated by what we might be asked to do on the air. Q: What was Halloween like for the two of you as kids? Ripa: Halloween is still my favorite holiday. I really liked it when my kids were young – we did great costumes, and I got to watch them grow up on the show – but for me, I was just whatever my ballet costume was the summer before. It was not very well thought out, it was just whatever we had in the closet. Seacrest: It was pretty much the same every year. We’d go to a neighborhood clubhouse and watch a scary magician do tricks, then my father would come home early from work to take me out with my pillowcase to collect as many King Size Reese’s as I could.