Well… that didn’t take long.
Just two days after Michael Strahan bid farewell on Live!, ABC has gone ahead and rebranded the morning program.
It is now all about Kelly Ripa.
On Friday, following weeks of controversy and tension on set, Strahan said goodbye to his co-host and to the show’s millions of viewers.
The entire send-off was just about as awkward as all tuning in expected it to be.
“I’m not dying. I’m still in the family,” Strahan, who is making the move to Good Morning America, told the audience.
“And I’m still available to come back if I’m ever called to co-host. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not gone. So, there we go.”
That may sort of be true, but Strahan is now gone from the show’s title and the show’s new logo.
ABC debuted both changes via Facebook and Twitter on Sunday, changing its handle on the latter social media platform to @LiveKelly.
According to the new Twitter bio, the program is now titled “LIVE with Kelly” and here’s your first look at the revamped logo:
It makes perfect sense, of course, for Strahan’s name to no longer be associated with the show.
It’s unclear, however, whether LIVE with Kelly will remain the title, even after a permanent co-anchor is selected.
Strahan, of course, stunned the television world last month when he announced he would be moving from LIVE to GMA in September.
He also stunned Ripa, who learned this information mere minutes before the rest of the world, responding in anger and in a mini protest.
She boycotted one new episode in response to the news; went on a family vacation; and then returned a week later to talk about a lack of respect in the workplace:
ABC, in turn, moved Strahan’s departure date up four months, as rumors churned over how much Ripa and Strahan hated one another.
Since then, Ripa has given a cover interview to People Magazine, reportedly going rogue and never telling ABC that she had planned to do so.
It’s all been very entertaining to follow!
Jimmy Kimmel, meanwhile, will sit in on Monday as the first guest host, with other big names to follow and a permanent Strahan replacement expected to be named some time this summer.
