So when I got the chance to do my first talk show, 50 years ago last month, I never had any writers. There was no budget - it was just me and the camera and my friend who was the director. I talked about what I'd done that week.

As a matter of fact I don't like politics. I really don't. I think it's so jaded now and everybody has to follow the party line.

You get a taste here in New Orleans that you don't get anywhere else in the country.

I guess people wonder if I'm the same on camera as I am off, and I'm pretty much the same, I really am. But that's always asked of me.

I've worked for 55 years. I'm going to take a little time off, to tell you the truth. It's just that now in the last couple of weeks, Gelman is pouring it on. 'Farewell to Regis!' It's getting embarrassing.

The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee.

I had my years of struggling. Some of my shows failed miserably, and I was upset by it and it dented my confidence. But I never stopped. I kept going for it.