That didn’t take long.
Regis Philbin is gone and Kelly Ripa has slid over into his old seat — signaling that she is now in charge of the show whose named has been chopped to just “Live! with Kelly.”
Oh, and there are new coffee cups on the set — the classic way a morning show signals a change in the air.
In reference to Philbin’s dressing room, Ripa remarked Monday, “It looks exactly the same. Not a tissue box has changed.”
“We’re redecorating next week,” producer Michael Gelman responded.
“We’ve got some things planned,” Gelman told The Post yesterday. “And if you tune in Monday, you’ll see some things freshened up — nothing that will be jarring, just some things that are new and improved.”
The show is now in what Gelman calls “the dating phase,” as it brings in a series of co-host candidates to see who might click with Kelly.
“I’ve always based the show on the hosts’ personalities” he says.
“[Ripa’s] personality is already programmed into the show, and when we find a permanent co-host then that person’s personality will be incorporated into the show.
“I’m thrilled with the way it’s going. Kelly’s doing a great job. It’s not like this is new to us. Regis has taken a lot of time off.”
And he should be thrilled — the ratings for Monday’s show were 38 percent better than last year’s show with Philbin on the same day.
“There’s no reason to believe that the show is in any danger,” said Marc Berman, the editor-in-chief of TV Media Insights. “It is an extremely valuable franchise for Disney ABC.
“The ratings tend to hold up as long as they have one of the hosts there. They proved that when Kathie Lee [Gifford] left,” Berman noted.
“This is a great arena for celebrities to come on for a week and promote what there doing. They’re not going to have any shortage of people wanting to do that show. And they’re getting some really big talent.
“The vibe’s going to change. But ‘Live! with Kelly’ is a show that’s going to live on,” Berman said.
“The flavor of the show is going to continue. We’re going to continue evolving the show like we always have. We’re going to continue to have fun — that’s what we’ve done for 28 years,” Gelman said.