Gifford in Gear

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/20/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

This week marks Kathie Lee Gifford's final appearance on "Live!," and the suspense around who'll replace her is almost as great as who will take home the $1 million on CBS's "Survivor." For her money, Gifford thinks her cohost's wife, Joy Philbin, should take on the seat next to Reege, because Joy "not only shares chemistry with Regis, but she has history with him." Speaking in this week's Time magazine (a sister publication to PEOPLE), Gifford explains, "It's such a fine line between how much to kiss his rear end and how much to kick it . . . When I kick his rear end, people know I love him." As for her own plans, Gifford, 46, says she's "talking to networks about sitcoms and dramas (and) talking to movie producers."