Ally Alum Eyes Kelly Ripa's Throne

Kelly Ripa went on vacation this week, which meant guest co-hosts on Live With Regis and Kelly. On Thursday, Ally McBeal alumna Jane Krakowski revisited the hot seat next to Regis Philbin, and loved it. The actress — who auditioned for Ripa's coveted co-host role last summer — says she's happy to pinch-hit, since all this practice is priming her for her own chatfest!

"I have been offered to do some talk shows," Krakowski, 33, tells TV Guide Online. "I think when I feel the exact right one comes up, I might take a stab at it. There's such a glut of daytime talk shows. I don't know if right now is the time. And really, nobody does it better than Regis and Kelly."

Having wrapped up Ally's final season this spring, Krakowski — who played the slutty secretary Elaine Vassal — already misses her co-stars. However, she relished the returns of dearly departed stars like Gil Bellows and Courtney Thorne-Smith in the final episode. "I have a soft spot for all of the original characters on the show because that's when the show obviously was created, but also, to me, thrived.

"To have them back made it a bit more emotional," she adds. "We worked together so closely for so long and went through so much that I know we'll be friends for many years."

Currently, Krakowski is readying to return to Broadway in 9, an adaptation of Fellini's 8 1/2 co-starring Antonio Banderas. She's also romancing CSI heartthrob George Eads in the ABC Family movie Just a Walk in the Park (airing Sunday at 8 pm/ET). "When I found out he was doing [the movie], I admittedly went on the Internet Movie Database and looked him up. He admitted it to me that he did the same." See, kids? Even the stars have to do their homework.