Mary Hart makes exit from `Entertainment Tonight2011-05-16

The list of exiting TV personalities seems to lengthen every day: Oprah Winfrey; Regis Philbin; Larry King; Katie Couric; Jim Lehrer; Meredith Vieira.

Don't overlook Mary Hart, whose last "Entertainment Tonight" broadcast is Friday. Celebrity and entertainment coverage has changed markedly since she began anchoring the show in its first year in 1982.

It was the first weekday syndicated show devoted solely to entertainment news when it began, and has remained at the top of the ratings as similar shows came along. And "ET" as it is fondly known, remains one of the top sources for celeb news among the many other shows, websites, magazines and news outlets now covering the subject.

"She will be missed," said Bill Carroll, an expert in the syndicated television market for Katz Media. "She has become iconic."

Hart earned a hug from David Letterman and her own "Late Show" Top Ten list last week: "Things Mary Hart Has Learned in 29 Years of Hosting 'Entertainment Tonight.'" (No. 4: "Tom Hanks is a total loser," as the camera cut to tape of a befuddled Hanks. No. 1 was: "Nothing.")
Hart, a former Miss South Dakota and now 60, has worked with five male co-hosts, most notably John Tesh and currently Mark Steines. Nancy O'Dell will replace her.

"I'd been thinking about this for a very long time knowing it would be difficult and it is difficult," Hart said. "It's a very strange feeling knowing that I'm doing a final show and actually saying goodbye on the air. It makes me very emotional at times."

Hart said she never intended to be on the show that long but liked the people with whom she worked and it was a good job to have for her and her marriage to producer Burt Sugarman, and their son. 

She's friendly with singer Marie Osmond, and attended the funeral of Osmond's son, who committed suicide last year. She learned in confidence that Osmond had reconnected with her first husband but kept it a secret until getting the go-ahead from Osmond to report that the couple had remarried.

"There are times when you have to keep something and respect that friendship," Hart said.

The time in her job has given Hart a perspective that few in her field can claim.

"I've seen people's attitudes be humble and swell and shrink again because everybody's career has an ebb and flow to it," she said. "Thirty years makes you really see that." 

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