Revisit Phil Donahue's Final Sign-Off from His Namesake Talk Show in 1996

PEOPLE confirmed that Donahue died on Aug. 18 at age 88 after "a long illness"

Nearly three decades before Phil Donahue’s death, the legendary daytime talk show host said goodbye to The Phil Donahue Show.

In 1996, the television personality — who died on Aug. 18 at age 88 — signed off from his namesake talk show with a champagne-soaked celebration. After thanking the crew of his long-running show (later renamed Donahue) as well as the media for their interest in the farewell episode, a staffer asked if he would be “mad” if they poured champagne over his head and he replied, “Not at all.”

The group then proceeded to pour several bottles of champagne on him as he lamented that he had “a great speech ready” for the farewell episode.

Related: Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams and More Stars Pay Tribute to Phil Donahue After His Death: 'He Was a Pioneer'

Finally, he told his staffers, “I need a towel. I can’t see.” After drying off slightly, he had a sweet moment with his daughter, Mary Rose Donahoe, whom he shared with ex-wife Margaret Cooney.

He also shared a kiss with wife Marlo Thomas as the audience applauded him. Following the embrace, Thomas, 86, wiped away tears and Donahue thanked the crowd.

Earlier in the episode, Donahue and executive producer Patricia McMillen looked back at some of the show’s biggest — and most controversial — moments.

Related: Phil Donahue Said He Missed His Talk Show Career 'Occasionally' in Final PEOPLE Interview

The pair discussed showing an anatomically correct boy doll on the show and polled the at-home audience asking if it was good for kids. The response caused the phone system in Dayton, Ohio to go out. Donahoe noted, “It wasn’t funny. People couldn’t call an ambulance…totally jammed. Emergency calls are being made. Please stop this right now…I guess this is a long way of saying. We entered streaming.”

They also recalled an appearance by Clark Polak, a gay man who noted on the show that “gayness is not a moral issue” in 1967. The television host and McMillen looked back at the outcry from viewers and how people wrote it, claiming that Donahoe and Polak were “birds of a feather.” He said the show forced them to come to “grips with our own homophobia [and] discover who we are.”

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Donahoe died on Aug. 18 at the age of 88. In a statement first shared with Today on Monday, Aug. 19, Donahue's family said the groundbreaking TV talk show journalist died in his home surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years — Thomas — as well as "his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie."

The statement noted he "passed away peacefully following a long illness."

Donahue is survived by Thomas and four children — Michael, Kevin, Daniel and Mary Rose — from his first marriage. He is predeceased by son James "Jim" Patrick, who died in 2014 of an aortic aneurysm at the age of 51.

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