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Remembering Larry King

The headline made me think he died. How about some truth-in-advertising?
 
MikeShannon914 said:
The headline made me think he died. How about some truth-in-advertising?

Some of the sidebar stories on the net, newspapers, etc., had headlines similar or exactly like "Remembering Larry King".

"Remembering" was used simply because his show of 25 years was ending, not necessarily because he left for the big studio in the sky where suspenders are part of the dress code.

The mugshot obviously was just a joke. Perhaps not in the best taste on his retirement.

However, I was never a big King fan. He was a horrible interviewer, bragged about not reading authors' books before interviews ... and he kissed Marlon Brando for crying out loud.

If you know King's history related to the mugshot, I always thought it amazing that he served no jail time or that the mob did not knock him off for his gambling debts.

Of talk show hosts, I thought Paar and Cavett were among the best. Carson was great but not a great interviewer. The guests on Paar and Cavett were more diverse and interesting than Carson.

Actually, I was too young to see much of Paar on "Tonight" but have seen many of his shows on DVD.

Finally, I believe Larry King should marry Elizabeth Taylor and do a reality show called "Marriages".

Regards,
Tony
 
oldmanradio said:
Of talk show hosts, I thought Paar and Cavett were among the best. Carson was great but not a great interviewer. The guests on Paar and Cavett were more diverse and interesting than Carson.

Actually, I was too young to see much of Paar on "Tonight" but have seen many of his shows on DVD.
...what made Paar and Cavett (and, for that matter, Griffin and Snyder) superior to King was that the other guys didn't interview, they conversed with their guests. King has never been capable of doing that. Even Craig Ferguson, goofy as he gets, is better at that than King...
 
When Larry did his overnight show on Mutual Radio Network, he did have conversations with his guests. Johnny, also, did early on. Then the suits stepped in, at the network's direction, and gave "fine tuning" instructions......all in the name of increased ratings. It happens to us all.......in time. Then when staleness sets in, it's all the fault of the personality, for following instruction. Quite a merry-go-round. But the network goes on & on & pays large sums to consultants for advice and a fix......and a new personality, to start the circle all over again.
 
Ultimajock said:
oldmanradio said:
Of talk show hosts, I thought Paar and Cavett were among the best. Carson was great but not a great interviewer. The guests on Paar and Cavett were more diverse and interesting than Carson.

Actually, I was too young to see much of Paar on "Tonight" but have seen many of his shows on DVD.
...what made Paar and Cavett (and, for that matter, Griffin and Snyder) superior to King was that the other guys didn't interview, they conversed with their guests. King has never been capable of doing that. Even Craig Ferguson, goofy as he gets, is better at that than King...

Yes, I agree.

Conversation is a much better description of what they did. Interview sounds more like an interrogation.

Cavett and Paar were obviously highly intelligent and witty.

King ... well ... he had a big microphone.

Tony
 
Texas Gentleman said:
When Larry did his overnight show on Mutual Radio Network, he did have conversations with his guests. Johnny, also, did early on. Then the suits stepped in, at the network's direction, and gave "fine tuning" instructions......all in the name of increased ratings. It happens to us all.......in time. Then when staleness sets in, it's all the fault of the personality, for following instruction. Quite a merry-go-round. But the network goes on & on & pays large sums to consultants for advice and a fix......and a new personality, to start the circle all over again.

Even on radio, King acted superior to his callers when in reality he was not. He is just full of himself.

The truth is if King had tried to remain on CNN, the network would have eventually forced him out.

I just never cared for the guy.

Maybe it was his suspenders, who knows?

Tony
 
There was simple rules with Larry King:

1) If you were boring or stuttered, OUT YA GO!
2) If you wanted to talk about ET's or other weirdness, OUT YA GO!
3) If you wanted to talk about baseball (current) you could last 4 minuets.
4) If you wanted to talk about baseball (Classic) you could get stretched to 8 minutes!

Funny that after he left late night talk to move to afternoons to take on Rush (and miserably failed) this no name guy started ruling the night catering to the segment that King would always hang up on.

And that's how Art Bell ruled the night!

-BGH
 
King was different on radio. His personal reminisces were highly entertaining and he was no slouch at interviewing or conversing -- whichever you want to call it.
 
copydesk2 said:
King was different on radio. His personal reminisces were highly entertaining and he was no slouch at interviewing or conversing -- whichever you want to call it.
...maybe in the first four years or so, '78 to '81. After that, he started getting the TV gigs, and it was obvious he looked on the overnight radio gig as a side venture...
 
With his ratings continuing to slip, didn't King either quit or be shown the door by CNN?

Tony
 
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