| Larry King Live | |
|---|---|
 Larry King Live title card |
|
| Format | Talk show |
| Created by | Larry King |
| Presented by | Larry King |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 1 hour per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CNN |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | June 3, 1985 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN. The show debuted in 1985, and is CNN's most watched (and currently longest running) program, with over one million viewers nightly.[1]
The show broadcasts from CNN's Los Angeles studios. Sometimes, the show broadcasts from CNN's studios in New York and sometimes from Washington, D.C., the city where King gained national prominence during his years as a radio interviewer for the Mutual Broadcasting System. Every night, King interviews one or more prominent individuals, mainly celebrities, politicians, and businesspeople.
The one-hour show is broadcast three times a day in some areas, and can be seen all over the world on CNN International. Larry King is currently expected to stay with CNN through 2011.[2]
Contents |
Format
Interview style
Larry King mainly conducts interviews from the studio, but he has also interviewed people on-site in the White House, their prison cells, their homes, and other unique locations. Critics have claimed that Larry King asks "soft" questions in comparison to other interviewers, which allows him to reach guests who would be averse to interviewing on "tough" talk shows. When interviewed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, King said that the secret to a good interview is to get the guest to talk about him- or herself, and to put oneself in the background.
A 1996 interview in the Washington Post had King note that he sometimes slips hard questions in between softballs. King prefers one sentence questions. In the Post interview, King also proclaimed that he prepares as little as possible for each program, does not read the books of the authors he interviews, and admitted that the show was not journalism but "infotainment." He said that he tries to project an image of earnestness and sincerity in each interview, and the format of the show (King in suspenders instead of suit and tie, sitting directly next to the guest) reinforces that.
In response to "'softball' questions" accusations, King says, "I've never understood that. All I've tried to do is ask the best questions I could think of, listen to the answers, and then follow up. I've never not followed up. I don't attack anybody — that's not my style — but I follow up. I've asked people who say this, 'What's a softball question?' They'll say, 'You say to some movie star, what's your next project?' To me, that's not a softball. To me, that's interesting — what are you doing next?"
Furthermore, King is no fan of the current generation of talk-show hosts, who he says use their guests as props or punching bags. He describes them as "I" hosts; he states they are more interested in lecturing their guests than in listening to them. "I hope I never do that," he says, "I'm not saying it's bad. If you watch Bill O'Reilly, that is Bill O'Reilly. It's not my cup of tea, I don't care for it, but I can understand why a lot of viewers do."
Call-ins
King accepts call-in questions on some nights, Callers are identified only by city and state/province, and generally not by name. Occasionally, surprise guests telephone the show and comment, like Governors, royalty, and celebrities. At times, prank calls come in. Some callers manage to call into the show often, including Joe McCutchen, a noted frequent caller from Ellijay, Georgia.[3][4] The phone number for call-ins is 1-800-676-2100.
Frequent topics
During major election coverage, the program may center on political analysis and commentary, as the show's airing generally coincides with the closing of polls in many states.
One of King's recurring topics is the paranormal. A frequent guest is John Edward of the popular television show Crossing Over with John Edward. Edward comes on the show and gives callers a free chance to supposedly communicate, via him, with their dead loved ones. King also had alleged psychics such as Sylvia Browne and James Van Praagh on from time to time to do readings and discuss the future. King sometimes allows skeptics such as James Randi to debate the psychics. In an April 2005 episode, King hosted a panel discussion regarding Evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and atheist views on the afterlife. King has also had topics about UFO's and Extraterrestrials where he pits experts against skeptics.
King is also frequently accused of pandering to sensationalist news stories; for instance, the death of Anna Nicole Smith took up much of King's shows after the event, causing the cancellation of numerous guests and interviews that were already scheduled.[who?]
After the death of a prominent celebrity, King will either replay a recent program featuring said celebrity (for instance, after actor Don Knotts' death in 2006 King replayed the interview with Knotts and Andy Griffith taken several months before) or will bring on family members and close confidantes to the deceased to reminisce on the departed's life.
Set design
Each studio set features an identical colored-dot map of the world in the background and one of King's trademarks, a vintage RCA microphone, on the desk. The microphone is a prop, as King and his guests use lapel microphones.
Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (October 2008) |
Notable episodes
- The November 9, 1993 debate between Ross Perot and Al Gore on the North American Free Trade Agreement was watched in 11.174 million households - the largest audience ever for a program on an ad-supported cable network until the October 23, 2006 New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game on ESPN's Monday Night Football.[5]
- On September 25, 2006, Oprah Winfrey made her first endorsement of Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign for president on Larry King Live. Once Obama became a candidate, Winfrey made her first endorsement of candidate Obama on Larry King Live in May 2007. Two economists estimate that Winfrey’s endorsement was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary race[6] and that without it, Obama would have lost the nomination[7].
- To mark the 20th anniversary of the show, ABC's Barbara Walters was a guest host and interviewed King on his reflections of his career.
- To mark 50 years in broadcasting, Larry King Live had a week long celebration that included a two hour CNN presents special and an hour of celebrity toast. The broadcast of this special week long event was postponed due to the tragedy at Virginia Tech. XM Satellite Radio also featured a micro channel called "Larry!" that featured replays of The Larry King Show along with interviews and the new material from the CNN anniversary shows.
- On July 19, 2007, a frail Tammy Faye Messner made her final appearance on Larry King Live to talk about her battle with lung and colon cancer. She died the following day.
- On September 7, 2009, the first episode in high definition was aired.
The episode that did not happen
- Al Gore was supposed to host on May 6, 1999 with Oprah Winfrey as a guest and the topic was supposed to be the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre. However, with Gore's candidiacy for Presidency pending, CNN decided not to let him host as a result of the controversy.[8]
Guest hosts
 |
This section requires expansion. |
In recent years when King has been absent other interviewers have substituted for him.
- Ryan Seacrest has substituted for King many times.
- CNN Headline News host Nancy Grace has substituted for King many times including October 31, 2003, regarding the Scott Peterson case.
- On April 1, 1994[9] and 2002[10] Kermit the Frog hosted the show, as an April Fool's joke.
- On February 16, 1998, Dan Rather hosted a show regarding the then-ongoing Iraq crisis.[11] He also hosted on October 19, 2000 with Jay Leno as a guest.[12]
- On March 29, 1996, Newt Gingrich, then-Speaker of the House hosted with Jack Hanna serving as the guest.[13]
- On October 16, 1998 Wolf Blitzer hosted the show with the subject matter being the Matthew Shepard case. He also hosted the March 18 and March 19, 2008 episodes.
- On May 22, 2000, Kathie Lee Gifford hosted while Diane Sawyer and Joan Rivers were the guests.[14]
- On November 30, 2000, Roger Cossack interviewed John Ashcroft, who had just been defeated by Mel Carnahan. Carnahan, who died, was replaced by his wife, Jean[15]
- On January 22, 2001, Bob Schieffer hosted a show about campaign finance reform with John McCain as a guest.[16]
- On June 8, 2005, sportscaster Bob Costas was named as the regular substitute anchor for the show,[17] filling in roughly 20 times a year and not on a set schedule.[18]
- On August 18, 2005, Chris Pixley hosted the program instead of then-regular guest host Bob Costas, who did not feel comfortable with the subject matter, the Natalee Holloway case.
- On September 12, 2005, Dr.Phil hosted with the subject matter being the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina[19]. He again sat as guest host on February 27, 2009, interviewing various people concerning the Suleman octuplets.
- Comedian Bill Maher has taken up the duties of guest host.
- On March 2007, Mike Shiver sat in as guest host for a couple of shows.
- On April 2007, Star Jones hosted
- On April 6, 2007, Jimmy Kimmel hosted
- On July 24, 2007, former attorney and TMZ.com managing editor Harvey Levin guest hosted the show, the topic of discussion being Lindsay Lohan's arrest of that morning.
- On March 11, 2008, John King hosted 2008,[20], July 26, 2008[21], November 21, 2008, and January 28, 2009.
- On March 17, 2008, Dr. Drew hosted
- On July 21, 2008, Glenn Beck hosted.
- Joy Behar has hosted the show many times in the past including October 19, 2007[22] and November 14, 2008.
- On July 26, 2008, Kathy Griffin hosted for an episode featuring paparazzi.
- On March 12, 2009, Jeanine Pirro hosted
- On March 11, 2009, Sanjay Gupta hosted
- On March 9, 2009, Ali Velshi hosted
- On March 27, 2009, Tavis Smiley hosted
Larry King in fiction
- Larry King appeared as himself during two fictionalized airings of his show in the book and movie Primary Colors. First, he was part of a presidential campaign's effort to discredit an embarrassing audio tape, and later he interviewed another Democratic candidate (played in the film by Larry Hagman).
- Larry King is also featured in the film The Long Kiss Goodnight interviewing a main character, and in the film Dave in which he interviews Oliver Stone who claims that the man claiming to be the President of the United States is an impostor.
- Larry King's voice was heard in Ghostbusters questioning the credibility of the Ghostbusters.
- Larry King most recently appeared in Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie acting as the voice over for an animated bee named "Bee Larry King" who ran his own talk show.
- Larry King Live was often seen on the White House televisions in the NBC drama series The West Wing
- Larry King Live was featured in the 1997 movie Contact directed by Robert Zemeckis. The Larry King Live show is featured in two scenes.
- Larry King has appeared in a Marvel The Ultimates issue, interviewing Tony Stark while on a space trip with Shannon Elizabeth.
- Larry King has also appeared as himself on a number of television shows, including Murder One, The Practice, Boston Legal, Shark, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
- Larry King has appeared in the movie Enemy of the State.
- Larry King was parodied in a season 1 episode of Adult Swim show Metalocalypse.
- Larry King is also frequently parodied in the Comedy Central show South Park.
- Larry King has been parodied on Saturday Night Live and has been played by Kevin Nealon, Will Ferrell, Norm Macdonald, Jimmy Fallon, and Fred Armisen.
- Tom Hanks' character in the movie The Terminal looks at the television screen at the airport and sees Larry King reporting on the crisis in Krachozia.
- Larry King appeared as himself in episode 12 of the third season of 30 Rock.
- Larry King appeared in two episodes of The Simpsons, entitled One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish and Sideshow Bob Roberts.
References
- ^ End Of Qtr Data-Q107 (minus 3 hours).xls
- ^ Announced by CNN on April 22, 2008.
- ^ Joseph A. D'Agostino (1999-10-15). "Conservative spotlight: Joe McCutchen". Human Events. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_199910/ai_n8873453. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ James Salzer (2005-06-19). "Backer assails state's senators". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://web.archive.org/web/20051112122541/http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0605/19gopjoe.html. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ "Giants-Cowboys draws largest cable audience". ESPN. October 25, 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2637570. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
- ^ http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/so-much-for-one-person-one-vote/
- ^ The Role of Celebrity Endorsements in Politics: Oprah, Obama, and the 2008 Democratic Primary.
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/cnn050799.htm
- ^ "CNN 20: Kermit Hosts 'LARRY KING LIVE' April 1, 1994". CNN.com transcripts. 2000-04-01. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0004/01/cst.03.html. Retrieved 2006-12-30. (full transcript)
- ^ Ford Motor Company (2006-01-30). "CELEBRATED ACTOR, AUTHOR, SINGER AND JOURNALIST KERMIT THE FROG MAKES SUPER BOWL DEBUT IN FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AD". Press release. http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=22509. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=19980217fr
- ^ http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0010/19/lkl.00.html
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/US/9603/gingrich_animals/
- ^ http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0005/22/lkl.00.html
- ^ http://www.slate.com/id/1006625/
- ^ http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/22/mccain.lkl.transcript/
- ^ "Costas taking CNN role: News network announces television host to be substitute anchor of "Larry King Live."". CNN. 2005-06-08. http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/08/news/newsmakers/costas_cnn/. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ Lisa de Moraes (2005-06-09). "CNN's Designated Sitter: Bob Costas To Be Larry King's Regular Guest Host". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/08/AR2005060802732.html. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ http://www.kenyoninternational.com/in_the_news/05SEP%20-%20CNN%20(Larry%20King%20Live)%20-%20Kenyon%20Assists%20in%20Katrina%20Efforts.pdf
- ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/daily/2008/03/11/tuesday/index.html
- ^ http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/21/beck-larry-king/
- ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0710/19/lkl.01.html
External links
- Larry King Live Official Website
- 2005 Neilson Cable News TV Ratings / MediaBistro.com
- Lawsuit re. Lynn Redgrave interview
- Larry King Live at the Internet Movie Database
- Larry King Live at TV.com
| Preceded by Campbell Brown |
CNN Weekday Lineup 9:00PM–10:00PM |
Succeeded by Anderson Cooper 360° |
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