Larry King, TV host who gave boldface names a cozy forum, dies at 87

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Phineas Gage

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Jan 23, 2021, 9:52:32 AM1/23/21
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“Larry King, the suspendered impresario of cable television whose popular CNN interview program — with its guest-friendly questions and conversational banter — was a premier safe haven for the famous and infamous to spill their secrets, hype their projects and soften their image, died Jan. 23 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 87.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/larry-king-tv-host-who-gave-boldface-names-a-cozy-forum-dies-at-87/2021/01/23/a1178fc2-4eaa-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

Tom Wolper

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Jan 23, 2021, 10:17:25 AM1/23/21
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On Sat, Jan 23, 2021 at 9:52 AM Phineas Gage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:
“Larry King, the suspendered impresario of cable television whose popular CNN interview program — with its guest-friendly questions and conversational banter — was a premier safe haven for the famous and infamous to spill their secrets, hype their projects and soften their image, died Jan. 23 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 87.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/larry-king-tv-host-who-gave-boldface-names-a-cozy-forum-dies-at-87/2021/01/23/a1178fc2-4eaa-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

One of the problems with eulogizing someone who had a ridiculously long career is that what set him apart from the pack in his early years is forgotten in favor of what he did later in life when he got rich and lazy. I used to listen to King late at night on Mutual radio in the early 80s and he was as good a talk radio host as there was. He was engaging and knew how to ask his guests sharp questions without causing a conflict. It was only in the mid-90s on CNN that it became clear that he no longer had it but instead of making him hang it up he was continually given a show for the next 25 years and that's what now forms his legacy.

Kevin M.

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Jan 23, 2021, 12:52:23 PM1/23/21
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I just can’t be nice about him. He was a bad interviewer with no scruples. I didn’t wish him dead; I feel for his family; but he was a two-faced ass who gave journalists and long form interviews a bad name. 

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Steve Timko

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Jan 23, 2021, 3:13:55 PM1/23/21
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I have mixed feelings and largely agree with Tom. He has such a long career he has a lot of great moments and a lot of flops, too. Like Carson, he hung around too long. Carson's problem at the end was boredom. King's was senility and it was much harsher.
King liked to go into interviews unprepared and he said learning about something as he went along also helped the audience learn. But it led to too many softball questions and missed opportunities.
He sold his credibility to dubious businesses. 
Still, he had a great sense of humor and that enhanced may interviews.


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PGage

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Jan 23, 2021, 3:36:24 PM1/23/21
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Hang on there; the comparison to Carson is I think way off. If Johnny had been a great magician and a third rate late night talk show for 25 years, then the analogy to King would be close. But Larry god bless him did not just have a few bad years at the end, his entire CNN period was a shit show. I am willing to take Tom’s word that he had a great radio show at one time, especially because I know Letterman always had great respect for that radio show. But the show we saw at 6:00 every night for so long (well, I cut out for the last five years or so as I couldn’t take it anymore) was an insult to the idea of journalism. 

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Joe Hass

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Jan 23, 2021, 5:18:46 PM1/23/21
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Hold up there with the "Carson stayed too long" crap. Pretty much everyone I've read (and I agree) think Carson left at the right time. He saw what happened to Bob Hope at the end doing horrible TV specials and knew he didnt wanted to end up like that. He could've written his own contracts and stories, but choose not to (with the exception of guest writing for Dave, which is enough of a justification that he could've kept going).

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Doug Eastick

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Jan 23, 2021, 6:29:51 PM1/23/21
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Craig Ferguson tweeted this link to a video of Larry being the fill in for Geoff one night.   I had never seen it.    If you liked Craig, it's worth to watch the whole 12 minutes to see how it all worked (or didn't)

On Sat., Jan. 23, 2021, 9:52 a.m. Phineas Gage, <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:
“Larry King, the suspendered impresario of cable television whose popular CNN interview program — with its guest-friendly questions and conversational banter — was a premier safe haven for the famous and infamous to spill their secrets, hype their projects and soften their image, died Jan. 23 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 87.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/larry-king-tv-host-who-gave-boldface-names-a-cozy-forum-dies-at-87/2021/01/23/a1178fc2-4eaa-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

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Steve Timko

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Jan 23, 2021, 6:36:43 PM1/23/21
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On Sat, Jan 23, 2021 at 2:18 PM Joe Hass <hassg...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hold up there with the "Carson stayed too long" crap. Pretty much everyone I've read (and I agree) think Carson left at the right time. He saw what happened to Bob Hope at the end doing horrible TV specials and knew he didnt wanted to end up like that. He could've written his own contracts and stories, but choose not to (with the exception of guest writing for Dave, which is enough of a justification that he could've kept going).

Crap? You must be from the Kelly Anne Conway school of alternative facts.

Carson was down to three days a week with a fill-in host or reruns the other days.
He worked fewer weeks a year.
Jay Leno sometimes got higher ratings as a fill-in host than Carson.
Arsenio Hall was kicked the crap out of Carson with younger viewers, which distressed NBC brass
But generally, Johnny seemed bored. I know. I was watching.

 

John Edwards

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Jan 24, 2021, 3:27:41 AM1/24/21
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On Sat, Jan 23, 2021 at 6:29 PM Doug Eastick <eas...@mcd.on.ca> wrote:
Craig Ferguson tweeted this link to a video of Larry being the fill in for Geoff one night.   I had never seen it.    If you liked Craig, it's worth to watch the whole 12 minutes to see how it all worked (or didn't)

All that video did was remind me how much I miss Ferguson's show.

John

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John Edwards
"You can insure against the weather, but you can't insure against incompetence, can you?" - Phil Tufnell

JW

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Jan 26, 2021, 7:08:20 AM1/26/21
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Conan put together a ten-minute tribute and highlight video.

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