C6
S TELEVISION
show sparks talk about timing, successor
by Howard Kurtz
Woody Allen said 90 percent of life is just showing up. The other 10 percent might be knowing when to leave.
By announcing Tuesday that
he’s giving up his CNN gig after 25 years, Larry King was able to say he was leaving on his own terms, even if others believe he was nudged. For most television stars “it’s almost impossible to walk away,” says Steve Friedman, a former producer of “Today” and “The Early Show.” “It’s the narcotic they live for. You don’t want to be walking down the street and have someone say, ‘Didn’t you used to be. . . . ?’ ” Others say the 76-year- old broadcaster wore out his wel- come. “It was time for him to go gently into the night,” says Rob- ert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse Uni- versity. “The Lady Gaga interview was kind of goofy. He was danger- ously close to becoming a self- parody.” King’s decision to surrender
his franchise this fall has sparked a speculation sweepstakes about a successor, as well as a debate over whether his format — a vari- ety show that careened from presidential interviews to Ma- donna — can survive in today’s fragmented and polarized media world. A “middlebrow” program “is really hard to pull off in this age,” says industry analyst An- drew Tyndall. “Larry King tried to straddle everything, and I think that’s increasingly diffi- cult.”
Piers Morgan, a former editor
of London’s Daily Mirror and News of the World but best known in the United States as a judge on “America’s Got Talent,” is seen by some CNN and indus- try insiders as most likely to in- herit the program. Although King has endorsed Ryan Sea- crest, the “American Idol” host might lack the chops for political interviews. Other names, from Katie Couric to Ellen DeGeneres
Decision to quit CNN
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King among rare stars who walked away
giving of advanced age. Barbara Walters is 80; Andy Rooney is 91. “News is a genre that is less ruthless than other genres in obliging people to retire,” Tyndall says. “You’re more likely as a news person to hang around be- yond your sell-by date. And the audience is older in news.” But even in news divisions, there are smooth transitions (Tom Brokaw’s handoff to Brian Williams) and disastrous transi- tions (Deborah Norville seen as an interloper after Jane Pauley left “Today”). Had King battled to keep his job, CNN might have shown him the door when his contract expires next year. King said in an interview Tues-
day that he isn’t giving up the show because his audience has declined by nearly half in the past year, or because of the well-pub- licized problems with his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick. But it is hard to imagine he’d be leaving at the moment if he were beating Fox’s Sean Hannity and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in the Nielsen ratings. One friend says King gave no indication of wanting to step down during a conversation several weeks ago. The danger of waiting too long
LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST
HAIL AND FAREWELL:Larry King arrives at the White House correspondents’ dinner. He’ll wrap up “Larry King Live” this fall.
to Joy Behar, are being tossed around. In ending his reign, King
avoided the fate of Jay Leno (eased out of “The Tonight Show” but brought back after the Conan O’Brien debacle); Dan Rather (who sued CBS after being forced out over the National Guard documents fiasco); David Brink- ley (who slammed Bill Clinton on his final election night), and Helen Thomas (who told a rabbi that the Israelis should “get the hell out of Palestine”). “Larry’s leaving in a way that he can celebrate his great success and go on to other successes,” says Tammy Haddad, a former
King producer who now runs a Washington media company. “He’s an appealing interviewer, and people want to talk to him. People have counted him out be- fore, but he’s always proven to be resilient.” King says he will do three years of periodic specials for CNN, unrelated to his current contract; he will also be free to contribute to other networks. Some entertainers — notably
Johnny Carson, who virtually dis- appeared after his 30-year “To- night” run, and Jerry Seinfeld, who halted his hugely popular sitcom — have left the audience wanting more. But the journal- ism game tends to be more for-
is that viewers tend to notice. King may not have lost his fast- ball, since that pitch was never in his repertoire, but there have been moments when he seemed culturally disconnected, such as when he called Ringo Starr “George” during a 2007 inter- view.
Does a prime-time chat show
have a future when opinionated hosts of the left and right draw strongly partisan audiences? When “Larry King Live” began in 1985, pop culture scholar Thomp- son says, there were few places on prime-time television to see celebrities informally shooting the breeze. “Now there are so many venues to get this kind of stuff,” he says.
But since all you need is a desk, some decent bookings and a rea- sonably hip host, Thompson says, “I can’t imagine this format couldn’t work into the 22nd cen- tury.”
kurtzh@washpost.com
Howard Kurtz also works for CNN and hosts its weekly media program, “Reliable Sources.”
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ARRESTING: Missy Peregrym as Andy on “Rookie Blue.” HIGHLIGHTS
The short-lived sitcom “100 Questions” (NBC at 8:30) quietly slinks away into the night, as the last of the six- episode order airs on Thursday. Given that the premiere aired the day after the regular TV season ended, it never really had much of a chance. In the finale, Charlotte tries to be the first of her friends to have a one-night stand.
While the contestants test their luck with obstacles including “Mid-Evil Wipe-a-Lot” and “Circle Challenge,” the hosts on “Wipeout” (ABC at 8) take it easy while playing a video game version of the obstacle course. Joy has the pleasure of dealing with troublesome teenagers on “Police Women of Memphis” (TLC at 9), while Arica confronts a drunk driver and Aubrey tries to help an emotional girl after her stepfather is taken into custody. In any cop show, there has to be a romance to lighten up all the crime and violence — and sure enough, on “Rookie Blue” (ABC at 9), Andy realizes she’s very attracted to her training officer, a detective named Sam, while the two of them work together to find a missing informant. A doctor begs Michael for
help on “Burn Notice” (USA at 9) when a group of drug dealers comes after a clinic, but Michael’s a little busy with
other crimes. Events in the hospital get especially dramatic on “Boston Med” (ABC at 10) when a woman gives birth to a baby boy just as her husband returns from Iraq, only to deal with the fact that her newborn son has a heart defect and needs immediate surgery. Duff and crew look back on the best of the first 100 “Ace of Cake” (Food Network at 10) episodes, including a cake built like a roller coaster. Bethenny tries to forget about drama for a day when her “Real Housewives of New York City” cast mate Alex McCord throws a bridal shower on “Bethenny Getting Married?” (Bravo at 10), but things go awry later when her wedding dress isn’t quite the right size. While Dr. Peck fights with Divya on “Royal Pains” (USA at 10), Hank tries his best to help Boris survive. A drunk teenager wreaks
havoc on “Mall Cops: Mall of America” (TLC at 10), as the security guards also figure out what to do with a small child after the mother is caught stealing. Actor Taylor Lautner is a guest on “Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS at 11:35), along with director Barry Sonnenfeld. Comedian Kathy Griffin,
actor Michael Vartan and actress Alicia Witt stop by “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” (CBS at 12:35).
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