Thursday, March 28, 2024

Larry King: “CNN Is Making Me Go On With Piers Morgan”

Share

Larry King tells me that CNN is making him go on tonight with his successor Piers Morgan. I ran into Larry on Monday having a holiday lunch with the radio legend Norm Pattiz, chairman emeritus of Westwood One Radio, at the famed Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills. They are cooking up something big for Larry, which is great: there was nothing better than listening to the King on radio in the old days, interviewing and giving opinions. If he came back, he’d be bigger than ever.

But forcing Larry to appear with his replacement? Apparently, he’s still under contract with CNN and pretty much can’t turn down what they ask him to do. So he will appear tonight for one half hour, thirty minutes, and deal with Piers Morgan. Why? Because Larry made a comment recently that “Piers Morgan was oversold.” Now he’s going to go back to his old studio and explain himself. The explanation? That CNN over hyped someone the American public knew little about. That Morgan should have been allowed to attract an audience on his merits, not by dint of constant pr and ads.

Larry has nothing against Piers Morgan. But I do think Morgan, who is obviously very talented, comes across on CNN a little like FM radio. Where Larry barked, Piers soothes. I watched his recent interview with Janet Jackson, but it was difficult: Janet speaks in a whisper, like Jackie Kennedy or Marilyn Monroe. Piers’s voice is like Celestial Seasonings. I went through two cappuccinos during the hour. If only someone from Altoona had called in!

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
spot_img

Read more

In Other News