The Suspenders

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Benevolent King of CNN bows out

by Bill Goodykoontz - Dec. 12, 2010 -- 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

After more than 50 years of broadcasting in one form or another, 25 of them at CNN, Larry King steps away from the mike Thursday, Dec. 16.

By any standards, King has had a great run, a remarkable one, really, one that in an age of ever-changing media and delivery systems will probably be impossible to duplicate.

But it was time. It was past time.

In some ways King's old-school show, "Larry King Live," was a comforting throwback. At least for a while. It's not King's fault, nor CNN's, that the world changed around him. But it did, and over time he has become less of a warm reminder of bygone days and more of a punch line.

However, he remains till the end a preferred stop for celebrities and politicians on their way home from rehab or jail or wherever, the one place they know they can get their side of the story out in the universe, unimpeded by skepticism or probing questions.

And, for better or worse, he is the face of CNN, even as Anderson Cooper's star has risen. When King goes, so, too, does the last vestige of what the once-mighty cable-news network meant as far as brands go. What will the next step be, and will King's replacement Piers Morgan be the man to lead the way?

I can't imagine.

The large-frame glasses, the suspenders, the twinkling multicolored lights all combined for a signature look, which, like his style of interviews, didn't really change much. There is something quaint about that. His eight marriages to seven women were even somehow - like Johnny Carson's marital troubles - played as both funny and endearing, a callback to the oldest-school days of show business.

King's interviews seemed that way, too. They were more like listening to a conversation between, say, a rock star or a senator and the guy sitting at the corner stool at the bar. You ask them how it's going, let them say what they have to say and let it go at that. Not all interviews need be confrontational. Few, in fact, are, particularly those with celebrities who generally have some project to promote. But there is something to be said, in all circumstances, for following up on discrepancies, for not just tagging along where the interview takes you but for actually leading the way.

By just being affable and agreeable, however, King managed to make a fortune while carving out a career that would be the envy of anyone in entertainment. He took heat, for example, for not seeming exactly sure why he was talking to Lady Gaga, and for letting any number of folks prattle on uninterrupted while they toiled at image rehabilitation obvious to everyone but him. Or maybe he knew and didn't care. Certainly it made his show a popular destination for just about anyone in the news. When Paris Hilton shows up on your broadcast after being released from jail, it's either a sign that you are still relevant or of the impending apocalypse that anyone actually cares.

But relevance doesn't last forever. Like the network that has been his home, King's ratings have dried up. But no matter what you think of the guy, it's hard to believe that CNN will be better without him. Sandwiched between Fox News and MSNBC - between right and left - the network has struggled for both ratings and buzz.

King might not have been the greatest interviewer in the world, but for the past 25 years he was there, giving the (diminishing) audience exactly what it expected. Without him, who personifies CNN's brand? Millions of people are going to miss Larry King. It wouldn't surprise me if CNN does, too.