Larry King is 'dead': Piers Morgan takes over

[Guest fountainhall]

The guests for the first week of Larry King’s replacement on CNN, Piers Morgan, will include Oprah Winfrey in the first show, with George Clooney, Ricky Gervais, Condoleezza Rice, Howard Stern, Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and the musicians Kid Rock and Rod Stewart. The nightly, hour-long show will be pre-recorded in front of a studio audience.

 

Which makes me wonder: how is this going to be any different from the other run-of-the-mill formula-ridden, boring, late night US talk shows? (Well, Piers Morgan says he aims to be polarising and provocative – so I will, too )

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/11/piers-morgan-tonight-guestlist

[TotallyOz]

He has got a superstar lineup but I don't like the guy. I didn't really like Larry either but I would watch when he had someone one that I wanted to see. I thought CNN could have made a better choice.

[Bob]

King did a great job but I never thought he had a sparkling personality. For some reason, I've never liked Piers Morgan and always thought he had somewhat of a snarky (smart-ass) personality. But, like others, I'd watch King in the past when he had somebody on the show that was worth listening too (somebody like Warren Buffet verus somebody like Suzanne Somers).

 

You'd think that CNN could find somebody that's intelligent and likeable somewhere. Hell, Anderson Cooper would likely do as well as anybody.

[Guest fountainhall]

I'm also in the 'don't like Piers" club, but clearly CNN sees something in him that we don't - at least until they kill his show. Not sure Anderson Cooper would be my choice, though. He seems a helluva nice guy and a good reporter, but I now find his anchoring somewhat grating. I really have no idea who would be my choice for that slot. But changing the format from straight interviews to late night style pre-recorded with audience seems a dumb move.

[Guest JamesBarnes]

I'm also in the 'don't like Piers" club, but clearly CNN sees something in him that we don't - at least until they kill his show. Not sure Anderson Cooper would be my choice, though. He seems a helluva nice guy and a good reporter, but I now find his anchoring somewhat grating. I really have no idea who would be my choice for that slot. But changing the format from straight interviews to late night style pre-recorded with audience seems a dumb move.

 

As you may know, PM was a notorious and much disliked protagonist in the UK gutter press, and had a rotten reputation amongst his piers. The Americans seem to be addicted to Brit 'bad boys'. I am not.

[Guest Astrrro]

Was Piers one of the contestants on the Apprentice or am I confusing him with someone else?

[Bob]

Was Piers one of the contestants on the Apprentice or am I confusing him with someone else?

 

Yes, that was him. I didn't watch it as I rarely watch any television series and can't stomach "The Donald" in any event. I have no clue if Piers won or lost.

[Jason1988]

Larry King has been dead for the last 20 years but someone forgot to tell him.

His style of interviewing has seen better days. He never seems to ask the questions

that you'd like to ask. Perhaps he is trying not to offend anyone or put them off but

in the process has become very boring to watch. The whole CNN network is losing

its market share as there are other alternatives in the marketplace.

[Guest fountainhall]

Larry King has been dead for the last 20 years but someone forgot to tell him.

I obviously saw him long after rigor mortis set in A dozen years ago, a client put me up for a few days in the very nice Beverly Wilshire Hotel in LA. Coming out of the lift one evening to join my client for dinner, there was Larry King in the lobby, on his own leaning against a piece of furniture. Two things surprised me, apart from the rigor mortis (true - he did not move at all!). He is quite a small guy, and his face protrudes from his neck rather like a chicken's! I guess it's all those years of leaning forward to talk to TV cameras.

[Bob]

Given his success over the years, I feel somewhat obligated to defend King. Sure, he wasn't anything to look at and often he didn't ask the tough questions; yet, he also didn't insert his own personality into the interview either. Bar none in the US over the last 25 years, he had the best guests (and, of course, a slew of empty-headed ones too).

 

As somewhat mentioned here or elsewhere, Charlie Rose is a much better interviewer although he never seems to pointedly ask the tough questions at times either.

 

But, to be fair to both, these guys didn't see themselves or tout themselves as tough journalists or probing interviewers. It's just entertainment and, with the right guest, it was entertaining and, occasionally, illuminating.

[Guest fountainhall]

In general I agree. I can even remember the time when I would make sure I tuned in to catch his shows. I just think he went on a bit too long. Oprah could go on for quite a few years yet, in my view, but she has other ambitions and probably knows that there is a limit to her show's format. If she did not start up a network and use those she helped become public names, like Nate Berkus and Dr. Oz, then others would. She's some savvy lady.

[Guest HeyGay]

I use to love Larry King he had a wonderful line up of guests I'm not to Interested in the political guests but he made it sound as though you would ask those questions as my field use to be Show Business Stars If you have ever met any Super stars your know they can be the most boring people on Earth, so to get anything interesting out of them is not that easy, Larry would gently probe them as best he could, he did a wonderful job I will miss him

 

Piers Morgan who I have met is provocative controversial and very personal self a opinionatedm at times.and liked by 50% of his audience, just like some one else who writes on these Boards some times.

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Piers_Morgan

Piers will get to the nitty Gritty of and he will provoke the questions out of the guest and will bring out the real person who has to fight back to make sure he is is not miss quoted and he or she can not leave a question unanswered or the viewer will think this is the way it is, not the way the interviewed person really wants to be known.

 

Keep watching your get use to him and he will be good, even though he is not going to be liked for his autocratic manor.

 

Lets face it he is not getting payed $5 million for being Mr Nice Guy, controovercy sells .

[Guest fountainhall]

Lets face it he is not getting payed $5 million for being Mr Nice Guy, controovercy sells .

I'm surprised he's only getting $5 million for such a vital slot in CNN's attempts to capture more viewers.

 

Pulling in 2.1 million for the first show with Oprah Winfrey, he tripled Larry King's recent ratings. But a first show with such a huge guest was always going to raise the numbers. Reviews in the US media seem mixed -

 

If he shows the judgment, skills and news sense he showed Monday with the toughest first-night assignment a TV talk-show host ever had, he'll make people forget Larry King even more quickly than they already have.

Philadelphia Enquirer

 

The goal was to replace 'Larry King Live' with something "better" right? That might turn out to be harder than any of us would have guessed

Washington Post

 

Morgan’s interview with Oprah did what most over-hyped spectacles do – it imploded upon everyone’s expectations. It did, for all the world, seem like two self-important rich people talking to each other

Hollywood Reporter

 

Other than laughing too hard at her jokes and being generally pleasant, it's hard to see how this is any improvement over what Larry King was doing in the timeslot, other than being about three decades younger

Variety

 

The guy was bound to be nervous in the 2 shows we've seen so far. He does laugh too much and I thought the last question to Oprah "How did I do" was pretty stupid? And what I wonder did Oprah really mean when she said "Surprising"? In a couple of weeks he'll have settled down and we'll really see if the show has the ingredients for long-term success.

[TotallyOz]

"Morgan

[Guest lonelywombat]

I have just heard the Piers Morgan show was thrashed by MTV remake of the smash UK hit show Skins.

 

Comments of kiddie porn and even stronger are being thrown at Skins.

 

It was also reported that Sean Hannity interview of Sarah Palin on Fox , also exceeded Piers interview of Opray by over a million .

 

Approx figures only as it was on radio it was quoted, 3million+ for both Skins and Fox and 2 million plus for Piers.

 

I dont dare draw any conclusions here as a non US citizen.

[Guest Thor69]

Larry King was very arrogant when he started his career in radio in Miami. Larry King left Miami for New York with a slew of bounced checks and unpaid bills. The guy was and probably still is someone that thinks he is better than he really is. If he didn't leave CNN he more than likely would have been forced out as CNN needs to cut all the big salaries out of their budget. CNN has lost it's edge and is not as popular as it was years ago.

[Guest fountainhall]

Piers Morgan's show has been going for some weeks now. I have only seen a few - and I have no idea what it's trying to achieve! Events in Tunisia and Egypt have clearly thrust Morgan's plans into chaos since he is now spending as much time as an anchor/journalist as a chat show host.

 

I thought it would be an entertainment/chat show with live audience. The show with Donald Trump - the first, I think, with any audience - was a joke. The audience cheering and applause before and after the breaks sounded 'canned' and there was no feeling of an audience in the rest of the show. This is not a Late Night type of show. So, what on earth is the point of the audience?

 

Of the other shows I've watched, Morgan's style does seem to succeed occasionally in bringing his guests more into the interview. Overall, though. I find the questioning style grating, the pitch of his voice too high, and the constant interrupting off-putting.

[Guest fountainhall]

PIers Morgan's show seems to have been submerged under all the 'hard' news in recent weeks. From the shows I have seen, it is going as steadily downhill as its ratings. His constant interrupting and fawning attitude with some guests (someone should teach him not to say "You're my idol") and his high-piched delivery don't seem to winning many viewers.

 

His best-rated show was the 2.1 million for his first with Oprah. The worst? Kim and Kourtney Kardashian which had 498,000 viewers and was beaten by a CNBC special on supermarkets. The recent show with Charlie Sheen must have been a welcome relief with 1.34 million viewers.

 

One of my favourite quotes came from the interview with Donald Trump -

 

Trump: "China is our enemy! We are the best nation in the world! We make the best products, bar none! Americans are the smartest people in the world!"

 

Morgan: "Er, Mr. Trump? China is investing everything in education and the US puts all its money into armies . . ."

 

Unless there is a dramatic upswing, I see him lasting no longer than the summer.

[Guest]

I have just heard the Piers Morgan show was thrashed by MTV remake of the smash UK hit show Skins.

 

That makes sense. The British version of Skins was brilliant, whereas Piers Morgan is anything but.