Larry King bows out after 25 years

Ed Pilkington

On Thursday, television history will be made. One of the legends of the small screen will be broadcast live at precisely the moment that his trousers fall down.

At least that's what will happen metaphorically. Larry King will hang up his famous braces.

For 25 years, night after night, Larry King Live has been a pillar of American culture, as comforting and dependable as Mickey Mouse and Hershey. But even cultural pillars can grow structurally unsound; in the case of King some would say that happened years ago.

CNN is being tight-lipped about the guests for the final show, which goes out at 9 p.m. [U.S. eastern time], revealing only the names of fellow TV hosts Ryan Seacrest and Bill Maher while withholding those of the 14 other participants.

Some will be politicians, CNN says. Which raises the possibility that Mario Cuomo will be among them — a pleasing touch were it to happen as Mr. Cuomo, then New York Governor, was Mr. King's very first guest on June 1, 1985.

It also holds out the possibility of Mr. King being rejoined by Ross Perot, who helped put Larry King Live on the map in 1992 when he declared on the show that he was running for the presidency. There again Al Gore might also be in attendance: the debate between him and Mr. Perot in 1993 was arguably the show's finest hour — transfixing a nation and attracting 20 million viewers.

For media watchers like Mark Feldstein, a former CNN correspondent, now journalism professor at George Washington University, such TV events were a boon to the network as it set out as the first 24-hour news operation. “In the early days CNN was a very traditional news outlet,” he said. “To have a fluffier talkshow like King's increased the pool of viewers and his very soft interviewing style brought in big names.” Those big names were drawn from the worlds of politics and entertainment. In politics his guests included Margaret Thatcher, whose spongier, non-iron side he enjoyed trying to reach; Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, who earlier this month returned to the show saying “there is just one King”; and every U.S. President since Richard Nixon. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010