A Kingly Adieu To The King Of Talk: Larry King

The king is not dead but we will miss his show.

Photo From CNN.com

After 50,000 interviews, 6,120 shows and 53 years of broadcasting, CNN's Larry King finally hung up his suspenders but of course, you cannot expect this extraordinary guy to just fade away. Its simply not the King's way of doing things and there's no way Ted Turner will let him go.

I practically grew watching Larry King Live. From the time we first got our cable connection (about high school or early college) to the present day whenever there's an opportunity, I was always fascinated and amazed on how this man makes his interviewee so at ease, so comfortable yet at the same time manage stick to the main interview topic like industrial strength glue.

He doesn't patronize his guests but at the same you can feel the connection & trust between both interviewer and interviewee without selling out his mission as a journalist.

Another thing you will notice with the King, he is always in control of his entire interview regardless who is front of him sharing his iconic mic, whether its a queen, a head of state, a celebrity or some big shot CEO. The King bows to no one except his audience who is his real king as far as he is concerned and that's why he rules.

And while it's pointless to compare Mr. King and some of our own local talk show host (oranges and banana), you cannot help but notice how most Filipino interviewers and host tend to talk more than their guests! 

I was expecting these celebrity hosts have learned the virtues brevity from their overuse and abuse of Twitter but then when you have inexperienced and untrained people taking on a journalists job, you cannot expect too much as far as professional results are concerned.

Maybe these talk show hosts should take their cue from Larry when he said: "...if it's more than 2 sentences, it's too long."

And so to the king, I bid you adieu and thank you.

The air is dead! Long live the king!