Longtime CNN talk show host and legendary broadcaster Larry King announced earlier this week that he'd be unplugging his microphone this fall, ending an era for the 76-year-old's Larry King Live show after 25 years, so he can find "more time for my wife and I to get to the kids little league games."
Many critics think that if timing is everything, the suspender clad announcer was slightly off, by oh, perhaps a decade, where he has long descended into self parody, becoming the go to place for celebrities and politicians who want a platform where they would not be challenged.
Who could forget this take down by comedian Jerry Seinfeld with King back in November of 2007:
But long before King became a parody of himself, he was a ground breaker in the world of talk radio.
King began his broadcast career in Miami in 1957 where he worked as a D.J. and sports talk show host. He segued in the 1970's to being the color analyst for the Miami Dolphins – something that could never happen today (that is, a non player or coach doing color commentary on a major broadcast outlet – he also did color commentary for the Shreveport Steamers of the World Football League in 1974).
But he'll always be known for doing his overnight talk radio show for Mutual Broadcasting, beginning in 1978 to 1984. The show was originally 5 1/2 hours long, from midnight to 5:30 a.m. It was truly great radio, and also pretty unique (certainly in its time slot). This was the golden age of local broadcasting, but not national. Rush Limbaugh didn't come on the scene until 1988. But King, with his "Open Phone America" segments, was truly compelling radio. It was carried by more than 250 affiliates, and had on average 3 to 5 million listeners.
CNN came a knockin' in 1985, and we all have seen his work since. Back in the 1990's, it was still much see TV. CNN truly took off in early 1991, with their coverage of the Gulf War. As has been much commented on, Ross Perot, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush made regular appearances during the political year of 1992, and Perot's debate with Al Gore on NAFTA in 1993 was another must-see event.
One place where King was mocked contemporaneously was his infamous USA Today Monday column, which ran for nearly 20 years before being dropped in 2001. Shortly thereafter, the New York Observer's Ron Rosenbaum wrote what he termed an homage, not a parody, that you can read here.
King was always known as a ladies man, if being married to seven different woman fits that definition). Always imitated, frequently mocked, but a one of a kind broadcaster.
This article appears in Jul 1-7, 2010.
