Is Larry King's CNN reign nearing its end?

[madinmaryland]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041904537.html?hpid=artslot

"Respected U.S. newsman Larry King has filed for divorce from his country-singer wife, Shawn Southwick," the wire service story says dryly. It seems simple enough until you stop to wonder: Is "respected U.S. newsman Larry King" any relation to that guy who has a weeknight talk show on CNN?

That Larry King is known for eyeglasses with thick lenses and large frames; his alarmingly concave posture; his goofy suspenders and insistence on appearing without a suit coat; his gravely gravelly voice; the fact that he gets a haircut every day, or so Larry lore has it; and, of course, his second career as a kind of professional husband -- an apparently incurable romantic who's had one more wife than Henry VIII and is currently in the process of separating awkwardly from No. 7, Shawn Southwick.

King married the much-younger Southwick, according to published accounts, "in a hospital room in 1997 shortly before surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel." There's our Larry in a capsule -- spirit willing, flesh being patched up and sort of digitally remastered, like an old classic movie.

Larry is a romantic; like Elizabeth Taylor, he doesn't have affairs with the objects of his affection, he marries 'em. It's kind of sweet in its way, really, and a nod to traditional morality -- although one departure from morality in this latest marriage is that Southwick charged Larry with romancing her younger sister, Shannon.

That old heart of Larry's is 76, like the rest of him, and anyone who has watched American television for more than 12 minutes at a sitting lately knows that Larry's age, as well as his playboy antics, are keeping our stand-up comics busy. Though hardly a comedian, Reba McEntire began the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night with the kind of joke currently inescapable on the air: "Our show is going green this year," she said. "All our scripts are made from recycled Larry King divorce papers."

Yeah, Larry King jumped the shark years ago.

[Wapsie B]

1. To me he jumped the shark after he left his overnight radio show.

When he was on Mutual Broadcasting things were more free-form and open. His interviews, Kitty Kelly's notwithstanding were insightful and thought-provoking. The non-screening of calls brought about lively discussions on many topics. It was an open dare to the whack jobs to try their luck against him. The CNN show was and is so tightly scripted that the content pales in comparison to his work on radio. I can't remember the last time I watched him.

[Taverner]

2. I still think this was his journalistic apex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xuPaf4UIi8

[BethCA66]

3. His reign of what? Boredom? n/t