Monday, March 1, 2021

MARC,H 2021 TVXOHOF SHOWCASE - THE KING OF TALK

 


From CNN:
January 24, 2021
Larry King, the longtime CNN host who became an icon through his interviews with countless newsmakers and his sartorial sensibilities, has died. He was 87.


THE CLOSER

King hosted "Larry King Live" on CNN for over 25 years, interviewing presidential candidates, celebrities, athletes, movie stars and everyday people. He retired in 2010 after taping more than 6,000 episodes of the show.


BOSTON LEGAL

A statement was posted on his verified Facebook account announcing his passing. His son, Chance, confirmed King's death Saturday morning.


BIG LOVE

"With profound sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at age 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles," the statement said.

UGLY BETTY

The Television Crossover Hall Of Fame has tried to format March as the month to celebrate members of the League of Themselves.  I’m blanking on who was originally slotted for induction this year, but considering the news….

LARRY KING

From Wikipedia:
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included two Peabodys, an Emmy and ten Cable ACE Awards. He hosted over 50,000 interviews.


FRASIER

King was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s, and gained prominence in 1978 as host of ‘The Larry King Show’, an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System.  

ARLISS

From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program ‘Larry King Live’ on CNN. King hosted ‘Larry King Now’ from 2012 to 2020, which aired on Hulu, Ora TV, and RT America. He hosted ‘PoliticKING with Larry King’, a weekly political talk show, on the same three channels from 2013 to 2020.


King also appeared in television series and films, usually playing himself.



The King of Talk was a multiversal, appearing in not only TV shows, but also in movies as himself, on radio, and even in the universe of comic books.  (His comics counterpart fares better in the far future – he’s still on the job when Kitty Pryde grows up and runs for president.)



King is seen here with She-Hulk in the Comic Book Universe.  She will soon be seen on Disney+ in a new series starring Tatiana Maslany.  Sadly, too late to team up with one of King's alternate televersions. 

Within the greater TV Universe, Larry King was a multi-dimensional.  Many of his appearances were from Earth Prime-Time, the main Toobworld.  But he also has a presence in the Tooniverse and in two alternate Toobworlds as well.

In those cases where I couldn’t find the exact details of his involvement in a particular episode, it has been my “O’Bservation” that he was probably seen reporting and/or commenting on a high profile news story, or interviewing somebody who was involved.  (The plot summaries for most of those episodes usually dealt with a big murder trial storyline.)



So here are the appearances which qualified Larry King for membership in the TVXOHOF:

The Edge of Night
- Episode #1.6621 (1981)

O’Bservation - Larry King worked as a reporter in this episode, which was set in the Midwestern city of Monticello.  This was probably the first time his life in Earth Prime-Time deviated from his Earth Prime life, unless there was some spoken reference to the fictional version of his youth.

Murphy Brown
- Rootless People (1990)

O’Bservation - I’m assuming Larry covered Murphy’s kidnapping by environmentalists.


The Larry Sanders Show
- The P.A. (1995)

When he showed up to be a guest on the show, Larry kept mentioning the high caliber guests he had on his show – Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama, and Brando.




Coach
- Is It Hot in Here, or Is It Me?: Part 2 (1995)

Larry interviewed “Bullwinkle” about Hayden’s hot mike gaffe in the Orlando welcoming parade.



Murder One
- Chapter Twenty-One (1996)

King interviewed the prosecutor, Miriam Grasso, and the defense attorney, Teddy Hoffman, regarding the Neil Avedon case after he was found guilty of murdering Jessica Costello.



Murphy Brown
- Phil's Dead - Long Live Phil's (1996)

Larry paid tribute to Phil at his wake, held in his bar.



Bonnie
- Better Offer (1996)

O’Bservation – Based on the picture (if it actually had anything to do with the episode and wasn’t just a publicity photo), I’m guessing Larry King visited the TV station where Mark Derwin was playing the boss.


Arli$$
- The Real Thing (1997)

To promote a baseball player about to set a record, Arliss sets up a lot of former players to kick off the tour to Cooperstown in the cities where they played. He also got Larry King believing he would kick off the tour on his show.



Muppets Tonight
- Billy Crystal (1996)

Larry did a cameo as he tried to convince Bobo the security guard to let him into the theater.



Frasier
- My Fair Frasier (1997)

Larry King interviewed the woman Frasier was dating.

King:
We're here with noted attorney, Samantha Pierce, she's in Los Angeles to appear with us. Currently, she's trying a case in Seattle defending the butcher knife killer….
[Turns to Samantha Pierce]
Sam, I have to ask you. Don't you think being in the public eye, dating some of the world's most famous men, affects the way juries perceive you?
Sam:
Now, that's not really fair, Larry. I don't date public figures.
King:
What about the much-publicized relationship with Kevin Costner?
Sam:
Oh, that's just a rumor.
King:
George Stephanopoulos?
Sam:
A rumor too.
King:
Brad Pitt is another rumor?
Sam:
Yeah, but I started that one.


The Practice
- The Verdict (2002)

King interviewed Ellanor Frutt, who was defending her law associate Lindsay Dole on a charge of murder.

Everybody Loves Raymond
- The First Six Years (2002)

O’Bservation – This was a retrospective clip show and Larry King either hosted it or was one of the celebrities who commented on the series.


Arli$$
- Standards and Practices (2002)

Larry interviewed one of Arliss’ clients, who bared her breasts on national television.



Sesame Street
- Telly Joins the Letter of the Month Club (2004)
- Sesame Street Presents: The Street We Live On (2004)


Fat Actress
- Crack for Good (2005)

Kirstie Alley was hanging out with her parents while Larry King was on the TV.  What they didn’t know was that Larry was about to interview Kirstie’s crackhead brother about her.



Law & Order: Trial by Jury
- Day (2005)

In order to sway public opinion and perhaps influence a potential jury, a wealthy socialite hit the publicity trail in support of her son.  King was one of her “tour stops”.



Boston Legal
- Truly, Madly, Deeply (2005)

After deliberately shooting his client in both legs (because he didn’t want to defend an indigent who admitted to Denny that he did rape and kill a 13 year old girl and probably gave her AIDS as well), Denny appeared on Larry King’s show down in Washington to defend his actions.

Sesame Street
- Grouch Apprentice (2005)

O'Bservation - This was probably a spoof of the series which starred another TVXOHOF member, Donald Trump (April Fool inductee, 2009.)



Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- Weeping Willow (2006)

After a staged kidnapping of a popular blogger went horribly wrong, Detectives Logan and Wheeler watched Larry King interview the blogger on the jumbo screen in Times Square.  



Shark
- Wayne's World 2: Revenge of the Shark (2007)

O’Bservation - I couldn’t find pictures or video of King on James Woods’ show, but I’m sure it was typical of his appearances on courtroom shows.  He would be seen doing his show and commenting on the big case of the episode.  But I did find this picture in which Jessica Devlin told Stark that she got a fruit basket from King.


The Closer
- Til Death Do Us Part: Part II (2007)

On his show, King interviewed California Representative Loretta Sanchez about a headline-making murder trial.



Ugly Betty
- The Kids Are Alright (2008)

Daniel Meade of Mode magazine appeared on the show during which he was ambushed with questions about his treatment of Wilhelmina Slater.



30 Rock
- Larry King (2009)

After an Asian economic meltdown, Tracy gave some irresponsible advice on "Larry King Live."



Big Love
- End of Days (2010)

King covered the breaking news of 118 inbred children rescued from a polygamist sect’s Kansas compound, taking callers’ questions.



Better with You
- Better with Dancing (2011)

Larry was staying at the hotel where Ben Coles was the manager.  He offered Ben a lot of good advice on making up with his girlfriend and getting back in the good graces of her parents.  He also requested a suspicious amount of towels to his room.



Murder in the First
- Family Matters (2014)

O’Bservation – Probably a check-in on the Blunt trial verdict.  Based on this frame grab, it looks as though he was arguing with someone involved with the case.


American Crime Story
- The Dream Team (2016)
- 100% Not Guilty (2016)
- A Jury in Jail (2016)
- Manna from Heaven (2016)

O’Bservation – This picture is from King’s actual “involvement” in the OJ murder case as seen on TV.  This time he had Faye Resnick, a friend of Nicole Brown Simpson, on his show.  (Connie Britton played Resnick.) Of the four episodes he did, the picture is from “100% Not Guilty”.

Is this guy drunk?  
What’s going on here?”

Maxxx
 - House Party (2020) 
- Sex, Love 'n' Lyrics (2020) 
- Showtime (2020) 
- Music Video (2020)
- Guess Who's Back? (2020)

ALTERNATE TOOBWORLD I

O’Bservation – This dimension is for all those sitcoms in which Rudy Giuliani, the established New York City mayor in both the Real World and Toobworld was replaced by Randall Winston.  (I don’t know yet if there were any other aberrations from the main Toobworld.)


Spin City
- An Affair to Remember (1997)

Alt-Larry was one of several celebrities who filmed videos to wish NYC Mayor Winston a happy 50th birthday.

ALTERNATE TOOBWORLD II

O’Bservation – In this dimension, there has been a long line of “sitcommander-in-chiefs” who have replaced the real Presidents over the years. It is distinct from that Toobworld of dramas which focused on fictional Presidents.


1600 Penn
- Marry Me, Baby (2013)

Larry interviewed President Gilchrist and the First Lady in the Oval Office on their fifth wedding anniversary, during which POTUS committed a gaffe by stating that weddings are stupid.

THE TOONIVERSE

 The Simpsons
- One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish (1991)

King was heard as a book on tape narrator – I think of the Bible.


- Sideshow Bob Roberts (1994)


Arthur
- Elwood City Turns 100! (2002)

O’Bservation – There is some crossover between Toobworld and the Tooniverse.  Generally, the pen&ink characters cross over into the flesh&blood world, as it appears happened in this case.


Gravity Falls
- Headhunters (2012)
- Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls (2016)

O’Bservation – This was not the real Larry King, but an incredible wax simulation and he provided the voice….

Finally, here is Larry with a few fellow members of the TVXOHOF:



DON RICKLES
MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 2017

FRANK SINATRA
DECEMBER 2015
[100th BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE]


KERMIT THE FROG
PRE-1999 "PROTO-HALL" MEMBER

BETTY WHITE
[AS SEEN ON 'CONAN'] 
MARCH 2008


Welcome to the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, Mr. King.

Good night and may God bless….