Larry King Live - Notable Episodes

Notable Episodes

• On June 3, 1985, Larry King Live debuted on CNN, with then-Governor of New York Mario Cuomo as King's first guest.
• The November 9, 1993 debate between Ross Perot and Al Gore on the North American Free Trade Agreement was watched in 11.174 million households – the largest audience ever for a program on an ad-supported cable network until the October 23, 2006 New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game on ESPN's Monday Night Football.
• On September 25, 2006, Oprah Winfrey made her first endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States on Larry King Live. Once Obama became a candidate, Winfrey made her first endorsement of candidate Obama on Larry King Live in May 2007. Two economists estimate that Winfrey's endorsement was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary race and that without it, Obama would have lost the nomination.
• To mark the 20th anniversary of the show, ABC's Barbara Walters was a guest host and interviewed King on his reflections of his career.
• To mark 50 years in broadcasting, Larry King Live had a week long celebration that included a two hour CNN presents special and an hour of celebrity toast. The broadcast of this special week-long event was postponed due to the tragedy at Virginia Tech. XM Satellite Radio also featured a micro channel called "Larry!" that featured replays of The Larry King Show along with interviews and the new material from the CNN anniversary shows.
• On July 19, 2007, a frail Tammy Faye Messner made her final appearance on Larry King Live to talk about her battle with lung and colon cancer. She died the following day.
• On September 7, 2009, the first episode in high definition was aired.
• On February 12, 2010, during a discussion on Bill Clinton's latest heart procedure, Larry King revealed he had undergone a similar operation 5 weeks earlier. King had a heart attack in 1987 and said he had surgery to place stents in his coronary artery.
• On December 16, 2010, the final episode of Larry King Live aired on CNN, with Ryan Seacrest and Bill Maher acting as co-masters of ceremonies, and surprise appearances by President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and network news anchors Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Brian Williams, among others. King says his final show was not a "good-bye" but rather a "so long", as he plans to move on and pursue other things. The final show attracted an audience of 2.24 million people, more than triple the program's usual audience of 672,000.