Banff World Media Festival #2 Starring Larry King

Last week, I reflected on my first two years of writing all the award shows at the Banff World Media Festival. After the thrill of creating jokes that made Ricky Gervais and William Shatner laugh, I fully intended to leave on a creative high and end my Rocky relationship with Banff  (pun intended).

But I was back in Banff in 2011. Again there were another five shows with five hosts and three big lifetime achievement awards to Howie Mandel, Ed Asner (Mary Tyler Moore & Lou Grant), and James Burrows (director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier and every other worthy sitcom in the ’80s and ’90s).

Stars and celebrities surrounded me, but I was distracted by the Stanley Cup finals. My beloved Vancouver Canucks were challenging for the Cup and the finals rudely interfered with the festival.

I missed most of Game 6 standing backstage feeding hockey scores to host, Mike Holmes, just to keep the audience apprised of the Canucks’ demise during the show. And yes, the Bruin goals got more applause than the award winners.

I would have missed Game 7 altogether if I had stuck to my flight plan. But I called WestJet and pushed my flight back a few hours. And they promptly charged me an extra $500 for the privilege! Then we lost anyway. I slipped out of the Banff bar before the final whisper to avoid the certain mocking from all the Boston fans. By the time I returned to my hotel room, Vancouver was already up in flames.

I didn’t go to Banff at all in 2012. But I still wrote all the shows and all the lifetime achievement speeches. Luckily for me, there were only two shows. The festival finally scaled back their dramatic scope and narrowed down their festivities to two events.

This time the lifetime awards went to Larry King, fashion queen, Jeanne Beker, and Chuck Lorre (creator of The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men).

And Google! I had to write a Digital Innovation Award for Google! “I mean, how can anyone write a speech about Google? Even to look up information on Google, guess what? You have to Google it! Isn’t that a conflict of interest or something?” (Yes, I wrote that joke for host, Lisa Ray.)

Since I didn’t attend the shows I have no idea how I did. Well, that’s not true. Award winner, Jeanne Beker wrote in the Toronto Star, “…Then (Robert) Lantos delivered a touching tribute to me, actually calling me a legend! I didn’t really buy that, but I was insanely flattered…”

What did I tell you last week? See? Nobody really cares who actually write the speeches! But Jeanne…I was the one who called you a legend. You’re welcome.

Unfortunately, Larry King cancelled at the last minute. It was a big shame. It was a big shame because nobody got to hear his tribute speech. Until now. Here it is. The whole damn thing—including Lisa Ray’s introduction. You’re welcome, Larry.

(And in case you didn’t know, Lisa Ray is a beautiful actress, famous in both Canada and India. It’s probably important to know that for the following joke…)

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LISA RAY:
“So just to be clear, Larry King is not retired. He’s semi-retired. Am I right? Good.

Because after 50 years of talking to everyone from pop stars to presidents in America, there is one huge market you have completely ignored. India! There are one billion people over there who haven’t witnessed your talent. That’s three times bigger than America!

So after the show, you and me should head straight to India, get you of semi-retirement, and get you a TV show just like you had on CNN.

You don’t even have to speak Hindi. Now with outsourcing, everyone over there is learning English.

I can see you on the air right now, “We just heard from Aanandamayee in Jagatsinghapur. Thanks caller. Now let’s head to Chamarajanagara, we’ve got Satyashrawaa on the line. Go ahead Satyashrawaa, you’re talking to Bollywood stars, Aditya Pancholi and Mithun Chakraborty.”

See? Sounds easy, right? Think about it.

But first, we have to hand you an award. And to help us with that, we have Kirstine Stewart. She sits on the Banff Television and Film Festival board and is the Executive Vice-President of English Services for the CBC network. A visionary and a great broadcast leader, please welcome Kirstine Stewart.”

KIRSTINE STEWART:
“In his very entertaining memoir, Truth Be Told, Larry King admits that he never takes a compliment well. Well, Larry, this little speech here just might sting a little bit…

There are two great mottos that have defined Larry’s magnificent career in broadcasting. The first is: “I never learned anything while I was talking.” And the second is: “Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention ‘luck’ are kidding themselves.” And both those powerful statements have rung true in the life of Larry King.

He was born Lawrence Zeiger during the Great Depression in Brooklyn, New York. Times were tough; his father died young; his mother struggled with the bills while Larry struggled with school. But young Larry still knew he wanted to work in radio.

He was fortunate enough to meet a man from CBS who gave him some good advice: go south, young man, to Florida where inexperienced broadcasters could find work in the growing media market. Larry listened – because that’s what always made Larry a great broadcaster. He listened.

Larry got a menial job at a Miami radio station, and then, as luck would have it, got a job sitting behind the microphone because an announcer suddenly quit. Immediately popular, Larry was moved to the 9am time slot, where the station manager told him to drop the “Zeiger” for a name that was less ethnic and easier to remember. Seeing an ad from King’s Wholesale Liquor, Larry was immediately reborn as Larry King. And lucky for us, he didn’t choose Larry Liquor.

His radio success led to a TV gig hosting “Miami Undercover” on Sunday nights. Debating important issues of the day, Larry got a tremendous boost from the Great Entertainer himself, Jackie Gleason, who just happened to be shooting his own variety show in Miami Beach at the time. Once again, there’s Larry, lucky enough to meet Jackie Gleason. And prudent enough to listen to Jackie’s tremendous advice on how to produce a TV show.

By 1978, Larry was hosting a nightly radio show, broadcasting coast to coast on the Mutual Broadcasting System. And that’s where lucky Larry caught the ear of Ted Turner, who eventually hired Larry to host a new show on his fledgling cable network, CNN. That was 1985 and it launched a TV revolution.

For 25 years, 10pm on CNN (or 9pm Central) was appointment viewing time. Larry King Live was CNN’s most watched TV program. Over 6000 shows. Approximately 40,000 interviews. A quarter century of compelling television.

Larry was never the expert, but always credible. He was the good listener. He was us – asking the same questions we were asking from the comfort of our couches. He was the trusted voice who had respect for his guests; he was never aggressive, never attacking, and he was always respectful for their points of view, however polarizing.

And could be book guests! Anyone who was noteworthy or powerful or entertaining or hurting or seeking redemption – they all visited Larry. He got everyone from all political stripes, because he was always fair. Larry never had an agenda…beyond producing compelling television. Talented stars, troubled stars, it didn’t matter. Everyone loved talking to Larry. Because he listened. And he let them talk. And he didn’t judge them. And he knew that the guest was the story, and not the interviewer.

He was the home to Michael Jackson’s family after his death and Paris Hilton after her time in jail. He was there following OJ Simpson’s White Bronco; he was there when Al Gore debated policy with Ross Perot. From a beauty pageant tantrum to a kiss from Marlon Brando, Larry King’s long list of guests covered the gamut from powerful politics to popular culture.

Larry didn’t just raise the profile of CNN, he raised the profile of the entire cable industry. And he has been rewarded for his cable contributions with numerous honours. He’s won 2 Peabodys and 10 Cable Ace Awards. He’s inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame. He’s won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Emmys and tonight, he wins another one from the Banff World Media Awards.

And yes, Larry King Live is now over. But guess what? This summer, Larry’s resuming his talk show domination on the new digital network, Ora.TV. He helped define CNN; hey, he’ll probably help define digital news too.

And now let’s take a nice long look at Larry’s remarkable talent.”

A highlight reel of Larry King’s career played, followed by the announcer welcoming the newest recipient of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Still reading? Good.

I’m in London right now—doing a little extra research for my second book for a few days. And then I’m off to Italy to do some business with my first one: Rome, Amalfi, Siena, all the places you read about in Bullets, Butterflies, and Italy. You’ll hear all about over the next couple of weeks.

For more posts from the Banff World Media Festival, check out:

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/banff-festival-1/

https://www.johnmeyerbooks.com/working-with-vince-gilligan/