Larry King, who hosted his eponymous show on CNN for 25 years, has some advice for his ratings-challenged former network – play cartoons.
“Put ‘SpongeBob’ on CNN 24 hours until a story breaks,” King said a bit tongue-in-check in an appearance on HuffPost Live on Wednesday.
King – who now hosts two talk shows on OraTV – was discussing the difficulty CNN has had drawing viewers outside of big breaking news stories. January was the network’s third-lowest month ever among total viewers and down 35 percent from the same month last year.
“CNN’s got problems because in today’s world all of them have problems,” King said. “I don’t know what they’re going to do.”
He also weighed in on his successor Piers Morgan, who though he said was “nice guy,” he’s not a fan of his show.
“It’s too much about him,” King said. “I always tried to leave myself out of interviews. It’s not the kind of show that I enjoy. When you turn on a show, the guest should be talking 90 percent of the time.”
King isn’t the first celebrity to critique a former employer — like these five who did so with much more animosity.
Conan O’Brien v. NBC
O’Brien infamously ripped the network in his final weeks hosting “The Tonight Show” following NBC’s decision to give the franchise back to Jay Leno after just seven months.
Charlie Sheen v. ”Two and a Half Men”
The actor got himself fired from his hit CBS sitcom after a tiger blood-fueled rant back in 2011 in which he hurled insults – including anti-Semitic remarks — at series creator Chuck Lorre.
Tiki Barber v. New York Giants
After retiring in 2007, The former Giants runningback criticized quarterback Eli Manning for a lack of leadership, calling his attempts at team pep talks “comical” at times – which didn’t sit well with the Big Blue.
Kathy Bates v. NBC
Bates didn’t take kindly to the network canceling her show “Harry’s Law” after two seasons – despite the fact that it was its most-watched drama series at the time, saying that NBC “treated us like s –t” and “disrespected us.”
Noel Gallagher v. Oasis
Warning: Graphic content
The guitarist recently mocked his former band’s music videos while recording DVD commentary for a new compilation saying, “If you need four guys to walk around in slow motion… we were the best at that.”