Larry King announces one-man show tour

Larry King has announced plans to star in a one-man show called Larry King: Standing Up.

The veteran broadcaster will kick off a multi-city tour in April, with a press release promising a "hilarious and insightful" look at his life.

Audience members will also have the opportunity to ask King questions during a Q&A session at each venue.

The tour begins on April 14 in Torrington, Connecticut. It will then travel to Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Nevada.

King left his long-running CNN show in December but returns to the network for an interview with Piers Morgan this week. The Morgan-King interview will air live tonight at 9pm ET on CNN US and on Thursday at 8pm on CNN International.

Larry King: 'CNN oversold Piers Morgan'

Larry King has suggested that CNN "oversold" Pier Morgan's ability to attract a large viewing audience.

King, who was replaced by Morgan on CNN, told BBC Radio 4's PM that he believes network executives made an error in the way they marketed Piers Morgan Tonight.

"I think one of the problems they did was over-sell it," he said. "He was going to be dangerous, he was going to be water cooler talk."

King added: "He's good but not that dangerous. I think they might have been better off starting quietly and that's not Piers' fault, or maybe it is - I'm not inside anymore."

The 77-year-old broadcaster went on to say that he believes Morgan can be successful in the prime-time slot if he is given the chance to grow an audience over time.

"He's certainly not bad. He's certainly an acceptable host," he said. "He asks good questions... maybe he interrupts a little too much at times. I [just] think he may have been oversold."

King hosted a talkshow on CNN for more than 25 years before leaving the network in December 2010.

Larry King's last show

Around 2.24 million people tuned in to watch radio and TV host Larry King's last CNN broadcast on Thursday night after a 25-year run, according to numbers released by the Nielson Company.

King, 77, hosted high-profile public figures such as former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Barbara Walters, Regis Philbin, and Tony Bennett during his last, emotional show.

Earlier this year, CNN celebrated 25 years of 'Larry King Live' with a week of shows featuring big-name guests including President Barack Obama, LeBron James, Bill Gates and Lady Gaga.

Only a few weeks later, in late June, King announced he would stop hosting his TV show. "I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end Larry King Live, the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games," he said at that time.

King said, however, that he will remain a part of CNN by occasionally hosting Larry King specials on major national and international subjects.

"With this chapter closing I'm looking forward to the future and what my next chapter will bring, but for now it's time to hang up my nightly suspenders," King added.

'Larry King Live' was first aired in 1985 and dominated CNN's lineup for 25 years, making it the most watched and longest running program with more than one million viewers nightly. But King recently began suffering in the ratings and there was talk about his future on the television network.

Nonetheless, King is widely recognized as one of the world's best known interviewers. He interviewed tens of thousands of politicians, entertainers, and other newsmakers during his career, which earned him an Emmy Award and many other broadcasting awards.

CNN also announced that "America's Got Talent" judge Pier Morgan, 45, of Great Britain will replace Larry King during his time slot. His "Piers Morgan Tonight" will begin airing on January 17. For the rest of December and during the first weeks of January, CNN will be showing previous Larry King shows.

The deal will be a huge boost for Morgan's career, which will be placing him in a high-rated TV slot to continue with the traditional interviews. However, while ratings are currently high during King's time slot, they could drop dramatically when he leaves.

Teary Larry King ends long-running show

Larry King has aired his final show as CNN's primetime talkshow host, in a programme full of special guests and tributes to the presenter.

King opened the show by saying: "Welcome to the last Larry King Live. It's hard to say that."

Guests on the final edition included Ryan Seacrest and comedian Bill Maher. King had to battle away tears on several occasions, including when Maher remarked that he is now in the same company as American broadcasting legends Walter Cronkite, Steve Allen and Johnny Carson.

Mayer said: "This is not Larry's funeral. Larry is hopefully going to be in our living rooms for years to come. This is the end of a show, not the end of a man."

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also appeared via satellite, and revealed a written proclamation that the 16th of December will be declared 'Larry King Day' in California.

President Barack Obama had also recorded a message, describing King as "one of the giants in broadcasting." He added: "You say all that you do is ask questions, but for generations of Americans, the answers to those questions have surprised us and they have informed us."

King began his final monologue by saying: "It's not very often in my life that I've been without words."

He continued: "When I started 25 years ago in a little studio in Washington, D.C., I never thought it would last this long or come to this. I'm going to do specials on CNN and do radio work ... so you're not going to see me go away, but you're not going to see me on this set any more. I don't know what to say, except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of goodbye, how about so long?"

The set then went to black, with a single spotlight on King's microphone.

British journalist Piers Morgan is set to take over presenting duties from King in January 2011.