The king and queen’s talk show regime is almost at a close. Larry King, the iconic night time talk show host retired in January and Oprah’s retirement is looming in the distance. Oprah has been the poster woman for daytime television and both have been dominating the television for two decades. Their names have been commonplace in household around the country for years, but as their regime comes to an end the future of television talk shows is becoming shifty.
Oprah’s self titled talk show is one of the longest-running daytime television talk shows in history. Now that it is in it’s final season viewers are trying to figure out who will be the new face of daytime television. “I do not think anyone can take her place because no one is like her and she is a hard act to follow,” sophomore Harris Fitzgerel said. No daytime host has a viewer base like Oprah’s and none are as well known. Some hope Tyra Banks will fill in but she has a long way to go.
Daytime television talk shows are almost completely off the radar at AHS and Oprah retiring will be even more detrimental to the ratings and number of viewers. “I never watch daytime talk shows because I’m at school and then I have sports,” junior Wally Geiger said.
On the other hand, night time talk shows are still popular, for the time being. With Piers Morgan replacing Larry King we see what the new focus of talk shows is. While King was a classic, Morgan is young, cool and brings the element of entertainment. Eliot Spitzer is replacing his former co-host Kathleen Parker. Spitzer captured America’s attention when he was arrested for paying for prostitution while being Governor of New York. He, like Morgan is someone who has made a name for himself before becoming a host. “I never watched Larry King but I watch Peirs Morgan because I know of him and he is funny” junior Carina Lin said.
‘Live! With Regis and Kelly,’ another famous talk show, is also changing their hosts. Regis Philbin, a TV personnel for over 40 years announced that he will be retiring after the summer season of ‘Live!’. Regis and Kelly is a morning program that is enjoyed by many students over the summer. “I can only watch them during the summer because of school but I like them because they have great chemistry and work well together,” sophomore Meghan Lynn said. ABC plans to replace Regis with a new, younger co-host for Kelly.
As a new era of hosts is ushered in we see everything that they have to offer. Their youth will appeal to the younger dynamic while their familiar time slots will keep their old viewers. However, ratings have showed that Morgan and Spitzer, although popular at first, have a smaller number of viewers and lower ratings then those whom they replaced. Hopefully, we will learn to love them as we did their predecessors.
