Larry King CNN Oprah Winfrey Show OWN, OprahShow

Whether it was his Snoop Dogg interview, or the split screen debates he moderated, Larry King brought interviews to the dinner table that have made him an iconic figure, not just in the field of journalism, but in our lifetimes…and some of our parents’ lifetimes.

Now, his interview show on CNN is coming to an end.

His eccentric nature on-air, as well as off, has been well-parodied – but almost never in a mean-spirited way. Many comedians have held loving attitudes towards his signature coke-bottle glasses and suspenders, and his age. Even 76-year-old King jokes about how old he is.

Notably, he has married seven wives in his “wild” love life, with his seventh marriage threatening to end recently, but, as he said on his blog, his marriage is still hanging. Yay for Monsieur King! He wrote on his blog Tuesday that CNN had agreed to his request to end his flagship show this fall season, “giving [him] more time for [he and his] wife to get to the kids’ little league games.”

With Larry King’s show ending, and Oprah Winfrey’s show ending (even though she’ll have her network “OWN”), and Michael Jackson passing, and Gary Coleman dying, has our own childhood or young adulthood, or some period of our lives died too? Do these iconic show endings signal the end of an era?

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