"The Beatles" on Larry King
And I thought Jay Leno was a lousy interviewer.
Larry King raised bad pop journalism to new heights on Tuesday when he presented an hour-length interview with the surviving Fabs, along with Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. Ostensibly, the special was meant to honor the one-year anniversary of the Cirque du Soleil/Beatles hybrid "Love." That's all well and good. But King quickly turned the show into a fiasco, trotting out every Beatles-based cliche imaginable, calling Ringo Starr "George," and asking Yoko if she missed John.
Imagine you get a chance to interview this panel of four. Is your mouth watering yet? There is SO MUCH to talk about. Paul McCartney's new album is pretty close to a masterpiece. Starr's solo catalog is getting its digital-medium debut. The "Love" soundtrack features a bold and brave reimagining and recontextualization of Beatles music, remixed in 5.1 surround-sound audio by Beatles producer George Martin and his son Giles. (Starr kept trying to steer the conversation back toward this point, but uber-journalist King was having none of it.)
So what do you ask this dream panel of guests? Oh, how about, "Do you ever pinch yoursel and say, 'Wow, I'm a Beatle'"?
Good lord. Did he really ask that question? Yeah, and actually, that was one of the better ones. Later, he'd ask Olivia if hearing her husband's music was an emotional experience for her. Seriously.
McCartney looked simultaneosuly mortified and bored stiff. He tried to get something going, joking with Ringo, but in the end, fell back - with a quite noticeable sigh - on stock answers to questions he'd been asked thousands and thousands of times. What a waste of an opportunity! Nice going, Larry.
Anyone out there catch this train-wreck?
