BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – After replacing Larry King last January, it took only 11 days for Piers Morgan’s vision of his show to collide with reality.
He was on a plane to Los Angeles with producer Jonathan Wald and as soon as they landed, both cell phones were buzzing with news of political upheaval in Egypt. Wald turned to Morgan and said, “You know, we were wondering when we were first going to go live. Tonight’s the night.”
So began an eventful year that saw Morgan revise the format of his prime-time show on the fly to emphasize more live interviews, sweat while waiting for Charlie Sheen to arrive for a live show, quit “America’s Got Talent” and see his reputation dragged into a phone hacking scandal by journalists in his native Britain.
Through it all, he survived. Morgan may not have lived up to his initial brash boasts about burying the competition, but he didn’t fail, either. “Piers Morgan Tonight” viewership was up 9 percent over King’s final year, even more among youthful viewers. He marks his first anniversary this week with appearances by Chelsea Handler, Rosie O’Donnell and former President Jimmy Carter.
“It isn’t as successful as I’d like it to be,”
Read More from the Article Source: Full Article
