CNN legend Larry King has interviewed virtually every major big-shot celebrity and politician known on earth, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Richard Nixon. He estimates he’s gabbed with 50,000 people, enough to fill Turner Field.

So now the tables are turned. King has written a memoir “My Remarkable Journey” and is willing to be grilled himself to promote the book.

“You’re lucky,” he said by phone from Los Angeles earlier this week. “This is the first day of the tour. I’ve done book tours in the past and by the end, the last thing you want to talk about is the book. Ask me about Tiddlywinks. Ask me about what airplane I flew in! I never liked much talking about myself.”

 Loading …

But here he is gabbing about the man who hired him at CNN, how his show has changed over the years and how …

Continue reading 5/22: An interview with CNN’s Larry King »

 Loading …

The media is now battling to get the first interview with Michael Vick since the football star left prison earlier this week.

790/The Zone, never a radio station to shy away from publicity, has offered $50,000 to Vick (to be given to the Humane Society) for the shot to talk to him first. Radio station spokeswoman Leslie Smith told Buzz she has not heard back from Vick’s agent Joel Segal.

Smith knows the offer is a long shot since plenty of media organizations with more clout and cash are vying for his attention. But she said it would be a “huge publicity boost” for him to do something for charity. (Then again, it would be an even bigger publicity boost for the Zone.)

The Zone’s Matt Edgar, program director, said, “He can talk …

Continue reading 5/21: The Zone offers $50K to charity for first interview with Mike Vick »

Not much to say about the CW’s new schedule. They are super-targeting women 12-34 now and that seems to work for them.

The network brought back “90210″ with modest success last year. Now they are bringing back “Melrose Place,” a personal favorite guilty pleasure of mine from the 1990s. They are also introducing three new shows, including a vampire drama and a show about models.

Monday remains the same with “Gossip Girl” and “One Tree Hill.”

Tuesday brings “90210″ and a new “Melrose Place” with two old cast members, Laura Leighton as Sydney (didn’t she die or something in the first version?) and Thomas Calabro as the evil Dr. Michael Mancini. (top left)

Wednesday features “America’s Next Top Model” followed by a drama with Corbin Bleu (”High School Musical”) and Mischa Barton (”The O.C.”) following around a bunch of models. Gee. there certainly aren’t enough of those on TV nowadays, eh?

Thursday sees “The Vampire Diaries” (which obviously is taking advantage of all the …

Continue reading 5/21: The CW brings back “Melrose Place,” kills “The Game,” “Chris,” “Privileged” »

Turner Entertainment prez Steve Koonin told the L.A. Times Wednesday that Atlanta-based TBS might consider saving “My Name is Earl,” an NBC show that was axed this week after four seasons due to sinking ratings.

“We like the show very much; we’d definitely look,” Koonin told [the L.A. Times blog] Company Town at the Turner upfront in New York.

The blog entry noted that the show is owned by 20th Century Fox, which also oversees the Fox TV network. But Fox probably wouldn’t be interested given the show’s recent performance. It was averaging about 5 million viewers toward the end of its run, not terribly good even for fourth-place NBC, much less Fox.

 Loading …

Although TBS airs “My Name is Earl” repeats Monday nights and generates a fair amount of cash flow for Turner, cable networks tend to be much tighter in the wallet than …

Continue reading 5/21: A lifeline for “My Name is Earl” at TBS? TV and radio rankings for the week »

Fox has high hopes for a “High School Musical”-esque show called “Glee.” In an unusual strategy, the network aired the pilot after the “American Idol” performance finale show last night. But it won’t air another episode for four months.

It hopes to gain buzz online and through other marketing strategies for a big fall splash.

I think the show has potential. It has some good laughs and is well written. Matthew Morrison, who plays well-meaning Spanish teacher Will Shuester with charm and warmth, wants to revive the once vaunted glee club, now considered less cool than the chess club. He’s married to an annoying spendaholic while guidance counselor Emma (played with wide-eyed sweetness by Jayma Mays from “Ugly Betty”) secretly longs for him.

 Loading …

The …

Continue reading 5/20: What did you think of “Glee”? »

CBS, the only network this year which gained viewers, today announced the return of “Cold Case,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Gary Unmarried” and “Rules of Engagement,” plus the transfer of “Medium” from NBC to CBS.

Shows that are out: “Without a Trace,” (left) “The Unit” and “Eleventh Hour.”

“The Mentalist” moves to the key 10 p.m. slot on Thursday night, replacing “Without a Trace.” And “Big Bang Theory” moves to 9:30 p.m. Mondays after “Two and a Half Men.”

CBS Television Studios produces “Medium,” which NBC axed despite the fact the show wasn’t doing that badly. So not surprisingly, CBS TV picked up the show as a companion to “Ghost Whisperer.”

The studio even sent out a bitchy press release:

“NBC’s cancellation of ‘Medium’ is inexplicable to us. “The ratings don’t lie. ‘Medium’ outperforms many of NBC’s renewed shows. Despite inconsistent scheduling, ‘Medium,’ under the creative vision of Glenn Gordon Caron, one of the most preeminent producers in television, …

Continue reading 5/20: CBS renews “Cold Case,” “Christine,” picks up “Medium” from NBC, kills “Without a Trace,” “The Unit” »

Shawn Johnson, the gymnast, edged out actor Gilles Marini in a bit of a surprise to win season eight of “Dancing With the Stars.” Less than one percentage point separated the two in a very tight race for the cheesy disco ball.

Melissa Rycroft, the “Bachelor” gal who came in as a replacement, finished third.

Shawn’s athleticism helped her pick up the technical parts of the dances. It took her time to get comfortable as a teenager to be a good performer. But she improved over time. Gilles was arguably the leader from early on and he continued to be that studly French man all the way through. Shawn somehow snuck up and got the votes to just beat him out.

 Loading …

The finale show is always packed with filler with 10 seconds of …

Continue reading 5/19: Who won “Dancing With the Stars”? Gilles, Melissa or Shawn? »

In a bit of a surprise, NBC axed Patricia Arquette’s psychic drama “Medium,” (left) which was getting decent ratings at 10 p.m. The problem: NBC no longer has 10 p.m. slots on weekdays now that Jay Leno has taken five hours of primetime away. CBS, though, might pick up the show. Stay tuned there.

The quirky comedy “My Name is Earl” was also cut after four seasons. Ratings for that show slipped off sharply toward the end so this wasn’t as big of a shock. But the show is being shopped to ABC and Fox.

“Law & Order” is ensured a 20th season, tying “Gunsmoke” for longest scripted non-animated primetime show in history. “Chuck,” as expected, is getting 13 episodes.

The good news for viewers (if not NBC’s bottom line): the network is not going to air a lot of repeats because several timeslots are being shared by different shows in the fall and spring.

On Mondays, “Heroes” gets moved from 9 to 8 p.m., followed by “Chuck” after the Winter Olympics in 2010. A new drama “Trauma,” …

Continue reading 5/19: NBC renews “Chuck,” “Law & Order,” axes “Medium,” “Earl,” moves “30 Rock” to midseason »

ABC is rebooting its entire Wednesday night schedule with new shows and adding two freshman programs around the “Dancing With the Stars” results show on Tuesdays. Big names with shows include Courteney Cox (in “Cougar Town,” left), Rebecca Romijn, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton.

“Ugly Betty” is bumped to Friday nights, allowing a new drama at 8 p.m. Thursday before “Grey’s” and ‘Private Practice.”

Sunday nights remain the same while freshman drama “Castle” gets the cushy post “Dancing” slot on Monday nights.

Semi-coincidentally, former co-horts on the failed show “Back to You” on Fox (Grammer, Heaton) are now on ABC on back-to-back sitcoms.

Compared to last year, after the writers’ strike, ABC is being far more aggressive carting out new programs this year. Last season, ABC basically struck out in terms of new shows outside the modest success of drama “Castle” and reality show True Beauty.”

The fall schedule includes:

-“Shark Tank” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.) – Mark Burnett …

Continue reading 5/19: ABC’s 2009-10 lineup includes Courteney Cox, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romijn »

This season’s “24″ has been far more entertaining than last year, where the storylines felt reconstituted and the ending strung together with duct tape and chicken wire. Fortunately, the writers’ strike gave them time to ensure a proper 24 hour timeline for Day 7 where plotlines could be properly opened and closed.

And this final episode, while a bit flaccid and predictable at the tail end, had enough thrills and spills and even an emotional crescendo, to satisfy most “24″ addicts.

 Loading …

There were basically three plotlines going on at once.

First, there’s the tie between Jack and his daughter Kim. At 6 a.m., the bad guys are using Jack to try to apprehend Tony away from the FBI by holding his daughter unknowingly hostage at the airport.

He frees Tony, who takes Jack with him. …

Continue reading 5/19: “24″ finale recap, day 7, Steve Adamson leaves WXIA-TV, new Fox lineup, Kim Zolciak’s phone stolen »