Uh, no to all of that. Larry King was a much better interviewer. He asked straight forward questions and let his guests speak. Piers makes it all about him. Also, as a progressive I hate the way he gave right wingers ammo during the gun control debate. He was the perfect liberal foil for all the gun toting NRA members.
I guess it's a matter of taste. The fact that King was so straight forward and blunt with his questions is why I was never his biggest fan. I seldom felt a connection between him and his guests. Piers was obviously too partisan for CNN and I would've preferred he didn't incorporate gun control in every other show of his, but I think he had something that King lacked. I for one am hoping they find someone who at least shares his exuberance.
I might be older than you but I grew up watching Larry King Live. It was the only thing my parents would let me stay up for past 9 when he had a good guest. He was straight forward and kind of aloof when he was doing a serious interview, but he had good rapport with some of his celebrity guests. I think you might not have seen the "connection" because Larry King didn't fawn all over guests like Piers .(have you seen his interview with Barbra Streisand? He might as well have been licking her gucci bootstraps)
I think Piers' style of tabloid journalism is just a better fit in the UK, or maybe even on an Entertainment Tonight type show here in the US. But he just dragged down CNN during his time there.
