Wendy Walker Whitworth gives a behind-the-scenes look at ‘Larry King Live’

(CNN) – Wendy Walker Whitworth is a CNN senior vice president and the senior executive producer of "Larry King Live" and "Larry King Weekend." "Larry King Live" is the world's first live, globally televised, viewer call-in talk show. Whitworth is responsible for the overall planning and production of the shows and has been at the helm of CNN's top-rated program since August 1993.

During her tenure, "Larry King Live" has received high marks for its excellent programming quality and outstanding guests, including a News and Documentary Emmy in 1999 for Outstanding Interview/Interviewer.

Chat Moderator: Welcome to CNN.com, Wendy Walker Whitworth. We are pleased to have you with us today.

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Hi. Great to be here.

Chat Moderator: "Larry King Live" on CNN is celebrating its 15th year. What, in your opinion, keeps the show going so strong?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: I think all the credit has to go to Larry. He makes what he does look so easy, yet he's one of a kind. I'm just so happy to be able to watch how his mind works every night. One of the great things about the show is that he can interview anyone from a president of the United States to Kermit the Frog; I think the show is unique in that way.

When we’re not in a cycle like this story we have been doing every night since the election, when we are in a normal news cycle, we are able to choose from an amazing variety of subjects and people. I think that is what keeps the show so current and so interesting.

Question from Toady: Wendy, who was Larry's strangest guest, and why?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Well, maybe it was Kermit because when Kermit was on, we actually had people under the desk with television monitors. Normally that doesn't happen!

Chat Moderator: When you have several important stories breaking at the same time, how do you decide which story "Larry King Live" will do? Can you give us an example of when you had to make a difficult choice?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: That's a good question. You have just described my job. In the morning, we look at what we have booked that night and we look at the news of the day. We watch the news throughout the day.

We might be working on three different stories and not do any of them. Or I might move the show that we have that evening and book a whole different show. Every day is different; it really depends on what kind of impact the various stories are having on that given day.

A good example is when we had a wonderful show booked in New York and the guests were already at the studio. There was an airplane crash 30 minutes before the show. We had to tell our guests that we had to respond to the breaking news, so they understood and came back another evening. We put a show on about the airplane crash and we were booking guests during the show.

You have to be ready for that to happen any day. Fortunately, the guests we had booked were journalists, so they fully understood.

Question from Godlilocs: Larry always seems so knowledgeable on so many topics. How many researchers are there and how much studying does he have to do?

Larry King

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Another good question. Larry spends his day reading and watching CNN. He is extremely knowledgeable about many, many issues, I think mostly because he reads all the time. By the time I have talked to him in the morning, which is usually around 8:30 a.m., he's already totally read up and has read several newspapers.

We have a terrific writer on the staff, Carol Buckland, who prepares a bullet point card for him each night. So between Carol and Larry, that's really all he needs.

Question from Haley-CNN: I have to ask: Does Larry King pick out his own suspenders?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: He does like to select his suspenders but since he married Shawn, his wonderful wife, his suspenders have gotten better looking. As you can imagine, he gets them for gifts a lot and I have to admit that I have even given him a few. He has quite a collection, as you can imagine. We auction them off for charity events and they bring in top dollar!

Question from Mighty: How many people actually watch the show every night?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: It's very hard to say because we have no way of counting the viewership overseas; we are seen in over 212 countries. We are seen on the airport channel; our show is at 9 p.m. Eastern; and then it is repeated at midnight and 3 a.m. But our 9 p.m. show is seen by over a million viewers nightly and it is also simulcast on the Westwood One radio stations. The one thing I like about the show is that it also gets a lot of pickup in the newspapers and on television the next day.

Question from Toady: Wendy, which guests are better: the ones that never give Larry any grief or the ones that really turn up the heat?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: What do you think?

Question from America: In choosing topics, do you consider public opinion and requests?

MESSAGE BOARD Private Lives, Public Interests Mass Media Accountability     ALSO CNN's Larry King Live Larry King Live: 15th Anniversary Larry King's Biography Larry King on his 15 years with CNN

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Sure. So many things go into the decision for the topics and guests of the show. But, of course, I am always interested in what people want to watch. After this chat is over, I'd love to hear your ideas for who you would like to see on the show.

Question from Speedejeff: Wendy, do you think Larry would be open to the idea of have one John Q Public person as a guest, maybe once a month or something?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Well, we actually do have John Q Public guests when there is something interesting to talk about.

Chat Moderator: When you are dealing with an unfamiliar topic, such as human cloning or the genome project, how does your staff locate experts or people knowledgeable enough to discuss the topic?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: We do extensive research. We look at papers that have been written, articles written; we certainly go the Internet. Once we find people who appear interesting to the topic, we then call them and talk to them. We might call 20 people and talk to them before we get the handful of people that will appear on the show. Sometimes putting a show like that on the air takes months, to make sure we are doing it right.

Question from Razor7: Has there ever been anyone Larry has wanted on the show and has not been able to get? And who is his dream interview?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: We always wanted to get an interview with Mrs. Onassis but, unfortunately, she never granted interviews. We wanted Princess Diana. Unfortunately, we can no longer get these interviews.

But we have a list of over 100 to 200 people that we would love to get on but who are very difficult to get on the show, such as the pope, Doris Day and Caroline Kennedy. The list goes on and on.

Question from Speedejeff1: Wendy, when celebrities are guests, do they always have a list of things they do not want to be asked?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Sometimes they do, and most likely we cannot accommodate them on the show.

Question from Hvac: When will Larry retire?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Never! I really don't think he ever will. I can hardly get him to take a vacation.

Chat Moderator: What is tonight's topic for "Larry King Live"? How did you select the topic and the guests?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Two guesses what the topic is tonight. We will cover the election process absolutely until we have a president and probably afterwards, as well.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts to share with us today?

Wendy Walker Whitworth: This has been fun. I do hope to hear from you all on your ideas of who you would like to see on the show.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Wendy Walker Whitworth!

Wendy Walker Whitworth: Bye until tonight.

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