Walter and Judith Koenig, the parents of actor Andrew Koenig (Boner on “Growing Pains”) who went missing last week, were scheduled to appear on Larry King Live last night, but bailed.
As we reported, King had big interview with Toyota president Akio Toyoda followed by breaking news about the killer whale incident at Sea World, which resulted in the Koenigs’ live segment getting pushed back.
Walter Koenig, also an actor (Chekov on “Star Trek”) told TMZ he and his wife, “felt it was disrespectful” and that the program was not going to provide “enough time to do credit to what we had to say.”
A CNN “Larry King Live” spokesperson tells TVNewser: “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with them, and we hope they find their son soon.”
In any case, it seems the Toyoda interview and the Sea World news didn’t draw in viewers. King had one of his lowest-rated shows on record…
> Update: CNN.com reports Koenig was found dead in Vancouver’s Stanley Park around NoonPT today.
“Larry King Live” drew 383,000 Total Viewers for last night’s show at 9pmET. That’s his third lowest Total Viewer number in at least 13 years. In fact, three of his seven least-watched shows in the last 13 years occurred this week. For comparison, Joy Behar, on CNN’s sister-network HLN, drew 613,000 last night.
The Olympic weeks have not been kind to CNN’s primetime. Campbell Brown drew its lowest Total Viewer audience ever Tuesday night. The show launched in Oct. 2008. TVbytheNumbers shows the long-term viewership declines for her program.