# Dumbest People on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936 "2009-01-25T17:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/1 "2009-01-25T17:54:12Z")
I’m torn between the credulous Larry King and Glenn Beck (recent example Obama first president not to swear on Bible). ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/2 "2009-01-25T18:49:13Z")
Larry King doesn’t seem particularly dumb, especially when compared to people like Giraldo Rivera. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/3 "2009-01-25T19:03:52Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Larry King doesn’t seem particularly dumb, especially when compared to people like Giraldo Rivera. Pretty low bar you’ve set there. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/4 "2009-01-25T19:14:18Z")
Beck’s crocodile tears and freelance Fundamentalism are two of his most annoying things to me. I was so irked when he gave a tearfilled voice quaking eulogy to the Mormon president Gordon Hinkley- 1- The man was 97 years old and had been in ill health forever, it’s not exactly like it was an unexpected prime of life thing 2- Beck has only been a Mormon for a few years 3- By his own admission he _never even met_ Hinkley, let alone knew him. I just can’t believe it’s _that_ emotional a passing. ## Then the next week he’s hosting John Hagee on whether the Mahdi from Islam is the Anti-Christ from Christianity, this as if interviewing a hematologist on a scholarly subject about a new blood disease, and is praising Hagee’s knowledge of scripture and earnesty. Apparently he’s not quite aware that Hagee’s not exactly president of the “Mormons are O-K!” club (basically the nicest thing he’ll say about them are they’re not Catholics). Sean Hannity would have to be up (or down) there somewhere. What pisses me off about both him and Beck having shows on “news” networks is neither has any training in journalism, I don’t believe either one even has a college degree for that matter (Hannity’s a freshman year drop out and Beck never went at all to my knowledge) but are essentially disk jockey/entertainers. This is fine for a late night syndicated show, but they both have news commentary shows. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/5 "2009-01-25T19:42:22Z")
BTW, was this supposed to have been posted in Cafe Society? I think that is where I’ll send it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/6 "2009-01-25T20:52:39Z")
I don’t think Larry King is dumb, but I could see how you could think that. King has to appeal to a broad base of people. So you have to “talk down,” to guest so your audience will get it. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/7 "2009-01-25T21:07:02Z")
Shandi Finnessey on the Lingo game show. Pretty much any TV news anchor. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/8 "2009-01-25T21:07:05Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Larry King doesn’t seem particularly dumb, especially when compared to people like Giraldo Rivera. Larry King doesn’t seem particularly dumb? Are you kidding? The man is an imbecile, and has to all appearances been suffering from senile dementia since the mid-eighties. This is a man who asked the Dalai Lama what he thought (as a muslim) about Jesus Christ. Every time he opens his mouth, the most incredibly asinine questions fall out. In an orderly universe, he would be institutionalized, or at least annoying only the meals-on-wheels volunteers. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/9 "2009-01-25T21:10:40Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Larry King doesn’t seem particularly dumb? > > Are you kidding? The man is an imbecile, and has to all appearances been suffering from senile dementia since the mid-eighties. > > This is a man who asked the Dalai Lama what he thought (as a muslim) about Jesus Christ. > > Every time he opens his mouth, the most incredibly asinine questions fall out. In an orderly universe, he would be institutionalized, or at least annoying only the meals-on-wheels volunteers. Was it Larry King who implied or stated that the Dalai Lama was a Muslim? Or was it you? Either way, he’s NOT- he’s leader of his own branch of Buddhism. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/10 "2009-01-25T21:15:43Z")
Larry King believes in “The Secret”, pyschics, UFOs, and almost every other fringe thought there is. ---
**Author:** ![Rattlehead02](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rattlehead02/32/3944_2.png) [@Rattlehead02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rattlehead02)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/11 "2009-01-25T21:29:11Z")
Best Larry King clip ever: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfUgVSfKdQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfUgVSfKdQ) I don’t have sound on this computer and I forget what exactly is said. But he implies that Seinfeld was canceled. Jerry takes him to task. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/12 "2009-01-25T21:30:36Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Was it Larry King who implied or stated that the Dalai Lama was a Muslim? Or was it you? It was Larry King. AKA the moron. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/13 "2009-01-25T21:35:41Z")
The moment that really marks King as a complete idiot for me happened some years back. Remember when some little kid disappeared, and they found his body in a cabin where a pedophile kept an older boy he had kidnapped years before? Okay, so there was this “psychic” woman who had made predictions about the murderer on her show to the grieving parents. She saw the kidnapper as a very tall man of dark complexion but not completely black, probably hispanic, with long black hair possibly with dreadlocks. The “Psychic” goes to Larry King Lie and there she is confronted with James Randi. LARRY KING (To James Randi): She did describe the accused villain pretty well. JAMES RANDI: … (Long pause with incredulous stare) She described the accused villain as having dreadlocks, long hair … LARRY KING (pointing at his head): Didn’t he have long, black hair… JAMES RANDI: No, he did not. He was very fat and not a tall, tall as she had described. (Picture of a pudgy, pale white man with medium short brownish hair.) LARRY KING: I would call that long based on my own hair, but… ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/14 "2009-01-25T21:42:31Z")
> [@GildedLily](#): > > Best Larry King clip ever: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfUgVSfKdQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfUgVSfKdQ) > > I don’t have sound on this computer and I forget what exactly is said. But he implies that Seinfeld was canceled. Jerry takes him to task. I’ve never seen that; that’s hilarious. The fact that he even had to ask whether Seinfeld was canceled or not doesn’t say much for either his pop culture awareness or his interview prep, and Jerry rightfully ran with it. Glenn Beck is stoopid. He had some physicist on some months ago; I forget exactly what the topic was, admittedly it was esoteric, but the guy was a fantastic explainer. Glenn had trouble following, and the guy kept dumbing it down further and further, and when it got down to simple arithmetic Glenn still threw up his hands and said something to the effect of “Whatever, it’s too complicated for _anybody_ to understand.” Speak for yourself, bonehead. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/15 "2009-01-25T21:44:47Z")
She’s not on TV anymore, but she used to be: Cher. When she was a teenager Cher thought Mt. Rushmore was a natural formation. Now that’s _dumb_! ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/16 "2009-01-25T22:17:05Z")
As dumb as all these people are, they don’t hold a candle to the women of “The View,” especially Sherri Shepard. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/17 "2009-01-25T22:19:59Z")
> [@Ataraxy](#): > > As dumb as all these people are, they don’t hold a candle to the women of “The View,” especially Sherri Shepard. Granted, I’ve only seen the show a couple times, but the older one who isn’t Barbara Walters isn’t a complete idiot… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/18 "2009-01-25T22:33:10Z")
> [@Ataraxy](#): > > As dumb as all these people are, they don’t hold a candle to the women of “The View,” especially Sherri Shepard. Was she the one who thought the earth was flat? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/19 "2009-01-25T22:37:36Z")
Hank Venture. Because Dean is the smart one. Also Patrick Starr. Carl Wheezer and Sheen Estevez are kinda tied. And anyone who agrees to be interviewed by Barbara Walters. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936/20 "2009-01-25T23:05:18Z")
Suzanne Summers - Anybody taking medical advice from this quack is even worse. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-people-on-tv/482936.md?page=2)