Piers Morgan's 'timid' debut

The talk-show host landed Oprah Winfrey for his first show, but failed to connect with critics

The host of "Piers Morgan Tonight" has been lauding himself as a tough interviewer, but his inaugural chat (with Oprah Winfrey) didn't provide much evidence.
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Piers Morgan, the man chosen to take over Larry King's CNN throne, made his much-hyped talk-show debut last night with an extended interview of Oprah Winfrey. (Watch a clip.) Though renowned in his native England as a jack-of-all-trades journalist who inspires strong reactions, the chatty Brit is best known in America as a judge on the lightweight TV hit "America's Got Talent." Morgan has relentlessly promoted himself as someone who will ask tough questions — a CNN ad claimed he would "redefine the art of the interview" — and has even touted his ability to make guests cry on camera, the polar opposite of the notoriously gentle King. Did Morgan deliver?

He went too easy on Oprah: The Winfrey interview was a letdown, says Alessandra Stanley at The New York Times, "a far more predictable conversation than the... somewhat unmoored give-and-take viewers were used to on Mr. King’s live show." Morgan is "known for jaunty irreverence, but he got nowhere trying to tease his guest about her spiritual grandiosity," and was "probably too timid" in getting her to open up about anything else. The good thing about his "downer of a first day" is that "he has nowhere to go but up."

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