Larry King, NBC Weigh Ed Sullivan-Type Variety Hour

NBC Entertainment and talk show host Larry King are talking about a possible pilot for an Ed Sullivan-type Sunday evening variety hour.

According to King, he would offer the live program weekly from the stage of a New York theater, featuring “news makers in the audience and new acts, sort of a Sullivan for the ‘90s.”

The late Sullivan reigned on Sunday nights on CBS from 1948 until 1971, first as host of “The Toast of the Town” and from 1955 on as host of “The Ed Sullivan Show.” His “really big shew” finally started to slip in the ratings and CBS dropped it. In recent years, variety shows have not done well as series on any network.

King said the appearance four weeks ago of NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff on King’s Mutual Radio talk show led to an off-air conversation in which Tartikoff asked if King would like to “expand his horizons.”

King over dinner this Tuesday night obtained an OK to do the pilot from his CNN boss, Ted Turner, for whom he does a weeknight “Larry King Live” show.

Tartikoff Wednesday was returning from Florida, where he was attending an NBC management meeting, and was unavailable for comment. A spokesman for NBC Entertainment said “there is no deal at the moment,” but confirmed that “Larry King has had discussions with NBC.”

King said his understanding was that a pilot could air on the network as early as May.