The late Larry King hosted over 50,000 interviews during his illustrious career as a television and radio host, and many of them came during his 25-year tenure on Larry King Live. While his interview with John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell back in 2006 definitely won't go down as one of his more iconic interviews, from start to finish, it's one of the funniest interviews you'll ever see on CNN.
Just watch the below video for yourself, and you'll see why that's not such a bold claim. To be fair, CNN isn't exactly a network known for cranking out comedy, but I digress.
Ferrell and Reilly were in character as Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. — NASCAR drivers and best friends featured in the hilarious comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Directed by Adam McKay, the movie also had a star-studded cast that included Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Jane Lynch, Leslie Bibb, Michael Clarke Duncan, Molly Shannon, and Andy Richter.
Throughout the nearly 45-minute interview, Ricky and Cal interacted with legitimate NASCAR legends, including Richard Petty and Michael Waltrip. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. called in at one point and played up the fact that he was actually beefing with Ricky and Bobby.
"I got a big old party going on downstairs, didn't know if you could hear me," Junior says. "Let me just say to Ricky and Cal you guys are lucky I'm not in the studio calling me a loser. You guys are the losers. I know 2-year-olds that drive better than you guys."
Now Junior, who actually had a brief cameo role as himself in Talladega Nights, really played his part well here. For a second, you might even think that his beef with Ricky and Cal were real. I wonder what real-life feud he was channeling here while going toe-to-toe with the Shake 'n Bake boys. Any guesses?
