Larry King to 'Extra': 'It Was All a Surprise'

"Good evening, and welcome to the last 'Larry King Live'" the 77-year-old said as the show opened. "It's hard to say that. I knew this day was coming. These words are not easy to say."

Sitting with King at his table were guests Ryan Seacrest, Bill Maher, former President Bill Clinton and others. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made an appearance, declared it "Larry King Day" in California and thanked King for doing his show from Los Angeles.

"Extra's" Terri Seymour was there to interview the man himself. He marveled how all his old friends from Brooklyn showed up to wish him well. "I pinch myself every day. I left Brooklyn and Brooklyn never left me."

King also confessed he had no clue as to who his final guests would be. "It was all a surprise. I had nothing to do with it. Wendy Walker did it, the producer. I had no idea Obama would be there, Clinton, I had no idea."

And what would he like his legacy to be? "That we informed, and entertained, we improved the society we lived in."

King has conducted some 50,000 interviews in a broadcasting career in which he worked for decades in radio before joining CNN in 1985. He's recorded more than 6,000 shows for CNN. Watch the news network's compilation of King's best moments over the years.