Matthew Perry takes over as host of Piers Morgan's talk show

Friends star Matthew Perry became a TV newsman on Friday night (26Jul13) when he took over hosting duties on Piers Morgan's talk show.

The actor stepped in to replace the former newspaper editor on Piers Morgan Live, and he opened the program by explaining how he landed the job.

He told the audience, "About a month ago, I got a call from (CNN president) Jeff Zucker asking me to guest host Piers Morgan Live. And I had two questions for him. The first question was, how do - 'How the hell did you get my number, Jeff?' And the second question, of course, was, 'Who's Piers Morgan?'... Once I got the answers, though... I thought this could be really fun. You know, this could be exciting. This is brand new... You know what, maybe I'll win an Emmy for my performance here today... I want you to know that I'm not accustomed to reporting the news, but should any breaking news stories come, I'll do my utmost to report them to you."

Perry, who previously battled substance abuse issues, showed off his reporting skills by hosting a debate about addiction, interviewing a number of guests on the subject, while he also lightened the mood by chatting to actress Lauren Graham, and his former Friends co-star Lisa Kudrow.

The comic actor introduced his pal as "the second funniest cast member on Friends" before they reminisced about their time on the sitcom together as well as Kudrow's latest projects.

He ended the show by saying, "Thank you, Piers, for the opportunity. I love you. I love you. I love you so much. I love you, Piers Morgan. No, I'm not going to blow the kiss. We talked about that. I'm not going to blow the kiss. OK? Let's just end the show."

Speaking after his hosting gig, Perry admitted he learned a lot about TV reporting, saying: "I admire Piers Morgan because there's a lot you have to remember."