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End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Benjamin Grimm May 17 2011 09:05 AM

Jerry Lewis, 85, will be doing his final Muscular Dystrophy telethon this September. And instead of 21.5 hours, it will only be six. It doesn't get nearly the attention it used to, but I remember when it was a big event. For me, it was always a harbinger of the imminent beginning of the school year, so I was never too happy to see Jerry's telethon. I remember he'd host it in Las Vegas with Ed McMahon as sidekick. And from time to time they'd send it to local coverage. Who was it in New York? I want to say Julius La Rosa, but I think it was also, perhaps later, Tony Orlando? And was it Channel 11? Or 5? I don't remember. (My guess would be 11.)

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 17 2011 09:11 AM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

channel 5. Pre-empted Bugs Bunny etc all weekend and for that it sucked and I always hated it.

HahnSolo May 17 2011 09:32 AM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Some channel 9 years too, I believe. I sorta remember missing out on some Met games (which in the big picture sure is no big deal, but to a young me was kinda not cool).

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 17 2011 09:44 AM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I remember he'd host it in Las Vegas with Ed McMahon as sidekick. And from time to time they'd send it to local coverage. Who was it in New York? I want to say Julius La Rosa, but I think it was also, perhaps later, Tony Orlando? Oh, indeed. I remember my parents not being able to tell me which one was "Dawn," and what the other one's name was. Channel 9 during most of my kid-dom.

Edgy DC May 17 2011 12:46 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

The father of my best friend/worst enemy Eric was an execuitve with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Eric was a spoiled kid and to the rest of us, his family seemed crazy rich. Like Keith Hernandez-rich. The truth is more likely that the family had money from previous generations but we always saw it as Eric having all the best toys because of the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. (Eric's middle name, Lewis, came from Jerry. He had a mountain of MDA telethon related schwag in his basement, including an incehaustable supply of 7-Up.) And Ed McMahon would recite a new amount of money raised with each hour, and we'd joke that about it all going to Eric's obscene Bar Mitzvah. Because of it and despite it, the MDA Telethon was a big deal in our circles, even though it wasn't meaningfully better than telethons that we treated as a nuisance in our round-the-clock TV watching, and we'd phone in $5 pledges and strain to see our names roll up the TV screen. It was only over the course of several years that I realized the space between the acts was excruciating and the acts themselves weren't anything I enjoyed. I think we somehow half expected that the Beatles would re-unite on the MDA Telethon. Or at least if they did re-unite, the Telethon would naturally be the venue of choice. And somehow Eric's dad would tip us off. Fools. All of us. Fools. Nowadays, I have a prince of a 12-year-old nephew stricken with a muscular dystrophy-type illness, and the MDA has been the very best friends his parents have had, even as they've gone from doctor to doctor for a decade and still don't have a specific diagnosis. It was the MDA that made the better welfare of my marriage a concern of David Wright's, and I can't say enough good about them. [youtube:1coee4va]lGe6TNtlBqw[/youtube:1coee4va] Here's hoping the organization outlives the family of diseases they fight. Here's hoping Jerry does, too.

G-Fafif May 17 2011 02:01 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

I always resented that the telethon would bump the Mets' Labor Day game from Channel 9.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 17 2011 02:02 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Am I wrong about Channel 5? Or was this show on both channels?

G-Fafif May 17 2011 02:20 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Am I wrong about Channel 5? Or was this show on both channels? It was on Channel 9 throughout the '70s for sure. I won't swear for all of its tenure, but I don't remember it being anywhere else. WOR -- part of the Love Network.

G-Fafif May 17 2011 02:23 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

...or I'm completely wrong, per the always reliable Wikipedia: Today's WNYW (the former WNEW) dropped the telethon after 1986, which moved to WWOR-TV in 1987. Ironically, both WNYW and WWOR are now under the common ownership of the Fox Television Stations Group. I may be thinking of the Cerebral Palsy telethon with Dennis James. Something worthy bumped the Mets and pissed me off in the process.

Benjamin Grimm May 17 2011 02:25 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

I don't see the irony.

G-Fafif May 17 2011 02:27 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

WOR wasn't in the Love Network until it was WWOR. Lewis on WNEW before it was WNYW. James on WOR, but that was during the winter. Stupid Mets.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 17 2011 02:34 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't see the irony. That's 'cause it ain't there. Misuse of "irony" will bug me until I'm wormsmeat.

Benjamin Grimm May 17 2011 02:38 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Too many people seem to think that "irony" and "coincidence" are the same thing.

TransMonk May 17 2011 02:42 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

Thanks, Alanis.

Frayed Knot May 17 2011 05:28 PM Re: End of an era: Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon

And thanks to just about every sportscaster on TV. Definitely THE most misused word in sports casts, although 'literally' might give it a run for its money - and in both cases they're used in almost exact opposite of what they mean. Back to the topic, I don't recall ever seeing a minute of the JLMD Telethon. I was aware of it certainly, but was never inclined to watch.