Yong Fang
09-05-2016, 06:46 AM
As a child in the 1970's, I remember the Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy. This show was on from in my Central Time Zone from like 10:30 PM Sunday until 5:30 PM Monday. To my generation, Labor Day was Jerry Lewis.
As a kid, the show sort of sucked. Remember this was the 1970's and basically we had three entertainment channels (ABC, NBC and CBS) and PBS. So just not that much on, but that damn telethon. I lived in Memphis where it was still hot from summer (Labor Day is scheduled wrong, basically we kids were in school for a week and then three days off, I would change it to the first week in October, but off the subject) and it was too warm to go out and there was no internet or computer in the 1970's, and like I said, precious else to watch. So Jerry's Kids were basically background noise
It had Jerry Lewis, Ed McMahon and seemingly an endless stream of over the hill Las Vegas hacks and Catskills washouts. There were some cool people who showed up, but yikes, it was cheesy. Made me wonder even as a kid how such an old man like Jerry Lewis and Ed McMahon could stay up for something like 20 hours without illegal stimulants. Jerry was born in 1926, so he was over 50 when this was on, and frankly it is amazing to me that the man is still alive, because he smoked a lot, and was a drinker. Also, he had a painful injury from doing a pratfall during a number at the Sands Hotel back around 1965. But this was his thing, so there was probably a lot of mental and probably physical preperation for it.
McDonalds was a big sponsor of this. I remember one year our city's local amusement park was open all night for Jerry's Kids. Also, the local CBS affiliate got into the act, with remote feeds from the TV anchors, who more or less had to give up their Labor Day to do this.
There was a tote board on the set and about every hour, Jerry would roust the crowd and yell "Tiffany" (or Tippany or something) then a new set of numbers would roll up and Jerry would go crazy and the audience would go wild. Now, was this the same audience for 20 hours was to be seen.
The Jerry Lewis in the end would sing a signature song, which was emotional and would cry and we would cry with him (or just be happy that the show was almost ending and we can have our CBS affiliate back). The end.
Dean Martin made a surprise appearance one year around 1976, introduced by Frank Sinatra. Dean and Jerry were a big act in the 1950's but broke up, and the two did not speak to each other for a long time. Sinatra couldnt get out of the way. Never understood Sinatra. Seemed like a big jerk to me. Dino has always come across as a pretty good guy. But this thing was very "old school" so not rock n' roll acts here.
But now Labor Day is not Jerry Lewis day, and even if it were, there are a hundred different channels, so Jerry didnt hold the TV hostage for a day out of the year. Jerry quit or was fired from MDA, and now the telethon is basically a several hour show in some no name casino in Las Vegas.
But them were the days. Do you remember the telethon? Fondly or not?
As a kid, the show sort of sucked. Remember this was the 1970's and basically we had three entertainment channels (ABC, NBC and CBS) and PBS. So just not that much on, but that damn telethon. I lived in Memphis where it was still hot from summer (Labor Day is scheduled wrong, basically we kids were in school for a week and then three days off, I would change it to the first week in October, but off the subject) and it was too warm to go out and there was no internet or computer in the 1970's, and like I said, precious else to watch. So Jerry's Kids were basically background noise
It had Jerry Lewis, Ed McMahon and seemingly an endless stream of over the hill Las Vegas hacks and Catskills washouts. There were some cool people who showed up, but yikes, it was cheesy. Made me wonder even as a kid how such an old man like Jerry Lewis and Ed McMahon could stay up for something like 20 hours without illegal stimulants. Jerry was born in 1926, so he was over 50 when this was on, and frankly it is amazing to me that the man is still alive, because he smoked a lot, and was a drinker. Also, he had a painful injury from doing a pratfall during a number at the Sands Hotel back around 1965. But this was his thing, so there was probably a lot of mental and probably physical preperation for it.
McDonalds was a big sponsor of this. I remember one year our city's local amusement park was open all night for Jerry's Kids. Also, the local CBS affiliate got into the act, with remote feeds from the TV anchors, who more or less had to give up their Labor Day to do this.
There was a tote board on the set and about every hour, Jerry would roust the crowd and yell "Tiffany" (or Tippany or something) then a new set of numbers would roll up and Jerry would go crazy and the audience would go wild. Now, was this the same audience for 20 hours was to be seen.
The Jerry Lewis in the end would sing a signature song, which was emotional and would cry and we would cry with him (or just be happy that the show was almost ending and we can have our CBS affiliate back). The end.
Dean Martin made a surprise appearance one year around 1976, introduced by Frank Sinatra. Dean and Jerry were a big act in the 1950's but broke up, and the two did not speak to each other for a long time. Sinatra couldnt get out of the way. Never understood Sinatra. Seemed like a big jerk to me. Dino has always come across as a pretty good guy. But this thing was very "old school" so not rock n' roll acts here.
But now Labor Day is not Jerry Lewis day, and even if it were, there are a hundred different channels, so Jerry didnt hold the TV hostage for a day out of the year. Jerry quit or was fired from MDA, and now the telethon is basically a several hour show in some no name casino in Las Vegas.
But them were the days. Do you remember the telethon? Fondly or not?