"The Jerry Lewis Show" - 13 Week Theatre - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 12-07-2024, 12:53 AM

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This week we look at one of the biggest flops in the history of late night TV: Metromedia's "The Jerry Lewis Show," which only ran for five episodes in June of 1984.

TMC · 05-30-2025, 03:48 AM

Telehell: EPISODE #115 - The Jerry Lewis Show (1984 Talk Show)

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MIDSEASON FINALE: "The Bonfire of Vanity Projects" concludes with a simple warning; that just because you CAN do everything in the world of showbiz, doesn't mean that you SHOULD...and that includes hosting talk shows--maybe if this one aired in France, it would've stayed on for Decades.

Telehell will return sometime later in the Summer...as always, we'll explain later...but until then, thank you for everything...

Duster76 · 05-31-2025, 03:26 PM

As the decades rolled by the Jerry Lewis product could be best described as making a spectacle of himself. Whether he was hosting the telethon, doing a variety show, hosting a talk show, doing an interview, or a stage performance he was the master of disaster. With that as the set-up the only question going into this 13 Week Theatre presentation was how bad will this version of The Jerry Lewis Show be. But this time we get something a little different, something we could call the Lewis version of "Bizarro Jerry"!

Charlie Callas identified as Jerry's sidekick is doing most of the funny stuff with Jerry being more of a straight man. Jerry seems to be trying to reinvent himself , why would he pick another comic to be his sidekick rather than an Ed McMahon or Regis Philbin type. I don't understand why anyone would greenlight something like this in the first place. What is even more bizarre is attempting to compete with Carson with something hosted by Jerry Lewis. Essentially they appeal to exactly the same audience and Carson has already easily won all those battles. They might as well have called Joey Bishop or Mike Douglas, this was hopelessly doomed from the start, why even attempt it.

05-31-2025, 03:26 PM	#3
Duster76 Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2008 Location: New jersey Posts: 1,658	As the decades rolled by the Jerry Lewis product could be best described as making a spectacle of himself. Whether he was hosting the telethon, doing a variety show, hosting a talk show, doing an interview, or a stage performance he was the master of disaster. With that as the set-up the only question going into this 13 Week Theatre presentation was how bad will this version of The Jerry Lewis Show be. But this time we get something a little different, something we could call the Lewis version of "Bizarro Jerry"! Charlie Callas identified as Jerry's sidekick is doing most of the funny stuff with Jerry being more of a straight man. Jerry seems to be trying to reinvent himself , why would he pick another comic to be his sidekick rather than an Ed McMahon or Regis Philbin type. I don't understand why anyone would greenlight something like this in the first place. What is even more bizarre is attempting to compete with Carson with something hosted by Jerry Lewis. Essentially they appeal to exactly the same audience and Carson has already easily won all those battles. They might as well have called Joey Bishop or Mike Douglas, this was hopelessly doomed from the start, why even attempt it.