MDA: Jerry Lewis Out As Chairman, Telethon Host

[flashback]

jerry lewis seems to be being treated bad in this.

till they treat him better in their announcments,correct the cold way they treated him already, or jerry lewis makes a statment saying he left on his own decision and all are well between them it will look bad for the charity.

 

[gregg75]

They said something on NBC news about Jerry "saying some bad things about
broadcast televison". Could this possibly have angered some stations on the
MDA network?

 

[Mark Giardina]

They said something on NBC news about Jerry "saying some bad things about
broadcast televison". Could this possibly have angered some stations on the
MDA network?

He was reportedly critical of a couple of shows that feature some of the co-hosts on this year's telethon. Personally I think Lewis' departure, dismissal, whatever you want to call it, is more than just Jerry expressing his opinion about a couple of TV shows.

 

[gregg75]

Here is what I just happened to see on zap2it..........a short snip first

During a Q&A session with reporters, Lewis was asked what if he would explain his role with the upcoming telethon. After a brief exchange, Lewis curtly said, "No ... Because it's none of your business." He then added the day after the telethon he would have a press conference and flatly stated, "I will have plenty to say about what I think is important."

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/08/jerry-lewis-out-as-mda-national-chairman.html

Maybe nobody to blame but himself.

 

[DToTheJ]

Maybe Jerry will start his own Internet TV channel like Glenn Beck. If that's the case, way to lay the groundwork, Jerry!

Another option is, he can always move away to France, where his film work is revered.

 

[FreddyE1977]

He's 85 years old and recently has created controversy with some of his off-the cuff remarks: Gay-bashing; on-camera sniping at his staff are just two examples.

This guy has been the subject of controversy for pretty much his entire career. I give him all due credit for having his
heart in the right place where these kids are concerned, but the stories about him being a paranoid, bombastic loose cannon are legendary. If MDA was truly worried about that they would not have kept him as their chairman for four and a half decades.

 

[KyDXIn]

Gee that's interesting cause I just received the annual card from the MDA asking for a donation and it's signed by Jerry Lewis as MDA Chairman! And his picture is still on it! The labor day telethon without Jerry Lewis will be like taking a bath without water! The grease just smears and smears and smears all over your body!

And if you check, Jerry and his group raised nearly $59 million last year. I bet you dollars to donuts that won't happen without him this year. Seems like a pretty stupid move to rid yourself of someone who brought such capital. Even with the reduced format, I would think Lewis would have brought in some money. MDA should have let him step away GRACEFULLY.

 

[azumanga]

Comedians, Roger Ebert and even Forbes Magazine are coming out in defense of Jerry Lewis, saying what MDA has done to Jerry was terrible:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011...agazine-agree-jerry-lewis-deserves-better.php

 

[flashback]

good for them. the MDA treated jerry lewis terrible.

even if they had problems with him ,the money he raised for them called for a public show of respect.

 

[KyDXIn]

Re: '

Here's the MDA.org press release:

http://www.mda.org/news/110803.html

Still pretty terse.

Terse isn't the word I would use. Harsh is better description of that press release from the MDA.

Even the title of the press release made it feel like Lewis was receiving written notice of termination from a job from an insensitive employer.

I mean give the guy credit. Jerry Lewis might be a jerk at times, but he's raised probably over a billion dollars for MDA during the past four decades and this is the thanks he gets: A memo from some PR flack basically saying ' Thanks Jerry, now go away!'

Actually $2.6 billion since 1966.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Then there's this: http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=663026&GT1=28103

Could this lead to some regular telethon acts refusing to participate?

 

[therealjm12]

Thru friends that I have known, over the years, I have learned about what apparently are two Jerry Lewis's. The people I have worked with that traveled to Vegas to meet with him for Telethon have always come back with stories of what a monster he is. Completely controlling, rude, and just nasty. Just an a$$hole.

Then I know people who have worked with him on his movies (I had a chance to grip once but had to turn it down). They said he was wonderful. Very generous and gracious to his crew. While he was demanding of the script (which he pretty much wrote) he was very open to the technical side. Always wanted to be state of the art -open to suggestions. People actually wanted to work with him on his movies. So maybe it's some down deep passion that drives him to be that way on the telethon, who knows?

 

[rageradio]

I've noticed for a few years and even last year KPRC here in Houston hasn't been airing it.

 

[TroyG]

KPRC has been carrying The telethon since its inception back in 1966, as a charter member of The Love Network, which happens to be a brainchild of Jerry Lewis. It has been carrying the telethon for like 24 hours every year on Labor Day Weekend. And when NBC tells its affiliates it MUST commit to its scheduled programming, and stations like KPRC, must follow NBC's procedures. So that's the reason why The MDA's nationwide coverage was dwindled. Local afilliates, like KPRC can supply their own coverage, but it must be within MDA's alotted timeframe.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

It's not like Labor Day weekend is a big ratings period for the networks

 

[DToTheJ]

That, it may not be - but there's likely lots of advertising revenues tied into network coverage of sporting events that warrants the networks obligating affiliates to stray from "the network of love" and dance with the one that brought them.

 

[azumanga]

KPRC has been carrying The telethon since its inception back in 1966, as a charter member of The Love Network, which happens to be a brainchild of Jerry Lewis.

I thought The Love Network did not start up until 1968, when WHEC Rochester, WKBG (WLVI) Boston, WTEV (WLNE) Providence and WGR[Z] Buffalo began broadcasting the Telethon? In 1966 and 1967, only WNEW (WNYW) in NYC carried the show.

I have a copy of the 2005 list of the Love Network affiliates; according to that, that year, KPRC carried the telethon for 36 years -- starting in 1969.

It has been carrying the telethon for like 24 hours every year on Labor Day Weekend.

The official length of the telethon is actually 21.5 hours, though some stations, such as WWOR in New York, carried it for 22 hours, obviously with more local material.

Don't know how much KPRC carried, but back in 2005, it joined the telethon at 11PM CT Sunday night -- 3 hours after it started nationally.

And when NBC tells its affiliates it MUST commit to its scheduled programming, and stations like KPRC, must follow NBC's procedures. So that's the reason why The MDA's nationwide coverage was dwindled.

It seems in recent years that the networks, NBC and CBS, didn't mind if you bumped Prime Time, the morning shows or soaps for Jerry, but it did mind when it comes to sports -- I think one network had golf and another had tennis. As a result, some stations either put the sporting event or Jerry on another channel or, failing that, say goodbye to Jerry early.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I don't know how the rest of you feel but doesn't it appear that someone is purposely trying to kill off the MDA telethon?
First Jerry Lewis is ousted as host with less than a month before the telethon is going to air. Then the hours of the telethon is drastically reduced from 21 to 6 hours.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Thru friends that I have known, over the years, I have learned about what apparently are two Jerry Lewis's. The people I have worked with that traveled to Vegas to meet with him for Telethon have always come back with stories of what a monster he is. Completely controlling, rude, and just nasty. Just an a$$hole.

Then I know people who have worked with him on his movies (I had a chance to grip once but had to turn it down). They said he was wonderful. Very generous and gracious to his crew. While he was demanding of the script (which he pretty much wrote) he was very open to the technical side. Always wanted to be state of the art -open to suggestions. People actually wanted to work with him on his movies. So maybe it's some down deep passion that drives him to be that way on the telethon, who knows?

If you want to read an interesting book there was one written years ago by Arthur Marx (son of Groucho) detailing the career of Martin and Lewis.

According to Marx's book, Jerry, who was just a teenager when he teamed up with Dean Martin, started to believe the press clippings that he was the guiding force behind the success of the team. While Martin was known for his patience, he eventually resented being known as a 'second banana' to Lewis. The breakup came when Lewis produced a script for a movie where Dean was suppose to dress up as a police officer. Dean refused and the team parted.

Now Jerry's book about Martin and him paints a different story. However from friends of mine who worked in Hollywood many years ago and knew both men said that there was indeed a deep hostility among both Martin and Lewis for many years.

Most people know the story how Frank Sinatra got both men to appear together during the 1976 MDA telethon; 20 years after the breakup. What you don't see on the You Tube video are the remarks Lewis made after Martin's appearance where he said the team would never reunite again.

It wasn't until Martin's son's funeral, where Jerry attended and stood in the back so not to be noticed, that both men started talking again. In Dean's final years both men settled their differences and Lewis was reportedly devastated at Martin's death in 1995.

 

[azumanga]

I don't know how the rest of you feel but doesn't it appear that someone is purposely trying to kill off the MDA telethon?
First Jerry Lewis is ousted as host with less than a month before the telethon is going to air. Then the hours of the telethon is drastically reduced from 21 to 6 hours.

Other factors:

1. The new telethon is live in Eastern Time only, which means by the time the final tote is taken before Midnight ET, they're still taking pledges in the rest of the country.

2. The telethon is during network prime-time -- one of the reasons many Love Network stations opted to wait until the late news or the next day to start the old telethon. One station, KXAS in Dallas (an NBC O&O), passed the telethon off to KTXA (an indy owned by CBS) when plans for the new telethon were announced.