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Will MDA Telethon Survive Without Jerry Lewis?

T

The Voice of Reason

Personally I don't think so. Even though I don't find Jerry Lewis entertaining, one has to give him credit for keeping the Labor Day telethon going for many years. But Lewis is 81 years old, and has suffered from health problems. The young goofy kid we see in the movies is long gone.
Anyone here have suggestions as to who would be a good replacement for Jerry Lewis should he either become unable to host the telethon, or eventually passes away?
 
The MDA will go on without Lewis. Lewis will always be a part of it, and his name will be associated with the telethon for decades to come. Yes, he'll be gone but he is so closely identified with the MDA there is absolutely no way the organization will take his name and memory completely out of the mix. No matter who the host is, this will
always be Jerry's "baby."
 
The Voice of Reason said:
Anyone here have suggestions as to who would be a good replacement for Jerry Lewis should he either become unable to host the telethon, or eventually passes away?
Click to expand...

Sure! George Carlin.

Oh wait.... Nevermind.
 
I could see it surviving for several more years without Jerry, but more likely in a reduced form. We already know several stations air don't the telethon in its entirety. Instead of it being on for 20-plus hours, it could go from early Labor Day morning (or at least midday) until early evening, making it maybe a 10-hour show (depending on the market). If Jerry's gone, I just can't see it being a 20-plus hour show every year. Look at the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars telethon...in its heyday, it use to be at least a 7-hour show, but know it's more of a three-hour special (and its taped months in advance nowadays). The old United Cerebral Palsy telethon pretty much rivaled the Jerry Lewis telethon, in terms of hours of airtime...usually starting up Saturday evening and finishing Sunday afternoon.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
If it happens in the near future (next couple of years), my guess is Tom Bergeron.
Click to expand...

My guess as well. I saw Bergeron on with Jerry at the start of this year's telethon, and the thought also ran through my head.

It'd probably be the Jerry Lewis Telethon with Bergeron hosting, and probably reduced in hours at some point. Would it last for more than a couple or three years? Probably, since it would still bring in money for MDA...
 
OhioMediaWatch said:
Corky Marlowe said:
If it happens in the near future (next couple of years), my guess is Tom Bergeron.
Click to expand...

My guess as well. I saw Bergeron on with Jerry at the start of this year's telethon, and the thought also ran through my head.

It'd probably be the Jerry Lewis Telethon with Bergeron hosting, and probably reduced in hours at some point. Would it last for more than a couple or three years? Probably, since it would still bring in money for MDA...
Click to expand...

I can see Bergeron taking over after Jerry BUT I wouldn't be surprised to see Ryan Seacrest get involved too only because he is very popular "among the kids" and by having Seacrest onboard it would be a "safe" way to get he kids to donate. Oddly if this happens it will be a throwback to the days when the telethon tried as much to get young kids to donate as well as the adults such as those infamous MDA backyard kiddie carnivals. I still remember one 8 year old child who had one in my hometown and while he raised thousands for the MDA, however he also had full scare carnival rides too ( thnaks to his parents ) and the sight of a 25 foot ferris wheel and a full sized tilt-a-whirl in his backyard didn't set very well the neighbors. The result was a change in zoning and that remains to this day and that was the beginning of the end of those MDA backyard carnivals in other neighborhoods around the country as well..
 
those infamous MDA backyard kiddie carnivals.
Mom & Dad, wherever you are, thanks for telling me "no" on the MDA carnival, and for telling my brother "no" on the monkey. Both would have been much more trouble than they were worth.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
those infamous MDA backyard kiddie carnivals.
Mom & Dad, wherever you are, thanks for telling me "no" on the MDA carnival, and for telling my brother "no" on the monkey. Both would have been much more trouble than they were worth.
Click to expand...

...Bill "B.J." Jackson plugged those things on WFLD/32 Chicago's Cartoon Town (a.k.a. B.J. & Dirty Dragon) up until the very last day that show was on the air, July 27, 1973...
 
I think it'll depend on the host. For instance Marlo Thomas has done a pretty good job keeping up with her fathers St Jude Hospital charities. If Jerry was thinking ahead he'd be smart to get a cohost and start getting the public used to this cohost now while he still has the draw.
 
When I see Jerry Lewis hosting, I know he'd doing it out of the goodness of his heart. If I see Tom Bergeron hosting, the first thing that will be going through my mind is "hired gun". And I'll be watching for "America's Funniest MDA Pratfalls"
 
I haven't watched the MDA thing in years..the last memorable moment was when Sinatra and Dean Martin were reunited in the dead of night many years ago...Most major markets carry it, but why?
 
Why, Mr. Truth,

Why is everything done? MONEY.

The mda PURCHASES the time in (nearly) every market. That's how it started. The mda got a cheap time "network" on the least-watched lowest rated weekend in the year. The incentive for tv stations was MONEY and dumping lots of unsold inventory.

Thank you.
 
After all these years of the telethon, Jerry Lewis has said many times, that they are close to a cure and we will see one in his lifetime. So therefore there will not be a new host because Jerry Lewis said he will see a cure in his lifetime. Then there will be no need for a telethon.
 
A cure for any disease is unlikely. We have a vaccine for measles, but so many people as so afraid that vaccinations give you autism, that measles are again on the rise.

We have a vaccine for polio but people still get it. AIDS is 100% preventable but people still get it. I remember in the 80s when slews of people were dropping dead of it. When is the last time you heard of anyone dying of AIDS? In the 80s to mid 90s every month someone famous was dying of it.

Just because their is no cure doesn't mean it hasn't helped. Thousands of people are better off now than they were when Lewis first started. True their illness isn't arrested, but some lead manageable lives.
 
Mark said:
A cure for any disease is unlikely. We have a vaccine for measles, but so many people as so afraid that vaccinations give you autism, that measles are again on the rise.

We have a vaccine for polio but people still get it. AIDS is 100% preventable but people still get it. I remember in the 80s when slews of people were dropping dead of it. When is the last time you heard of anyone dying of AIDS? In the 80s to mid 90s every month someone famous was dying of it.

Just because their is no cure doesn't mean it hasn't helped. Thousands of people are better off now than they were when Lewis first started. True their illness isn't arrested, but some lead manageable lives.
Click to expand...

In reguards to AIDS, my wife seems to remember hearing many years ago where Liz Taylor was planning on doing a telethon very much on the sme par as what Jerry lewis did for the MDA. Syndicated nationwide, big stars, etc.... I don't think that telethon ever aired (if it did I dont recall ).

Problem? A LOT of people back in the 80s and 90s believed that AIDS was nothing more than a punishment from God against gay men ( the AIDS rate among lesbians I have heard is next to zero ), therefor not a dime should be spent on research much less a cure. Of course Ryan White changed that. But still there are those whose attitudes in reguards to AIDS ( pretty much a "gay" problem ) continues today mainly among such people/groups like Focus On The family, Fred & Shirley Phelps, Sally Kern, and I have heard recently that even Mike Huckabee still shares that opinion about AIDS.
 
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