Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

Just stumbled upon Telethon. What an amazing run - 42 years. I won't even say how old I was when I first watched.

I will say it was at a time before cable and there was nothing else on tv labor day weekend.

Never found Jerry Lewis funny and found the telethon to be depressing ( most likey because it signaled the end of summer and it was time to go back to school) but I have to tip my cap to Jerry- he has never given up.

 

Even before he got sick, I remember how bad he looked at the end of those things.

Good for him for keeping it going.

 

Running thread: Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

(Added running thread status for those of us who have to work through the weekend and have nothing better to do than await Charo's annual appearance now that the regional MLB team has cashed in its chips for the year.....)

Is it just me, or has Jerry come back from the brink of his demise? He seems mighty healthy compared to a couple of years ago....

 

All things considered, Jerry looks pretty good. Not sure who'd replace him when he stops doing the telethon/dies, but it won't be the same. I used to do volunteer work for the telethon, and it was one of the few things in my life I'm genuinely proud of.

Speaking of not looking well, Vanessa Williams has seen better decades.

 

Like Boom, I watched in the '70s. Infrequently. When you get three channels, there ain't much else on, and in those days, the other networks didn't bother to plan decent programming against it because they figured everyone was watching Jerry anyway. I found the whole thing depressing in a way I couldn't articulate as a child and adolescent. I was thankful it wasn't me Jerry was trotting on stage, and I felt guilty for feeling that.
And that telethon could make me tear up as a kid, so I haven't watched it in 20 years or more.

 

The guy's 82 and it's not like he's had an easy life (by choice).
God bless him he's still out there.
I would to see a cure while he's still alive.

 

at least voting age? ;D

 

The telethon always had a special meaning to me. Sort of a start of a new "year," with school starting and all that.

But the biggest thing was this. In my small town, we had "Baseball Day" every Labor Day. Seven games, played 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the town field, from Little League minors all-stars (they'd move in the bases) through majors, Senior Division, women's softball all-stars, men's fast-pitch, Legion, right up to the town sandlot team playing somebody different from another part of the state.

We'd have 4-5,000 people there the entire day ... the town radio station broadcast all the games ... door prizes every half-inning ... great food in the concession stand.

So every Labor Day eve, I'd go to bed with the telethon on downstairs, and the next morning, I'd get up and usually play in one of the games, but definitely be there for 13 hours non-stop. Good, good, good times.

 

NEW YORK - Jerry Lewis dropped an anti-gay slur — the same one that got Isaiah Washington of "Grey's Anatomy" in trouble — during the 18th hour of his annual Labor Day Telethon.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070904/ap_en_ot/people_jerry_lewis_2;_ylt=AmkrO.WP.W4WiVsvzqCquQEE1vAI

Neil Giuliano, President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), has just issued the following statement to TMZ: "Jerry Lewis' on-air use of this kind of anti-gay slur is simply unacceptable. It also feeds a climate of hatred and intolerance that contributes to putting our community in harm's way. Our nation's media have done an admirable job this year holding public figures accountable for their use of anti-gay slurs, and I hope they continue to do so with Mr. Lewis."

Video:
http://www.tmz.com/2007/09/04/jerry-lewis-drops-f-bomb-during-telethon/

 

Damn, they raised $63.7 million this year.

 

Do telethons ever fail to raise record amounts?

 

It's like the n word...until the group so offended by it stops using it themselves, then I'll care.