Discuss Jerry Lewis
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Who else remembers his annual Muscular Dystrophy marathons?
posted by genplant29STAFFMOD on September 7, 2019 at 8:48 PM
During my growing up and early adulthood years, my family members and I enjoyed watching Jerry Lewis' annual Muscular Dystrophy marathons. Those always felt like "event" television and were a combination of entertaining, moving, and interesting.
Here's excerpts from what Jerry Lewis' Wikipedia article says about those:
....(I)n...1966, the live annual Labor Day event of The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon...debuted in syndication and would air each year. //....Since 1968, the show was notable for the involvement of Ed McMahon (announcer and sidekick on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson)...[who] would co-anchor the event every year with Lewis until 2008....// Throughout the decades, the legendary broadcast...was the most successful fundraising event in the history of television. The show, with Lewis as its iconic host and emcee and help from a legion of top celebrities and entertainers, raised billions of dollars during the years....//....In 1998, Lewis' telethon became the first ever to be viewed around the globe via internet simulcast by RealNetworks on MDA's website....On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association....
I stopped watching those probably sometime during the '80s and will always remember them fondly.
Please check out the following list of titles and celebrities I've created TMDb threads for: https://www.themoviedb.org/list/118052
Reply by QuitePleasant
on September 7, 2019 at 10:21 PM
Yes, Jerry certainly makes the cause pertinent to his many fans, by making it personal. Children unfortunate to be affected by Muscular Dystrophy are not only inflicted with disease, but they are "Jerry's Children," as he tirelessly maintains during his non-stop Labor Day telethon marathons.
Many viewers also probably didn't stay the distance because of not being able to deal with Jerry's stress of emceeing for (what is it?) 48 consecutive hours, and draining his stamina drains the viewer, as well.
Probably, those early birds who would donate as soon as Jerry enters the stage may be wondering what's taking everyone else a long time to chip in, thus tiring Jerry for two entire days and nights, right?
Anyway, as you mention, Jerry certainly ranks right up there with the most philanthropists among celebrities, and his devotion, consideration and efforts prove as much.
Reply by manfromatlantis
on September 7, 2019 at 10:37 PM
I remember it as well
Reply by genplant29
on September 7, 2019 at 10:38 PM
I remember how much he'd visibly perspire and that, if I'm recalling accurately, he sometimes kept a small hand towel in his hand, or around his kneck, to mop off the sweat. A lot of the time he was very obviously exhausted, after being on live t.v. for several hours.