When I saw that Jerry is again planning to host his Labor Day Telethon this weekend, I knew I had to write a post. I don’t care who you are, I bet you have memories of the Telethon. Especially if you’re over forty (which I admit to being. Gulp). Because, in the ’70s, Jerry’s Telethon was a pretty huge deal.
Some background: Lewis started the Telethon only in New York in the 1950s, in response to a request from a staff member who worked on Jerry and Dean Martin’s show the Colgate Comedy Hour. In 1966, the Telethon went national, and the making of history began.
I myself didn’t step in until many years later. It was around 1977 when I started making the Telethon a must-see. And when I say a must-see, I mean every bit of it. I would stock up on Doritos, Coke and sleep and await the big day. I was there, ensconced in my parent’s bedroom for the entire weekend. I kept track of the toteboard, loved or jeered the acts, and stayed up with Jerry round the clock. Actually, I stayed up with Ed McMahon round the clock. Jerry went to sleep for six hours around 1 A.M. or so. I think that was cleverly engineered.
See, by 1 AM, the audience was waning. Most were turning off the TV and turning in. So Jerry would catch a few winks, and come 7 AM, no one would be the wiser. Except me and Ed. I miss Ed.
Overnights on the Telethon were almost as good as prime time. No, you didn’t get to see Frank Sinatra then, but you got Charo and Rip Taylor. There were jugglers and skaters and definitely Tony Orlando and Dawn. But! The segments that always killed me were the true stories of Jerry’s kids. Kids just like me, living with the catastrophic effects of neuromuscular disease. I didn’t know whether to be frightened out of my little mind or cry. So instead, I went for my pink suede piggy bank and reached for the phone.
The best part of the Telethon was that I was never alone in my marathon after about ’77. I cajoled and pushed my best great girlfriend Kate into watching it with me. And even though she pissed and moaned a lot during it, I’m convinced she actually liked it. My parents bought a cottage around then, and we were free to eat ourselves silly, smoke forbidden cigarettes and enjoy the hoke. Sometimes, and you never knew when, Jerry would pull out the odd special guest. If you were lucky, it was Sammy Davis Jr. or one year, even THIS!
Dean, Dean. Have another drink there buddy. In his defense though, they hadn’t spoken in years and years. He was probably as nervous as a cat. But he was a cool cat, wasn’t he?
Love him or hate him (my Mom has always hated him), Jerry has raised over a billion yes I said a BILLION dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. And that’s just amazingly wonderful.
There’s always been a rumor that Jerry gets paid a hefty fee for his work on the Telethon. I could find no proof of it, and snopes.com says it’s a falsehood. I like to believe he does it out of love.
And even though Kate is in Florence this year, I know she’ll be with me in spirit at the end of the weekend when Jerry sings….
Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Sep 02, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
. . . . .
Dog dig it.
Nice memories … melancholy piece, Tara …
Yes, it is a bit different from my usual sarcastic self. Glad you liked it!
Awesome post!
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks for taking the time to read it Toni!
Nice Article…I think I’ll just copy and paste what I posted on FB here:
I volunteered at the telethon here in Seattle one year…..I did the whole 21 hrs..it was amazing….funniest thing was during the middle of the night we took turns taking calls and those not answering could catch little cat naps. On sunday AM when there was normally cartoons on the station the telethon was on we all ended up taking a call from a VERY upset little girl who was mad her cartoons weren’t on! I think she made it thru every phone in the phone bank before her mom apparently woke up and stopped her!
I would find it VERY hard to believe that Jerry would take any money for this telethon!!!! I truly believe it’s literally a labor of love he has performed year after year, even when he himself has been in VERY poor health!!!
THANKS JERRY!!!!
What a great piece! Yes…I did hate the telethon at first…but you are right — I ended up loving it and now consider it a guilty pleasure. Why not? Where in the US these days can you get such pure, unadulterated, show-bizzy, let’s put on a show (for a good cause) schmaltz??
Long live Jerry.
I miss Ed too.
P.S. Ha, ha, ha. Rip Taylor!
I *knew* you liked it!
Oh, man. I, too, remember when Dean showed up. Which puts me into a certain age bracket as well, I suppose.
Don’t’cha love it — the chain smoking, the ethnic jokes, the drunk routine; today comedians talk about things that would NEVER have made it on the air back then, but so many things that were commonplace then are absolutely verboten today due to “political correctness.” Strange how the world has changed.
Yes, the telethon used to be a “big deal.” Of course, there were only three major networks and maybe a couple or three local independent stations, so when the telethon took over on Labor Day it was pretty much the only game in town.
I’m glad Jerry is still able to pull it off. It breaks my heart that most of the huge, huge stars of that generation are gone. I don’t even recognize a lot of the “celebrities” who show up these days. Must be tough to outlive your peers yet keep going. Dedicated man, Jerry Lewis.
As he promises and prays for every year, I hope they find a cure. More importantly, I hope Jerry is around to see it.
Thanx for the story.
*POST AUTHOR*
You’re welcome David, thanks for your comment. And you are so right about it being the “only game in town.” It’s hard to believe now that we only had 3 channels. Yet somehow I always found something to watch. Now, I have a bazillion channels and sometimes *nothing’s* on. Strange.