THERE’S NO CLASS LEFT – WHY THE MDA JERRY LEWIS DEPARTURE WAS IN BAD FORM

As someone who has watched the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, I understand that time changes and that efficiency gives way to nostalgia, especially when the 85-year old nostalgia has health issues himself. And after the fact, the first telethon held without him, cut to 6 hours from 21 still raised more money, so in terms of charitable intake, the MDA seemed to suffer little. What is apparent and a seeming fact of modern life is that age no longer deserves a recognition or respect, especially in the case of someone who has done a service for MDA since 1966. We are living in the disposable world where people are irrelevant, unless they have some sordid lifestyle worthy of broadcasting on a global scale.

At the least the MDA should have had a recognition or some public way to thank Lewis for the years (and the millions). It could have even been prior to the Telethon itself. I’m sure that there are reasons why nothing was done, but from a viewing audience it just seems that an old man was ousted and that was that. And that is, in my opinion, bad form.

There is no doubt that the MDA does good work. I hope that with the public scrutiny they have received from comics and others in the television community, that they may yet do something that would be a more appropriate farewell.  You can read about this year’s telethon HERE.

MisterWriter