I first saw the telethon back in 1971 (it was also the first time it had been shown in the Twin Cities), and it quickly became something to whch I'd look forward each year, even if it did mean going back to school. It also became a personal challenge, as I tried each year to make it through the 20+ hours of the show. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't. Now, in my doddering old age, I probably wouldn't be able to make it to midnight, but b ack then I was always good to go at least to 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, even in the years when I didn't watch the whole thing.
I had to look it up; it's been 14 years since the last time Jerry hosted the telethon. After he was ousted, I not only quit watching it, I stopped donating to MDA altogether. (There was more to it than that, but that's for another day.) Even in those last years, though, it had changed from when I'd first started watching. There weren't as many big stars anymore; the variety show was a thing of the past, the big names in the music industry were mostly rock acts that didn't do television, and more and more of the guests seemed to be of the lounge lizard variety. As the big names began to fade from the scene, and as more stations went to 24-hour broadcasting, the magic that made the telethon dimmed, even if it never went out completely.
I say all this as a preface to some video that I think you'll find interesting, even if you've already seen it. It's the opening 16 minutes from 1967, only the second year of the telethon, back when the show still originated from the Americana Hotel in New York City. It's the second year for the telethon, and you'll notice that the toteboard only registers seven figures; the final total for that year was $1,126,846. (Since I know you were going to ask, the record amount, set in 2008, was over $65 million.) This is in no way meant as a criticism—after all, the more money raised, the better—but from a purely dramatic standpoint, there was real tension, almost desperation, in that fight to raise just one more dollar. The first million often didn't come until sometime overnight, and the last hour was especially dramatic, when it seemed as if everyone was in a mad rush to contribute before the show ended. Things were less polished then, less sophisticated, and was all quite exciting, especially for an impressionable kid like me.
Anyway, here's to simpler times; I hope you enjoy this blast from the past, and that it brings back some pleasant memories!
TV
Watching a few minutes of what you posted brought back memories for me. I remember seeing the telethon in the Capital District of NY and in Nashville. I was aware of it before then, but I have my first specific memories in 1975. I pledged 62 cents (I think), which was 10% of the profits from a carnival that I hosted w/ friends. I was out of the room at the time, but my sister's college roommate told me when I was back that someone local mentioned that someone donated that amount and people cheered because they knew every bit helped. I also tried to stay up all night and like you lasted until about 4 AM. A few years later I got my mom to take me to a live remote near Nashville where a local celebrity hosted, and someone told me I showed up on tv (which is what I hoped would happen). I also remember all the local numbers, which I guess were set up so no one back then had to dial 10 digits or make a long distance call.
ReplyDeleteAnother yearly charity drive, around February, was for Cerebral Palsy, and as looking back in old online newspapers reminded me, it was telecast live from some Armory building in Albany, NY, so it was produced locally. It may have been carried statewide at least. I found an old ad for the 1973 telethon that stated that national luminaries like "Maj. Frank Burns" & "Hot Lips Houlihan" (listed by their MASH character names) would be there.