Jerry Lewis Labor Day MDA telethon sets record at $63.7M
Whether you believe it is still the public service it once started out to be, or whether you think it has devolved into an opportunity for the dregs of Las Vegas Hollywood has-beens to do their annual dose of shameless self-promotion and insincere public service, the Jerry Lewis Telethon is definitely still one thing: a Labor Day Weekend tradition.
The show has been on for just a bit longer than I’ve been alive, starting in 1966; the show airs on Labor Day and I was born at the end of September of that year. That’s mind-boggling.
But while Lewis has gone from a distinguished comic to a fellow who’s probably best-suited to promoting incontinence products, he does get results.
This year, Lewis’ muscular dystrophy telethon set a new record, raising $63.7 million over the course of the 21 and a half hour broadcast.
According to a report in the Las Vegas Sun, “The telecast has raised $1.46 billion to fight the disease since it began in 1966 on a single television station in New York City. This year’s telecast was carried by 190 stations in the United States and Canada and carried worldwide on the Internet.”
Tags: incontinence products, Jerry Lewis, Labor Day telethon, muscular dystrophy
