''The Morton Downey Jr. Show'' is a syndicated American talk show presented by Morton Downey Jr. that ran from 1987 to 1989. The show and its host pioneered the concept of "

trash TV A tabloid talk show is a subgenre of the talk show genre that emphasizes controversial and sensationalistic topical subject matter. The subgenre originated in the United States and achieved peak viewership from the mid-1980s through the end of t ...

" format. Starting as a local program on New York-

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

superstation

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW ...

in October 1987, it expanded into national

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

in early 1988.

Style

The program featured screaming matches among Downey, his guests, and audience members. Using a large silver bowl for an

ashtray An ashtray is a receptacle for ash from cigarettes and cigars. Ashtrays are typically made of fire-retardant material such as glass, heat-resistant plastic, pottery, metal, or stone. It differs from a cigarette receptacle, which is used speci ...

, he would chainsmoke during the show and blow smoke in his guests' faces. Downey's fans became known as "Loudmouths", patterned after the studio lecterns decorated with gaping cartoon mouths, from which Downey's guests would go head-to-head against each other on their respective issues. Downey's signature phrases " pablum puking

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

" (referring to left leaning progressives) and "Zip it!" briefly enjoyed some popularity in the contemporary vernacular. He particularly enjoyed making his guests angry with each other, which on a few occasions resulted in physical confrontations. For example, one time, American activist and politician Roy Innis knocked away American civil rights activist

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...

for interrupting him, forcing the both of them to engage in an all-out brawl. Despite the incident, Downey Jr. decides to keep the show going, though he did not press charges on either Innis or Sharpton for aggravated assault. During one controversial episode, Downey introduced his

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

brother, Tony Downey, to his studio audience and informed them Tony was

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

positive. During the episode, Downey stated he was afraid his audience would abandon him if they knew he had a gay brother, but then said he did not care.

Reception

''Downey'' gained a mixed to negative reception from television critics. '

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote about him, "Suppose a maniac got hold of a talk show. Or need we suppose?" David Letterman said, "I'm always amazed at what people will fall for. We see this every 10 or 12 years, an attempt at this, and I guess from that standpoint I don't quite understand why everybody's falling over backwards over the guy."

Cancellation

Despite starting out with 78 stations and a nationwide audience through WWOR’s EMI Service, the ratings for Downey’s program never stayed high enough for those stations to continue airing it. The program stopped taping new episodes in June 1989 and a cancellation notice came shortly after; Downey had offered to change his show to a weekly offering but Quantum Media, MCA, and WWOR would not agree. The show ceased distribution on September 15; it had been estimated that 75% of the stations airing Downey did not renew their contract with MCA to continue carrying it.

References

External links

Official ''Morton Downey Jr Show'' Website

IMDB

Complete episode on rock music posted by Night Of The Trailers on YouTube

Complete episode about smoking on Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton Downey Jr. Show, The 1987 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings American television talk shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by Universal Television Conservative media in the United States