‘The Morton Downey Jr Show’ Overview
Fast Facts
Title:The Morton Downey, Jr. Show
Host: Morton Downey, Jr.
Format: One-hour tabloid talk show. Tabloid talk shows are known for inviting controversial guests and setting up moments of conflict or volatility. Subject matter is often melodramatic, prurient and taboo.
Broadcast Information: The Morton Downey, Jr. Show was broadcast in syndication.
Premiere Date: September 1987
Final Air Date: September 1989
Brief History:
Much is made of the tabloid talk shows infamous for churning out icky topics of all types in the 1990s, like The Jenny Jones Show and Geraldo. But the patriarch - and his seminal show - led the charge that started it all in the late 1980s. That man is Morton Downey, Jr. And his show - which burned bright and lasted for only three seasons - was The Morton Downey, Jr. Show.
The program began life as a local show taped in Secaucus, N.J. From its beginning, the show was loud, boisterous, and obnoxious. Downey would invite guests with opposing viewpoints to duke it out in front of a live audience. The subjects were always controversial and politically charged. And if a guest had a more liberal stance on an issue - look out. Downey was ready to shout them down. Or blow cigarette smoke in their face just to taunt them.
Viewers loved it, and the show was picked up and placed into national syndication in 1988. And when it went national, viewers across the country loved it, too.
A Star is Born
Downey was born on Dec.
9, 1932, in Los Angeles. He graduated from New York University and dove headfirst into broadcasting, becoming a program director and radio announcer at a small station in Connecticut.
As he moved from station to station, Downey also pursued a music career, trying to breakthrough as a pop and country singer. Downey recorded a few albums, discovered modest success, but never really made it big.
Instead, Downey would become a household name through a different vocal style - rough, abrasive, right-wing rhetoric, a skill he honed on a radio talk show in Sacramento, Calif.
Shooting Star
Downey took that format to the small screen with his shortly lived, but wildly popular television program. He made sure to underscore his loud personality by branding cartoon versions of his large, open mouth. To increase the tension on his set, Downey would chain smoke and blow that same smoke across the studio.
Downey would also prod his guests to become even more confrontational, which led to more than one physical confrontation.
This confrontational style - which arguably launched the Trash TV movement - would also be Downey's undoing. His distributor and the small, local independent stations that ran his program were so beset with concern over advertising dollars and advertisers fleeing the station, that selling the show - and keeping it on the air - was too difficult. In just three short years, The Morton Downey , Jr. Show would appear, flame brightly, and burn out completely.
Short-lived Celebrity
During the time the show was popular, Downey made a name for himself, appearing on Saturday Night Live and making cameos in a number of popular films. He even returned to music, recording a handful of songs based on the show.
But Trash TV wouldn't live long in the late night world were Downey's show existed. Where daytime viewers were just getting a taste of such prurient interested, late night viewers were witnessing the dawn of a new era in talk show history. Downey's show was regularly bumped from syndicated line-ups to make way for a new late night show, The Arsenio Hall Show.
In July 1989, the show was cancelled.
Downey died in 2001 as a result of lung cancer, due to the chain smoking that was such a hallmark of his program. During the last five years of his life, Downey spoke constantly about the need to stop smoking.
Title:The Morton Downey, Jr. Show
Host: Morton Downey, Jr.
Format: One-hour tabloid talk show. Tabloid talk shows are known for inviting controversial guests and setting up moments of conflict or volatility. Subject matter is often melodramatic, prurient and taboo.
Broadcast Information: The Morton Downey, Jr. Show was broadcast in syndication.
Premiere Date: September 1987
Final Air Date: September 1989
Brief History:
Much is made of the tabloid talk shows infamous for churning out icky topics of all types in the 1990s, like The Jenny Jones Show and Geraldo. But the patriarch - and his seminal show - led the charge that started it all in the late 1980s. That man is Morton Downey, Jr. And his show - which burned bright and lasted for only three seasons - was The Morton Downey, Jr. Show.
The program began life as a local show taped in Secaucus, N.J. From its beginning, the show was loud, boisterous, and obnoxious. Downey would invite guests with opposing viewpoints to duke it out in front of a live audience. The subjects were always controversial and politically charged. And if a guest had a more liberal stance on an issue - look out. Downey was ready to shout them down. Or blow cigarette smoke in their face just to taunt them.
Viewers loved it, and the show was picked up and placed into national syndication in 1988. And when it went national, viewers across the country loved it, too.
A Star is Born
Downey was born on Dec.
9, 1932, in Los Angeles. He graduated from New York University and dove headfirst into broadcasting, becoming a program director and radio announcer at a small station in Connecticut.
As he moved from station to station, Downey also pursued a music career, trying to breakthrough as a pop and country singer. Downey recorded a few albums, discovered modest success, but never really made it big.
Instead, Downey would become a household name through a different vocal style - rough, abrasive, right-wing rhetoric, a skill he honed on a radio talk show in Sacramento, Calif.
Shooting Star
Downey took that format to the small screen with his shortly lived, but wildly popular television program. He made sure to underscore his loud personality by branding cartoon versions of his large, open mouth. To increase the tension on his set, Downey would chain smoke and blow that same smoke across the studio.
Downey would also prod his guests to become even more confrontational, which led to more than one physical confrontation.
This confrontational style - which arguably launched the Trash TV movement - would also be Downey's undoing. His distributor and the small, local independent stations that ran his program were so beset with concern over advertising dollars and advertisers fleeing the station, that selling the show - and keeping it on the air - was too difficult. In just three short years, The Morton Downey , Jr. Show would appear, flame brightly, and burn out completely.
Short-lived Celebrity
During the time the show was popular, Downey made a name for himself, appearing on Saturday Night Live and making cameos in a number of popular films. He even returned to music, recording a handful of songs based on the show.
But Trash TV wouldn't live long in the late night world were Downey's show existed. Where daytime viewers were just getting a taste of such prurient interested, late night viewers were witnessing the dawn of a new era in talk show history. Downey's show was regularly bumped from syndicated line-ups to make way for a new late night show, The Arsenio Hall Show.
In July 1989, the show was cancelled.
Downey died in 2001 as a result of lung cancer, due to the chain smoking that was such a hallmark of his program. During the last five years of his life, Downey spoke constantly about the need to stop smoking.