remember Morton Downey Jr?

[Liberal_in_LA]

'Evocateur' examines the career of Morton Downey Jr.

ttp://www.usatoday.com/story/popcandy/2013/06/07/morton-downey-evocateur/2399899/

Even though I wasn't allowed to watch The Morton Downey Jr. Show when I was a kid — not that I wanted to — I certainly remember the era of "Mort the Mouth."

Downey received tons of press and was roundly vilified for his '80s talk show, which featured screaming matches, fights, rowdy audiences and a chain-smoking host.

Now, except for the smoking, these hallmarks of trashy TV appear all over the place, from Jerry Springer and Maury to reality shows like Real Housewives.

Today a documentary about MDJ arrives. Evocateur explores his early career as a musician, his controversial years on TV, his downfall and his battle with lung cancer. (Downey died in 2001.)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/popcandy/2013/06/07/morton-downey-evocateur/2399899/

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[hlthe2b]

1. Yes... Not at all fondly.

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. yeah, I remember watching him in about 1989 when he was at the pinnacle of his notoriety

Last edited Sun Jun 9, 2013, 11:58 PM - Edit history (1)

It was banal entertainment to say the least. I remember some controversy when he claimed he had been assaulted by neo-Nazis in a restroom at the San Francisco International Airport. The airport police denied there was any such incident.

[Electric Monk]

3. Iron Man?

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL01C03D7623E3063C

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. I remember when Roddy Piper sprayed him with a fire extinguisher

....at Wrestlemania

[longship]

5. Where's Joe Pyne when we need him.

Joe Pyne

One of the originators of this genre.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1qz8d_joe-pyne-show_shortfilms

Here's Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell with Joe Pyne:

Springer with less chair throwing.

[Tom Ripley]

9. Pyne was the first crazy, angry man I remember seeing on television

[longship]

10. You forgot, rude.

He was above all rude.

Now, for that, we have Fox News.

[11 Bravo]

19. Joe Pyne: "Why don't you stick your thumb in your ear and go bowling?"

He did make me laugh.

[Poll_Blind]

22. Never heard that one before, LOL!

What a crazy language this is.

PB

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. never heard of him

[NoPasaran]

6. Yes, just like I remember once stepping in dog poo

[Ian David]

7. I watched his show a few times as a kid, and was unimpressed.

I couldn't really get the gist of any of the arguments, because everyone was just shouting over each other.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. yes,show was a non stop shouting match

[Tom Ripley]

8. I called Bill O'Reilly "Morton Downey Junior Junior"

[LeftInTX]

11. Another bad piece that came from the 80s

[stevenleser]

12. He came around and totally reversed himself at the end and realized he had been wrong

His widow is my friend on Facebook.

[olddots]

13. a pioneer in repulsive TV

TV has always been about dumbth but this guy made it dumber .

[KharmaTrain]

14. Met Him In The 80s...

...he was doing a talk radio show in Chicago that was a warm-up for his national TV gig. Much of what he did was an act that he privately admitted. Talk radio at that point was considered boring and the attitude was to try to emulate the antics of guys like Joe Pyne and Wally George that Downey had known. He was a genuinely nice guy...except when the red light in the studio came on. A great example was the day he had Rob Sherman...the head of the Chicago area branch of American Atheists. Sherman is a Chicago media gadfly and would love going on talk shows and claim there was no god...Downey knew this was "radio gold". Before the show he treated Sherman like a long-lost brother...made sure he was comfortable and gave him a great introduction. Then Downey asks him, "why are you such a scumbag"...Sherman attempted to answer, Downey amps it up with his infamous "zip it" line then proceded to toss him out of the studio. Afterwards he came up to Sherman, smiled and said "that's showbiz"...

[G_j]

15. he had a way with words,

"go gargle with razor blades" was an example given in Time magazine.
Could never watch the guy, a mentor for nasties on down the line.

[JaneyVee]

16. Rightwing nut job.

[11 Bravo]

20. Actually, I think he was more of a performance artist.

[SummerSnow]

17. I remember him wearing those red socks all the time.

It was one of signature looks. And I remember when Roy Innis and Al Sharpton had a fight on his show.It was must see tv

[no_hypocrisy]

18. He was an asshole in his younger years as well.

I read a bio of Jack and Jackie Kennedy. Downey knew the Kennedys through his father, the famous singer and was pretty close to the clan. One night when Jack was dating Jackie, Downey punked them and was swiftly exiled and banished from having anything to do with Camelot thereafter.

[reflection]

21. Yes. One of the turning points in the downfall of discourse.

Would that he had never been born. Of course, someone else would have just taken his spot. It was coming regardless.