The Morton Downey Jr. Show
| The Morton Downey Jr. Show | |
|---|---|
Show logo
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| Also known as | The Morton Downey Show |
| Starring | Morton Downey Jr. |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | QMI Television WWOR-TV |
| Distributor | MCA Television |
| Release | |
| Original network |
WWOR (1987-1988) Syndicated (1988-1989) |
| Original release | October 19, 1987 – September 15, 1989 |
The Morton Downey Jr. Show was a syndicated American talk show presented by Morton Downey Jr. which ran from 1987 to 1989.
Starting as a local program on New York-New Jersey superstation WWOR-TV in October 1987, it expanded into national syndication in early 1988.
The program featured screaming matches among Downey, his guests, and audience members. Using a large silver bowl for an ashtray, 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" (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.
The show is also remembered for its intro, featuring Downey making strange faces with other things like the American flag, KKK, a woman's legs, and news headlines, Downey wearing boxing gloves (on the wrong hands), Downey opening his mouth to the camera, then the show's logo appears.
During one controversial episode, Downey introduced his gay brother, Tony Downey, to his studio audience and informed them Tony was HIV 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.
Downey gained a mixed to negative reception from television critics. The Washington Post 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."
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