How I Became A Maury Watcher

I know this crap’s been on for years. I’m more than a little late to the game.

I don’t watch any of the ‘trash’ studio shows. OK–let’s fix that. I didn’t watch any of the ‘trash’ studio shows until recently… and even now it’s a fleeting glimpse.

When we got our new flat panel TV for the bedroom the tuner found the HD transmissions from our local stations sandwiched between the news channels. Now when I go from Fox to CNBC to HLN to CNN to MSNBC, local channels 59 and 61 show up.

Now when I wake up and graze at the news buffet I pass by Maury. I stopped for a moment today. It was a poor schlmeil and his wife. She was his child bride–literally. They now have three children. Only two are his. She actually didn’t know if any of them were his before Maury dramatically opened the envelope and revealed the DNA test results.

I know this crap’s been on for years. I’m more than a little late to the game.

These people are sad. What’s just as sad, maybe sadder, is Maury and crew exploiting their ignorance and naivety.

By highlighting these stories shows like this legitimize abhorrent behavior. Watching might be a guilty pleasure, but it comes with a cost. We coarsen our world.

3 thoughts on “How I Became A Maury Watcher”

  1. Your last two paragraphs speak volumes. It also makes me wonder if there’s ANYTHING someone won’t do for a quick shot at fame, however fleeting.

  2. I often wonder what the producers say to potential show guests to convince them to go on the show. I wonder if they lie.

    A few years back I had a small claims dispute (I won), but before the hearing date, producers from Judge Judy called, asking if I wanted to settle it on her show. I said no, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer – they pushed very hard. I almost hung up on them they were so persistent.

    I’m wondering, if a producer will push that hard for my appearance on a show like that, how hard do the producers of a show like Maury push to get someone to appear in such an intimately personal forum?

  3. Those shows are unwatchable – and I have always wondered how much the downturn in Connie Chung’s career was connected. How could she tolerate / reconcile being married to anyone who would do a show like that?

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