This has to be one of the, if not the, most exploitive shows in the history of television. Smarmy "host" Warren Hull would bring on stage an assortment of poor souls, mostly women, who would relate their hard-luck stories, such as a sick or injured husband who's lost his job and they're about to be put out on the street, or they have a small child with a terminal disease and no money to pay hospital bills, or stories equally as sad. While these women are crying, wailing and relating their tales of woe, Hull--always with a smile pasted on his face--would turn up the pathos meter by constantly driving home what desperate straits they were in, which would upset them even more and make them cry even harder. Then he would look directly into the camera and implore someone "out there in televisionland" to take pity on this poor wretch and send her a new refrigerator, or a washing machine, or cash (which almost never happened), or whatever it was that was needed. Soon after his impassioned "plea," a local merchant would conveniently call and donate the required merchandise, which would lead into a spot extolling the virtues of the donor (while also giving the name and address of the store--in effect, giving the company a free commercial). The show was universally reviled by critics, but it always had good ratings, so people were obviously watching it. It had such a terrible reputation, though, that even the TV series "The Honeymooners" made fun of it--in one episode sewer worker Ed Norton described a co-worker who was so mean and heartless that "he watched 'Strike It Rich' for fun!" Even modern-day trashfests like "The Jerry Springer Show" or "The Maury Povich Show" seem positively saintly compared to this atrocity. It was one of those shows that actually made you squirm in embarrassment as you watched it. It was eventually taken off the air, and that bizarre genre was thankfully put to rest. Unfortunately, they didn't put a stake through its heart, as the emergence of the Springer and Povich shows prove. No matter how scuzzy and sleazy those two are, though, they still have a long way to plummet before they hit the depths of "Strike It Rich"--a small consolation, but a consolation nevertheless.
