Maury

"The Maury Povich Show" can be considered quite odd, even for a talk show. While it isn't as down-and-out sleazy and exploitive as many other talk shows, it is by no means wholesome entertainment. For example have B&W reenactments (ooh, arty!) of people naked and/or having sex that can't be there for any other reason than to titilate, since the guests and/or Maury could EASILY just SAY what happened with just a few words!

Of course, the topics that are chosen for the show can be considered exploitation. Even when it's about a real and serious problem (overweight babies), it comes off as exploitive. For example, whenever they do overweight toddlers, they are almost always brought into the show just in a diaper to emphasize their weight. The "I have a secret" episodes (which almost all the guests are there to confess to a loved one they cheated on him/her), even though they give guests a way to reveal their secret, still get you irked that Maury is showing, in front of millions, hearts being ripped apart.

And then, of course, we have the paternity tests. OVER AND OVER AND OVER! It seems like every other episode focuses on paternity tests! As others have pointed out, there seems to be an anti-male vibe to these particular episodes (as well as some other non-paternity episodes), with the men made to look like scum whether they are the fathers or not. In fairness, some men right from the start come off as decent (and the audience does show their approval to them), and the men who insult the women certainly aren't being forced to do so. Still, you sense a lot of bias. For one thing, during the lie detector shows, how come it's ALWAYS the MAN who is accused of cheating and is being tested - why doesn't Maury ever do any shows when it's the WOMAN who is being accused of cheating by the man?

What really makes the show odd, however, is the way Maury reacts to what he covers. We see him comforting upset guests, he offers various kinds of help to his guests, he tells rude guests they can't act that way, and he regards just about everything with utter seriousness. The way he acts is indeed warm and likable, but you cannot tell if Maury REALLY cares for his audience or not (unlikely, give this IS a talk show!) In fact, I would say that this attitude of Maury's - phony or not - is probably one of the big reasons for its success and long run.

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm way too lazy to change the channel when I leave the TV on FOX late at night while doing homework, I'd probably have never been exposed to this awful dreck. This show never once strays from one of three premises: Paternity Tests, Rebellious Teens Sent to Boot Camp, and Men Who Beat Their Wives. While this is a little more varied than the "Yet Another Potentially Explosive Love Triangle" theme of every Springer show, this show is a lot less fun because it actually takes itself seriously. Maury tries really hard to look like a sensitive host who cares about his guests, but he's extremely sneaky and manipulative as are his producers/editors who set every scene up to automatically put the blame on one individual and make a saint out of the other one. What a joke!

I've had friends that would appear on these shows and it's almost insane how much of the content is either faked by the individual or invented by the producers. It's impossible to take this sort of show seriously, yet it really tries to go for the gut punch with its seedy manipulation shady and attempts at sentimentality. It makes you wonder what audience they were looking for.

I don't see how they get guests, much less audiences to appear on this show. The one thing I can think that would be more embarrassing than appearing as a guest on this show, would be to have someone recognize you sitting in the audience of booing, easily manipulated morons. If you're a guy and you spontaneously get a free ticket in the mail one day to New York to appear on this show, either rip it up or expect to be completely humiliated for several minutes on nationally syndicated TV.

I've seen so many of these shows, which underscore the seedier side of American lives, but Maury Povich treats his visitors with greater tact and gentleness than any of the others (except, perhaps, Oprah).

Yes, he deals with exactly the same 'Trailer Trash' elements as other shows AND he hosts those bizarre 'Is this person male or female?' shows, yet he also introduces Zoo animals for underprivileged children to meet and learn about.

With great sensitivity, he interviews people whose lives have taken an incredible turn - for example, the brave young man who lost about half his skull and brain when he was shot in his uncle's hardware store.

He also introduces his viewers to people who are living their lives through amazing adversity (I will never forget his programme about Tourette's Syndrome).

Through all of this, Maury treats his guests with the utmost courtesy and seems to wholly empathise with them. Oh, I know he's an old hand in the world of reporting, but other 'chat' show hosts don't use such discretion and consideration.

There are bound to be detractors, but this small corner of England shouts 'Rock On, MoPo!!'

whenever it is on and I'm not working, I'm compelled to watch it for a half hour or so, only to be revolted at myself for watching this trash.

Like all the other reviews have said, there are basically three types of shows. The first is the show that's on every other episode, the one that tries to find out who is the father of the poor kid fathered by some nasty whore. It always starts out the same, where the woman is angry that the father would deny he's the kid's father. The father will then call her every nasty name in the book on a minute video or so, to get the crowd against him. It really feels scripted, to be quite honest. The guy will come out, get booed, and the two will exchange words that you can't hear because have of them are beeped out. Povich will give the results, and half the time the guy is the father, and half the time he isn't. If he is, the woman will berate him for a minute and he will make some half hearted comment about how he will be a real father, when you know this poor kid will grow up to be a criminal or a stripper, never really given a good chance in life. If he's not the father, he will do a little dance, berate the woman for a minute who has gone backstage crying, while Povich will make a vain attempt to console her. The subset of this show is whores who have cheated on their boyfriend of the week, and want to take a test to make sure the child they had together is really his. Another subset of this show is 'cheating' boyfriends, which usually involves a 'sexy decoy' (read: some whore Maury paid off to flirt with the guy) flirting with a guy caught on camera, much to the girlfriend's chagrin. The 'sexy decoy' whore will come out and berate the guy, probably for violating her high moral standards or something. The girlfriend will then leave the guy, only probably to go back to him when she can't make her trailer home payment or when the project she lives in kicks her out of her house.

The second show is sending kids to boot camps. South Park make a perfect parody of it already. The most amusing part of this is seeing this angry black guy, Dee West, come out and scream for five minutes or so. The kids go to boot camp or juvi or whatever, and are all magically reformed and all go to thank the glorious Povich for his sage wisdom. A subset of this show is the abusive husbands who also get yelled at by West or whoever and are sent to jail and amend their ways, all nicely in an hour.

The third show is kind of a grab bag, usually either animals, overweight babies (which is the one that truly disgusts me), people afraid of condiments, guessing whether a tranny is a man or a woman, and tall fat people who are dating short skinny people, because that's just funny.

I'll confess, maybe I watch this show to make my pathetic self feel better compared to the wastes of humanity that are on this show. That being said, I wonder how much of the show is scripted because it all sounds the same. Still, it brings out the worst stereotypes of all their guests. Then again, it brings them out in blacks, whites, and latinos, so I guess Povich is an equal opportunity basher. No Asians though, I wonder if Connie put the nix on that.

Povich himself is absolute slime. Say what you want about Jerry Springer, but that guy knows and admits he is scum. Povich portrays the attitude like he's actually doing humanity some sort of service, which is bizarre. That being said, I'm watching the show right now and listening to that Dee West guy berate a bunch of husbands who proudly proclaim they beat up their low self esteem wives, so I can't say the show is horrible. Still, like I said before, I watch it partially due to the train wreck factor, and partially due to the fact that I feel better about myself after watching it.

Every time I have seen this show it has something to do with paternity tests. Sometimes the outcomes are so heartbreaking and crushing. It never is about anything other than humiliation of the "guests." The audience shouts for more and laughs and mocks the misfortune of others. For instance, I saw a man humiliated by his wife and found out that it was possible that the baby he knows as his own may not be his. sometimes the baby is as old as 4! It is the most disgusting crap I have ever seen. I am surprised that Maury and the rest of the crew hasn't moved on to more hideous episodes such as "DNA tests on aborted fetuses," and "rapists tell all," or "lets humiliate the victim of rape" and "which family member is the molester, lie detector tests show?" This show hurts me to watch, and whether it is real or contrived, it is the most despicable, degrading, and morally reprehensible show I have seen on T.V.

Update: I think I am wrong about this creep being an alumnus of Harvard. I did see his show again today and I am convinced this show is made up. A woman came on and "told all" to her husband about cheating on him with his cousin. Well, it turned out neither was the father. Sounds like a low-rent conspiracy to me. Aren't there some racketeering laws regarding this sort of thing?