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Labor Day Weekend without Jerry?!?

By Rose Stricker ( Contact )   August 12, 2011

Jerry Lewis has been hosting the MDA Labor Day Telethon longer than I've been alive. Two weeks longer, to be exact. But this year, for one reason or another, he is not. According to "MDA Labor Day Telethon" on Wikipedia:


"Starting in 2011, it will be seen the Sunday evening before Labor Day for six hours;[3] This edition... will also be the first edition without Jerry Lewis as host.[5][2] Nigel Lythgoe, Jann Carl, Alison Sweeney and Nancy O'Dell, all who were originally tapped to co-host the telethon with Lewis,[6] will share hosting duties in the 2011 edition.[7]"

I've never heard of any of the folks who will be sharing this year's hosting duties.
But I can't think of anyone I'd like to take over full time, permanently.
I'm pretty sure I would not like it to be Ryan Seacrest. That guy is everywhere. Tell you what; he can keep Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve.

Who would you enjoy watching host the Labor Day Telethon?
Ashton Kutcher?
Justin Timberlake?
John Stewart?
Betty White?

reader COMMENTS
deedeediner
Aug 13, 2011 at 8:58 a.m.
Suggest removal

You know, I get this on both levels. Jerry Lewis is an icon, for those of us old enough to remember his brilliance. But he's irrelevant to most of today's audience. MDA must've felt they needed to update their image with fresher faces. Unfortunately, none of the four picked to co-host are standouts and I feel they are interchangeable with any number of news magazine or reality show hosts. But I also get Jerry Lewis' position here too. To be the face of MDA for as long as he has been, it appears that he has been kicked to the curb and, if that's true, it is a massive insult to both Jerry and the audience who has loved him for years. Look, eventually it had to happen. I'd be curious to find out if MDA had approached Jerry before about phasing out and what that conversation was. Much as I love Jerry, he isn't going to live forever. There was going to be a new host(s) eventually. And while I'm sure they are nice people, this group is lackluster. There'll never be another Jerry Lewis. MDA is very fortunate to have had him for as long as they have. He has been gold for them, not to mention he put on a helluva show for so many years.

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