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.

"The Maury Povich Show" (1991)

Review: I'm not too much into TV reviews, but this one I will.

Let me make a point. I hate this show. It's the same thing every time. It's either about, Boot camp for brats, He's Cheating, and Who's the dad. One thing for sure is that this show is mostly driven to hate men. Like the who's the daddy episodes are making the women seem like the innocent victims and the men are pure evil at least 95% of the time. First off, you are at fault for not using birth control and did not consent to safe sex. Second, you are a whore if you do not know who the father is, by means who have to point a finger and administer a paternity test to find out. Just how many guys did you sleep with? Unprotected nonetheless. Stupidity. The dads are also idiots too for not paying 3 dollars to purchase condoms to make sure that a pregnancy does not happen. As far as I'm concerned, both of em got themselves into this situation themselves. The only "victim" here is the child.

This show is based too much on trying to be a glorified Jerry Springer wannabe instead of dealing with issues that need to be taken care of. From the loud crowd to the usual guest taunting the crowd to the unoriginal ideas, Maury Povich is trash TV.

The Last Word: Unoriginal and mean-spirited. At least Jerry Springer does not take themselves seriously. Maury Povich does. Total garbage.

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!!'

I was a big fan of Maury Povich when he hosted "A Current Affair" back in the late 80's. "A Current Affair" was tabloids TV at its best and Maury was the right guy to host. He kept your interest with these far out, non-six/eleven o'clock reported news stories. Maury as it's host, kicked butt.

So when he got a chance to host his own show, it seemed very promising. Over the years of the Maury show, 'promising' went the route of 'shocking-sensationalism'. That became too sad. In the back of my mind, I've always hoped that Maury Povich would have gone to CNN by the mid 90's and had the chance to shape himself into an anchor that would show the "real" side of news. Instead, he has shaped himself into a perpetrator of stereotypes.

Some viewers actually think Maury's show "helps" people. It only helps place folks deeper into stereotypical behaviors for the world to point at and see/think "I knew it!". It's 2006, and it's a sad commentary on the world.

The Maury Show has gotten into a bind. You know, like some famous old musicians who've been around longer than they should be -- and they try to do something new and the mass buying audience doesn't accept it -- so they get stuck doing the same thing over and over instead of just quitting. Well, this is the same thing that is going on with this show.

Maury has these shows:

1.) Is it a man or is it a woman audience contest show 2.) Disrespectful children to their parents show (boot camp impending!) 3.) Teenage Girls who want babies show 4). Hidden video show 5.) Teens on drugs show 6.) Who's the Daddy Show

The most popular is the "Who's the Daddy Show". At this point, I find that Maury and his producers are the most manipulative folks on this planet with that show. Sure, it provides great entertainment for viewers who want to see women degrade themselves by appearing on the Maury Show numerous times to find the one daddy for their child -- but I've noticed something about all of his shows over the years...

Take a look at whom they choose to place on the shows. It's all stereotypical - no matter how difficult, heart wrenching or ... positive ... the outcome is you see this:

1.) The angry, horrid-slang speaking African American 2.) The trailer trash (or as close to it as they can get) 3.) The fiery Hispanics (usually with tattoos or in gangs)

While this may be harmless entertainment for some, this has been overall perpetrating stereotypes. There is one show he (presumably to show a "softer side") does that I've purposely did not list above and this is what made me think about what this show is doing. This show Maury does is called:

"The Most Talented Kids Show"

Who appears? The stereotypical singing and dancing African American child, yes. The amazing trailer trash child, yes. But only in this show, will you see...the most talented violin or piano playing Asian. Now, that's interesting to think about.

Maury Povich and his producers are seeking the most outrageous, volatile people to keep the show on air and they only have fallen into the groups above, under the themes above. That's tabloid showbiz. But understand that is also viewer manipulation and part of television's contribution to the decline of western civilization. The Jerry Springer Show makes no bones about what they are and whom they appeal to. Maury Povich tries to categorize themselves as "better" but they aren't.

If you watch and are entertained by this, understand it IS only entertainment at the expense of promoting stereotypes - and the Maury Show does NOTHING to counteract that. It's all very one-sided. If you are looking for a program that may give you a view on other's lives...this is the program that shows the disturbing parts of those lives, a small percentage, and are not indicative of these folks as a whole.

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.