Maury (TV series)
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| Maury | |
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 Maury's logo |
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| Genre | Talk show |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Starring | Maury Povich |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original channel | Syndicated |
| Original run | 1991–Before 2010 |
| No. of episodes | 2,900+ |
Maury is a talk show hosted by Maury Povich. The show was created along the same lines as The Jerry Springer Show, with the exception of the subject matter Maury discusses. Although "Maury" is similar to Springer, Povich discourages actual fights, although he seems to encourage verbal aggression among his guests. A majority of his shows deal with issues of sexual infidelity, paternity test results, unusual illnesses or makeovers. Other issues discussed were disturbing moments caught on video tape, whether or not a person is a (transgendered male-to-female) man or woman, obese babies, men, women or children who are "out of control," or little people.
When the show first went on the air in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by Paramount. The show was revamped in the mid-1990s as The Maury Show, adopting its most recent name in 1998, when Studios USA (now NBC Universal) took over production. Maury is taped at Chelsea Studios in NYC.
Daytime TV ratings: The show averages about 3.5 million viewers per episode.
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[edit] Common Show Themes
The Maury Show is very formulaic and most shows follow very similar patterns. In fact, Maury has popularized the semi-catch phrase "You are NOT the father!" which he tells some possible fathers after a DNA test.
- Who's the Baby's Daddy: This type of episode has almost completely dominated the series in the last few years. A mother will bring her husband or boyfriend onto the show after the male has denied fathering the child. While the male is backstage, the female will describe how the male does not provide any emotional or financial support for the baby, and, often crying, will describe to Maury how she is hurt that the man she once loved could deny their beautiful child and how she struggles to raise the baby without help. As with the infidelity episodes, a pre-recorded message from the male will be played saying that he does not believe that he is the father. This video is always very hostile, and often includes multiple vulgar insults toward the mother, calling her various names such as "slut" to imply that the child could be of any father. The male will then walk onto the set and is booed loudly by the audience. A picture of the baby juxtaposed next to a picture of the male will appear on a video screen, to which the female will say how she thinks they look exactly alike, and the male will say how they do not look alike at all. In many instances, both the male and female will say that they are [at least] 100% sure that the man is/is not the father (often 180% or 1000%). Maury will ask the man what he plans to do if the child is in fact his, and he almost always says (somewhat unconvincingly) that he will provide for the child in that case. Usually, when the man is shown to be the father, the woman gets up and victoriously declares that she told him so and challenges him to follow through on his claim that he will provide support to the child; there is usually no follow-up to see if this actually happens. Most men accept the fact that they are the father. When the man is proven not to be the father, it is common for the men to perform dance steps or run in to the audience to high-five audience members while the women walk or run backstage crying. In such cases, the man rarely receives an apology. Maury goes over to the women, consoling them and saying something like "We'll help you find who the father is.." At this point the man gloats to the audience about being right in a very uncivil manner. From time to time, the show also shows women making multiple appearances to find the father of their child. Some women will have tested up to 11 men without finding the father. There are also variations where the man brings his mother, sister, or current girlfriend to complain about the woman's lack of character, or two men are tested at once because either could be the father.
- Paternity Tests for Mothers Who Cheated (also known as more crazy cheaters gone wild...): A mother will bring her husband or boyfriend onto the show to admit to him that she cheated on him in the past, and that their child might not actually be his. She will appear on set alone at first, with the male backstage. In these types of episodes, the male is secluded and cannot see or hear what Maury and the woman are talking about. The man was only told that his wife has brought him here to tell him a secret. However, due to the very limited themes of Maury episodes, one might wonder if the man finds it obvious what the secret is before being told. The woman will talk to Maury about the "secret" and we will see a pre-recorded tape by the man, describing how he loves the woman very much and he is shocked and hurt that she has been keeping a secret from him. The man will walk onto the set and this time will be cheered by the audience. The woman will face him, usually say some small talk such as "I love you.." before coming out and saying very slowly that she cheated on him and the child might not be his. The men react in different ways, some more angrily, throwing the chair down and walking offstage, others just staring in an awed silence. He then consents to a paternity test, and we rejoin them two days later where Maury again proclaims that "The results are in!" and reads, "In the case of [age]-year old [name], [male's name], you [ARE/ARE NOT] the father!" which, of course, results in various reactions. Some men will elect to care for the child even if they are not the father, whereas others will request a divorce or time to think it over.
- Infidelity Lie Detector Tests: A male or female guest brings their significant other to the show in order to settle suspicions that the other is cheating. The partner who is accusing the other appears on stage first, discussing with Maury why he or she suspects the other of cheating, and talks about the relationship, while the other is backstage. A pre-recorded video is played of the accused, which is often very angry in nature in which they insist that they are not cheating, yet it is hard to believe they actually do care about their partner from the hostile nature of the video, which often includes insults toward the accusing partner. The accused partner then walks onto the set and is always booed by the audience. After a minute of small-talk, Maury proclaims that the "results are in" and reads off a paper the question that the accused partner was asked (such as "Have you slept with anyone other than your girlfriend/boyfriend?), the accused's response ("You said no"), the polygraph's result ("And the lie detector test determined that was a lie.") and sometimes an additional explanation ("the lie detector revealed you had sex with more than twenty women"). In a majority of instances, the accused partner is found to have lied about not cheating, and react to the fact that they were caught in a somewhat apathetic way. In rare occasions, the accused will appear genuinely shocked, and insist that the polygraph result is incorrect, which given the emotional nature of the questions and the generally unreliable nature of the polygraph as a "lie detector", is probably true. Sometimes the accused will ask to take the test again. In another variation on this theme, Maury will sometimes entrap the hapless males by employing "sexy decoys" who approach the suspected cheating spouse in front of hidden cameras. The suspected cheater almost always makes arrangements to meet later and some men actually begin to fondle the "sexy decoys." Some men claim that they knew that it was all a set-up, but still fondled the sexy decoys.
- Bad Children: A mother (or on occasion a father) brings her or his child on the show, complaining that the child is disrespectful, and commits many risky behaviors, such as using drugs, swearing for fun, having unprotected sex (in some cases to achieve pregnancy), stealing items at stores, watching pornography, gang fights, and other offensive situations. The child is brought to a "1/2 boot camp" backstage where they are yelled at by "motivational" speaker D West. Sometimes the children are sent to jail or to a morgue to look at a corpse. On other occasions the bad youngsters are sent to a jail where tough inmates yell at them. Most kids are "turned around" by episode's end. Occasionally, a girl is not reformed, and turns up later on Who's the Baby's Daddy.
- (Is This A) Man or Woman: Maury exposes Male-to-Female transexuals.
- Disfigured People: People who look different are exposed.
- Fat Babies: In previous years, Maury has dedicated entire episodes to mothers and fathers who don't know what to do about their child (usually a toddler), who is breathtakingly obese for his/her age and height. Criticism in the mainstream press, and near-constant exposure in magazines such as The National Enquirer caused Maury to impose a moratorium on such episodes, although he reintroduced the topic for shows in the 2005 season. For many years, the "fat baby" topic and Maury's show were synonymous.
[edit] Less Common Themes
There are also a few less-raunchy themes that Maury explores on a recurring basis, usually on holidays.
- Moments Caught on Tape: From police chases to brutal attacks caught on tape, Maury often invites hosts of investigative journalism shows or survivors of horrific events to share their stories on his show. Increasingly these segments offer voyeuristic snapshots of men fornicating with prostitutes (caught on tape), cheating spouses confronted after being caught on tape (from the show "Cheaters") and simulated footage of peeping toms.
- Exposing of "Little People"
- Deformed Children
- Animal expert Jack Hanna comes to the show with animals, normally with one at least urinating on stage.
- Secret Crushes: These episodes focus on people that may or may not have been obese and have secret crushes. The objects of their admiration are eventually introduced to their intended after Maury interviews them.
- High School Bullies: Former High School bullies are reunited with the people they victimized as teenagers. Usually, the victim was obese or "nerdy" and now has transformed into an attractive person. A variation on this theme is transsexualism. Sometimes the victim is a transgendered male-to-female transsexual who reunites with a woman who was kind to her in High School.
- Female-to-Male Transsexuals. Maury usually has an interview show featuring the transition of people born female into men.
- Abusive Husbands: Women bring their abusive husbands on Maury's show, usually not in a confrontational manner. The women cry to Maury that they love their husbands and wish that they would stop beating them. Invariably the men walk onstage, yell a string of profanities, and brag about abusing their wives in great detail. Many of the husbands also teach their adolescent sons to treat their girlfriends the same way, causing great distress to Maury and the audience. Near the end of the show they are yelled at by an ex-convict and are taken to a morgue where their wives await them laying in a coffin.
- Irrational Phobias: Maury has interviewed individuals on his show who are thought to have irrational and slightly rational phobias and fears such as those of balloons, mustard, pickles, birds and Maury himself!
[edit] Studios
Maury is taped at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City.
[edit] Criticism
Despite the seemingly compassionate attitude of Maury Povich toward his guests, The Maury Show is often accused by critics of exploiting dysfunctional families and minorities and for embracing and sensationalizing some of the worst stereotypes of American society and behavior. Although The Maury Show has a more serious tone and is less raunchy in nature, some critics denounce it as being even worse than other similar talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show, due to what is perceived as an insincere sympathy for the guests. Whitney Matheson wrote about the show in her USA Today column, "Povich's talk show is, without a doubt, the worst thing on television. Period. Don't be fooled by the pressed shirt and pleated khakis, Maury is miles further down the commode than Jerry Springer."
Maury has also been known for hosting many varieties of makeover shows, including ones where women with very long hair (usually at the insistance of friends or family) get it all cut off for a "new look". This has come under very harsh criticism from the long hair community.
[edit] South Park parody
In Episode 601 of the TV series South Park, "Freak Strike", the boys sign up their friend Butters to appear on The Maury Show as a child with his testicles on his chin, as part of a scheme to receive prizes from the show. Cartman also gets in on the act appearing in drag and announcing "Whatever! I do what I want..." The episode serves as a commentary on how Maury exploits and trivializes the plights of real people (Kyle: "This is terrible dude! Maury Povich parades these poor people around like carnival freaks, and then give prizes at the end as if to justify it. What a dick!").
[edit] Internet
A clip was featured from the Internet, which shocked many viewers. A white couple unexpectedly had a child who is half-black and the wife admitted that she cheated on her husband with a black man. The father claims that the child is his until Maury announces the DNA test results - he isn't the father. The man went backstage crying while the audience was cheering. Maury, with cameras, followed the man back to console him. The video clip (seen on many sites) shocked viewers and showed them Maury's affinity for these situations on his show. [1]
Another recent clip from a June 27 episode showcases a woman who is afraid of pickles.[2] This clip was shown on Web Junk 20 and YouTube.
