A Highly Controversial Talk Show Is Being Canceled
While remaining on the air since the early 1990s, one of the most controversial and talked about shows is finally coming to an end.
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One of the best talk shows that often covered some of the biggest shocking storylines is coming to an end. After 30 years of being on the air, Maury is finally ending its production of new episodes and being canceled. The man himself, Maury Povich, is said to be retiring. He has been involved in the making of this highly controversial talk show since 1991 when it was first known as The Maury Povich Show. Soon after, it would adopt the simplified moniker of Maury, in 1998. Some might not have grown up on the show in the 90s, but it is certainly one of the biggest talk shows memes currently. “You are NOT the father” has been become one of the most known catchphrases as well.
The above catchphrase was one of the most known elements from Maury. Guests would come on the air and bring their significant others, or the people they had been intimate with. These wild episodes were all about paternity tests. Sometimes men would find out that they were in fact the fathers of children they claimed were never those. Also, relationships would also get destroyed by men finding out the child they had been taken care of were also not theirs. As far as controversial television series goes, Maury was at the top, right along with The Jerry Springer Show. Another great aspect of the talk show was the lie detector tests, which also became a huge meme. No one could hype up a crowd better than Maury Povich when the lie detector determined someone was lying. The man was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune back in the early 2010s, where he discussed the controversial paternity tests episodes. According to Povich, “And the paternity shows, in particular, you’ve got he-said, she-said, is-he-the-father, isn’t-he. While soap operas play those themes out over six months, we play them out over 12 minutes.”
He has a terrific point. Soap operas are often full of absurd and over-the-top drama that is drawn out with cliffhangers and huge plot twist reveals that take a full season to get through. Maury throws people on a stage and exposes their entire lives all at once. It’s equal parts entertaining and horrifying. While Maury Povich is going to be retiring, the new and final episodes of the show are said to air through September at least. Then the reruns will run through syndication. Syndication just means that a show can be shown on many networks apart from the network that initially owned the rights. Seems like Mr. Povich is going to be enjoying quite a nice retirement through the money he earns from syndication.
Maury may have been a show that some might deem as too controversial, but that was usually the case for most daytime television. It was all about highly entertaining and inappropriate subject matter that helped everyone get through the lulls of daytime. This show was certainly a part of most of the 90s kid’s summers. While the reruns will be more available, it will be sad to not see the man appear in new episodes. You will be missed Maury, and the lie detector determined, we are telling the truth.
