The 2009 Jerry Lewis Telethon raised $60.5 million, down a notch from last year's $65 million. Given the state of the economy and unemployment, that's probably still an impressive total. I generally enjoyed the "show" part of it, especially the first 12 or so hours, which seemed to contain (with a few exceptions) better acts and less melodramatic tales of illness. Years ago, the telethon was often criticized — sometimes even by patient groups — for not treating the afflicted with sufficient dignity. They've toned that down and it may be why they were able to raise as much as they did.
Jerry was Jerry. As I said earlier, I think he tries too hard to do his old act. Is there any other performer who goes on national television these days with a Jolson medley? I have the feeling that if Jolson was alive, even he wouldn't go out there today and do a Jolson medley.
There's also something endearing about Jerry's rambling monologues and his attempts to interject "topical" references by mentioning Vic Tanny and Liberace. Usually, he's good for at least one Helen Keller joke per telethon. He did one this year but for some reason, he said "Anne Bancroft" instead of "Helen Keller," and I don't think anyone in the audience had any idea what he was talking about. He also seemed crankier than usual, especially during the too-plentiful tech problems.
That's about everything I wanted to mention. If you TiVoed the show and haven't watched the wee small hours, make sure you at least seek out my buddy Charlie Frye, who did some great magic stuff around 2 AM. I called Charlie this afternoon to say I'd seen him and he said, "You and about seven others." But that was a joke because there were probably an awful lot of people watching. I wish Jerry could or would attract more major stars for prime time because it seems kinda sad when you realize that the biggest name of the hour is Charo. But I'm glad they have on folks like Charlie who just plain do good acts. They had a lot of them overnight.