Maury Povich is done with TV
LOS ANGELES — Inside a studio in Stamford, Connecticut, a man and a woman were at each other’s throats.
Tashima and her live-in boyfriend, Darnell, were battling after he accused her of infidelity during their three-year relationship.
As the rage escalated, Maury Povich, host of the daytime series “Maury,” tried to calm the couple down, asking them about the future of their relationship. He then reached for a sealed envelope containing the results of a paternity test. The audience cheered with anticipation.
“When it comes to 3-year-old Andro,” announced Povich as he read the results, “Darnell — you are NOT the father!”
The 83-year-old host of the show, who announced earlier this year that he is finally bringing the curtain down on “Maury,” has opened his last envelope of results. Original episodes will cease to air when the current season comes to an end in September.
Povich, a former newsman and “A Current Affair” anchor, has outlasted a steady stream of competitors amid shifting viewer tastes to become the longest-running daytime talk show host in broadcast TV history. Premiering in 1991 as “The Maury Povich Show,” “Maury” has carved out its own distinctive niche as a circus of human drama starring outrageous characters and showcasing volcanic disputes among warring families, cheating lovers and deadbeat fathers.
The syndicated series has continued to be a solid performer, attracting a daily average of 1.2 million viewers. Povich’s signature catchphrase (“You are/are not the father”), theatrics, backstage tantrums and the “baby daddy dance” performed when participants are pleased with paternity test results have delighted fans. The show has also drawn fire from critics who say its images are exploitative and offensive.
He recently received the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award from the National Association of Television Programming Executives. Presenting him with the honor was his wife, famed TV journalist and former CBS News anchor Connie Chung.
While many might label “Maury” as lowbrow and disposable, Povich is undeniably proud of the show: “I was able to get as close and intimate with my guests, my audience and my viewers as anyone who has done this type of show. I appreciate the faith and trust they had in me.”
The show also fulfilled his life’s ambitions: to tell stories and help people. “Every single story deserves attention, and I search for the unique quality in that story,” he said. “I’ve always been a good reader of people and getting to the heart of what’s most important about them.”
As he reflected on his career and the success of “Maury,” Povich projected the same good-humored geniality that is on display during his show.
He is the last survivor of the tabloid-flavored daytime talk show era that hit its stride during the 1980s and 1990s and was dominated by the likes of Jerry Springer, Sally Jesse Raphael and others.
