Jerry's Skids

Labor Day means many things to many people—the end of summer, a tribute to blue-collar workers, an extra day to sleep off hangovers after shotgunning numerous Miller High Lifes at the lake. For generations of TV watchers, however, the holiday is synonymous with one thing: Jerry Lewis' round-the-clock telethon to raise money for kids stricken with muscular dystrophy.

The telethon still rolls on—this weekend marks its 41st run—but like many mainstays of '60s and '70s post-Rat Pack schlock, seems to be stuck in a long fade toward zeitgeist oblivion.

Is this tired war horse ready for the pop-cultural glue factory? Let's examine the state of Jerry Lewis.

THEN:In 1966, Lewis launches a round-the-clock drive to raise money for muscular dystrophy.

NOW: Lewis' own battles with pulmonary fibrosis, spiral meningitis, prostate cancer, diabetes, and steroid addiction leave the 80-year-old comedian looking none too chipper.

THEN: Lewis rounds up constellations of bona fide stars like Frank Sinatra, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley and John Lennon.

NOW: Give it up for the Goo Goo Dolls and William Shatner!

THEN:Lewis is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

NOW: The telethon faces perennial protests from "Jerry's Orphans," due in no small part to Lewis' own mouth. In addition to likening a child with MS to "half a person," Lewis once opined, "If you don't want to be pitied for being a cripple in a wheelchair, don't come out of the house."

THEN:KPTV kiddie icon "Ramblin'" Rod Anders hosts Portland's local broadcast of the telethon, helping secure his legendary status among generations of Portland TV addicts.

NOW: Anders died in 2002. The local show has been shunted to lower-rated KPDX, and is now in the hands of Shauna Parsons, Wayne Garcia, Kimberly Maus, Pete Ferryman and Andy Carson. Garcia admits that he doesn't think "anyone could or even tries to fill Ramblin' Rod's shoes."

THEN:Children line up in places like Portland, piggybanks in hand, to give their paper-delivery earnings to Jerry's Kids.

NOW: WW asks 25 people on the street if they know what the telethon is about. Just five say muscular dystrophy. Only one person—who declines to give her name—admits to watching the program: "I usually tune in for a few minutes and then tune out, and I have my whole television-viewing life," she says. "It's for kids with Down syndrome, right?"

The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon runs from 6 pm Sunday to 5 pm Monday this weekend on KPDX Channel 49.

WWeek 2015