MDA Labor Day Telethon is a Ratings Bust, Finishing 4th for the Night

I can’t say I’m shocked. The MDA Show of Strength “telethon” on ABC was a ratings bust. It finished four last night at 9 and at 10pm, well behind the network competition. In the four half hours, it went from 1.72 million viewers to 1.26 to 1.10 to 1.25. The telethon had a significant fall off from ABC’s “Secret Millionaire” at 8pm, which had 3.98 million. Four or five times the number of people were watching CBS all night from “Big Brother” through “The Mentalist”– and the latter was a repeat. The MDA demo was less than “60 Minutes,” show that skews older anyway. Frankly the Backstreet Boys felt very much like an “Andy Williams Show” act. There was no connection with a young audience at all. MDA’s actual donations during the two hours remain a mystery. Here’s the deal: Jerry Lewis at least provided kitschy hipness from Vegas, with the potential for something cool to happen. The show at least had the Rat Pack vibe in its history. Last night’s show was like a visit to an 8 track counter. But Kenny Loggins is either using amazing cosmetics or has a fantastic plastic surgeon. God bless him, he’s 65.