Heavens to murgatroyd! The Maury Show has been cancelled

 Well, I'll be! After 31 years, the Maury Show has been cancelled; they're pulling the plug. Somebody hand me a tissue. How many DNA/paternity cases ("Sam is NOT the father!') can they show? I can think of a million other things I'd rather watch or do than Maury with all that false, made for TV drama; like go clean my shower stall. But this IS America; the home of the lowest common denominator, daytime TV sludge that poses as entertainment and "must see/guilty pleasure TV." 

Obviously, Maury had a big following. Since the show has been cancelled, I'm sure another show is in the works to grab those lost souls who got their daily dose of theatrics. What will they do? Many viewers have undoubtedly thought-- "My life was a shambles until I watched the Maury Show and saw all those crazy people onstage pathetically trying to sop up their 15 minutes of fame."  

My interaction with The Maury Show was limited to a millisecond, as I channel surfed for something informative and entertaining to watch. Silly me. That's like going to my local butcher shop expecting to find gardening tools. Oh well, there's always the Travel Channel. Oh, wait. My bad. In case you haven't dropped by there lately, the Travel Channel is mainly ghost/paranormal shows, NOT travel/adventure offerings. They DO have some non-ghost/non-bigfoot shows,but that's for very limited time slots.  One show features Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon, with producer son Jack, rating paranormal/scary videos from a no frills set with upholstered chairs. Ozzy looks like he's bored to tears and taking a nap, as Sharon teases him to wake up and participate. Another episode, their "behind the scenes" feature, was about how many times Ozzy had to go take a pee during the show's taping because he drank too many cups of coffee. I kid you not. I believe I heard the show has been cancelled after one season, as Ozzy's salty, off-the-cuff language was not acceptable to TV affiliate audiences around the country.

As always, with TV programming, follow the money. Whatever makes the ratings soar. Big ratings= big advertising $$$. That's the way it's always been and always will be. Outrageous behavior is the norm. "How low can they go?"is to be expected. As the old saying goes, "It smells but it sells."

I would say to Maury, "Hey, 31 years hosting a TV show is an amazing feat on daytime TV. Many shows get the axe after one season. Job well done." But I just can't bring myself to offer full-blown congratulations. So, I'll split the difference. "Enjoy your retirement Maury."