Information about Maury (tv Series)

Maury
Maury show logo used from 1998-present
Created by	Maury Povich
Starring	Maury Povich
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	2,900+
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Syndication
Original run	1991 – Present Renewed Through September 2010
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Maury is a talk show hosted by Maury Povich. The show was created along the same lines as The Jerry Springer Show, with the exception of the subject matter Maury discusses. Although Maury is similar to Springer, Povich discourages actual fights, although he seems to encourage verbal aggression among his guests. The majority of his show deals with issues of sexual infidelity, paternity test results, unusual illnesses or makeovers, or "out of control" teenagers. Other issues discussed are disturbing moments caught on video tape, whether or not a person is a transgender man or woman, obese babies, or height-challenged people.

When the show first went on the air in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Television. The show was revamped in the late-1990s as Maury, adopting its most recent name in 1998, when Studios USA (now NBC Universal) took over production. However, MoPo continues to co-produce with NBC Universal. Maury is taped in New York City.

Ratings

The show averages about 3.5 million viewers per episode.

On July 16, 2007, The Maury Show was officially renewed through at least the 2010 season. ^[1]

Common show themes

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. This section has been tagged since December 2006.

The Maury Show often revolves around a mother trying to prove or dis-prove her child's parentage through paternity tests. In fact, Maury popularized the catchphrase 'you are NOT the father', thus revealing the DNA results.

Who's My Baby's Daddy:

This type of episode has almost completely dominated the series in the last few years. A mother will bring her husband or boyfriend onto the show after the male has denied fathering the child. While the male is backstage, the female will describe how the male does not provide any emotional or financial support for the baby, and, often crying, will describe to Maury how she is hurt that the man she once loved could deny their beautiful child and how she struggles to raise the baby without help. As with the infidelity episodes, a pre-recorded message from the male will be played saying that he does not believe that he is the father. This video is almost always very hostile, and often includes multiple vulgar insults toward the mother, calling her various names such as "slut" to imply that the child could be of any father.

After the video, with the female often further enraged or upset, the male will then walk onto the set; he will usually be booed loudly by the audience. The male will typically react with a "you-don't-know-me" mannerism, showing confidence in himself not being the father. A picture of the baby juxtaposed next to a picture of the male will appear on a video screen, to which the female will usually say how she thinks they look similar, and the male will say how they do not look alike at all. One common occurrence is that each person will claim they are beyond 100% (usually 200% or 1,000%) sure that the man is/is not the father, sometimes reaching as high as 1,000,000% the highest it has it gone was 5,000,000,000% . After further confrontation, and after Maury talks with both parties, he will be given an envelope with the paternity test results and might say "Let's find out!", as a graphic saying "THE RESULTS ARE IN!" appears in the lower left corner of home viewers' TV screens. Maury will ask the man what he plans to do if the child is in fact his, and he almost always says (somewhat unconvincingly) that he will provide for the child in that case.

Usually, when the man is shown to be the father, the woman gets up, chases the man, victoriously declares that she told him so, and does the "give me yo money" dance which includes cash hand gestures. Then she challenges him to follow through on his claim that he will provide support to the child; there is usually no follow-up to see if this actually happens. Upon such confirmation, most men accept the fact that they are the father. Conversely, when the man is proven not to be the father, it is common for the men to perform dance steps or run in to the audience to high-five audience members while the women walk or run backstage crying, often collapsing (or sometimes even diving) to the floor into the fetal position. In such cases, the man rarely receives an apology.

Maury goes over to the women, consoling them, saying something like "We'll help you find who the father is.." and dragging her back on stage. At this point the man gloats to the audience about being right in a very uncivil manner. From time to time, the show also shows women making multiple appearances to find the father of their child. Some women will have tested up to 11 men without finding the father, while increasing their percentage of certainty with each guest. There are also variations where the man brings his mother, sister, or current girlfriend, wife, or fiancee to complain about the woman's lack of character, or two men are tested at once because either could be the father. On a rare occasion, a mother has gotten so mad, she threw a chair at Maury, thus making him angry. If the mothers are getting reckless and getting out of their seats and trying to hit them they might get expelled from the show.

The youngest person to get a DNA test was a 12 year old girl. The most men tested for paternity on one show was five, all of whom were proven not to be the father. Sholonda, a recurring guest on the Maury show, has given 17 men a paternity test for her daughter, all of whom have been proven not to be the father.

On the internet, there has been a popular clip from the Maury show called "You Are Not the Father Dance," A man named Andrew is being tested to a women named Sabrina's second child. It starts with her saying I am not 100, not 200, but 5000% sure. Then, Maury says he is not the father which then causes him to jump and start dancing on stage while Outkast's "The Way You Move" is being played in the background. On one show, Maury acknowledged this clip had been downloaded half a million times. After the show, he mentioned that he hadn't been in contact with either of them since the show.

Paternity Tests for Mothers Who Cheated (also known as "More Who's the Baby's Daddy" Or "Shocking Secrets"):

Women will bring her husband or boyfriend onto the show to admit to him that she cheated on him in the past, and that their child might not actually be his. She will appear on set alone at first, with the male backstage. In these types of episodes, the male is secluded and cannot see or hear what Maury and the woman are talking about. The man was only told that his wife has brought him here to tell him a secret. However, due to Maury recently being so popular for paternity testing, one might wonder if the man finds it obvious what the secret is before being told.

The woman will talk to Maury about the "secret" and we will see a pre-recorded tape by the man, accompanied by a piano playing, describing how he loves the woman very much and he is shocked and hurt that she has been keeping a secret from him. The man will walk onto the set and this time will be cheered by the audience. Maury will then tell the women to face him, usually say some small talk such as "I love you.." before coming out and saying very slowly that she cheated on him and the child might not be his. The men react in different ways, some more angrily, throwing the chair down and walking offstage, others just staring in an awed silence. He then consents to a paternity test, and we rejoin them two days later where Maury again proclaims that "The results are in!" and reads, "[In the case of/ when it comes to] [age]-year old [childs's name], [name] you [ARE/ARE NOT] the father!" which, of course, results in various reactions. Some men will elect to care for the child even if they are not the father, whereas others will request a divorce or time to think it over.

Violent Teen Girls:

This category almost exclusively involves young teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 15. The show always commences with a crying mother (sometimes a father) who describes the horrible acts his/her daughter has committed, primarily using drugs, promiscuity and prostitution. A pre-recorded message is then played which shows the daughter aggressively speaking to their family member. The messages are filmed before the main taping and are usually littered with censored profanity - their primary purpose being to rile up the audience as well as the concerned family member.

Maury then announces "Alright, lets meet [girls name]" and then the teen will walk out from the right hallway on the set getting booed by the audience, and always systematically flipping off and cursing at the audience, the most uttered phrases being "Y'all don't know me", "Sit down!", "Shut up!", or "Whatever". The daughters walk to the center of the stage yelling at audience members, and is then told to sit down either by Maury or the parent. A brief conversation ensues with the parent urging the teen to quit their destructive ways, and the teen being unresponsive and combative.

This pattern then repeats as other concerned mothers introduce their out of control teens. In some shows, a lie detector test is given, which always concludes in Maury holding a card saying "the lie detector test determined thats a lie" followed by a load uproar from the audience and the teen reacts by yelling and cursing the results. Other shows do not include the lie detector test, but both end up with sometimes a former prostitute, who used to be like them and convince them to change their wild ways before it's too late, motivational speaker (and regular guest) D West marching onto the stage as the audience applauds. The teens will act defiant initially towards D West when they are told they will be going to Jail/Boot camp/the slums for a brief visit.

Footage is then shown of "hard core inmates" yelling at the girls, the girls breaking down and of the girls becoming compliant with their commands. The show ends with a crying reunion between the mother and the daughter - the daughter always saying they have changed for good (or so they say). Post-show updates used to be shown before the credits rolled, but this practice has ceased in the last few years.

Infidelity Lie Detector Tests:

A male or female guest brings their significant other to the show in order to settle suspicions that the other is cheating. The partner who is accusing the other appears on stage first, discussing with Maury why he or she suspects the other of cheating, and talks about the relationship, while the other is backstage. A pre-recorded video is played of the accused, which is often accompanied with a very angry message and an unconvincing testimony to their love of the accuser. The accused partner then walks onto the set and is always booed by the audience. After a minute of small-talk, Maury proclaims that the "results are in" and reads off a paper the question that the accused partner was asked (such as "Have you slept with anyone other than your girlfriend/boyfriend?), the accused's response ("You said no"), the polygraph's result ("And the lie detector test determined that was a lie.") and sometimes an additional explanation ("the lie detector revealed you had sex with more than twenty women").

In a majority of instances, the accused partner is found to have lied about not cheating, and react to the fact that they were caught in a somewhat apathetic way. In rare occasions, the accused will appear genuinely shocked, and insist that the polygraph result is incorrect, which given the emotional nature of the questions and the generally unreliable nature of the polygraph as a "lie detector", is probably true. Sometimes the accused will ask to take the test again. It is interesting to note that if the person being tested is male, he will most likely fail, whereas the females taking the test will almost always pass, in keeping with Maury's feminist views. The male spouse has only been vindicated by the polygraph on at least one occasion. In another variation on this theme, Maury will sometimes entrap the hapless males by employing "sexy decoys" who approach the suspected cheating spouse in front of hidden cameras. The suspected cheater almost always makes arrangements to meet later and some men actually begin to fondle the "sexy decoys." Some men claim that they knew that it was all a set-up, but still fondled the sexy decoys.

Bad Children/Out Of Control Teens:

A mother brings her child on the show, complaining that the child is disrespectful, and commits many risky behaviors, such as using drugs, having unprotected sex, stealing items at stores, watching pornography, gang fights, and other offensive situations. The same procedures done with violent teens is also done with "out of control" teens.

The child may be then brought to a "half boot camp" backstage where they are yelled at by motivational speaker D West, Brenda (a former prostitute), or maybe even Mad Dog. Sometimes the children are sent to the Monmouth County Juvenile Correctional Facility in New Jersey or to a morgue to look at a corpse. Most kids are "turned around" by episode's end. Some may become even more out-of-control.

Children featured in these segments are usually females 12-15 years old and are dressed with a very minimal amount of clothing. Some of these out of control teens are trying to achieve pregnancy and will have sex as many times as they want, and usually buy baby supplies to show off. Sometimes on the show they believe they are pregnant and result in a pregnancy test, usually it will result in them not being pregnant, but on one occasion the test came back that the girl was pregnant. If they have changed for the better, they may be brought back on the show in a future episode, at which time the daughter is fully clothed in respectable clothing.

One very notable example was a 15 year old girl named Victoria, who claimed to have had sex more than 300 times trying to get pregnant.

(Is This A) Man or Woman:

Maury exposes male-to-female transsexuals by parading a bevy of beauties down a runway into the audience. These episodes almost entirely consist of a full hour of the audience yelling their guesses in a frenzy as Maury walks around with his microphone asking audience members individually. On one rare occasion an April Fools episode revealed at the end that ALL the guests were actually women.

Disfigured People:

People who look different are exposed. This was parodied by South Park in the episode "Freak Strike", where Butters pretended to have his testicles attached to his chin. The deformities shown in the show may be the product of a birth defect, or the result of an assault (via battery acid, dog attack, fire, etc.).

Overweight Babies:

In previous years, Maury has dedicated entire episodes to mothers and fathers who don't know what to do about their child (usually a toddler), who is breathtakingly obese for his/her age and height. Criticism in the mainstream press, and near-constant exposure in magazines such as The National Enquirer caused Maury to impose a moratorium on such episodes, although he reintroduced the topic for shows in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. For many years, the "fat baby" topic and Maury's show were synonymous.

Less common themes

There are also a few less-raunchy themes that Maury explores on a recurring basis, usually on holidays.

Moments Caught on Tape:

From police chases to brutal attacks caught on tape, Maury often invites hosts of investigative journalism shows or survivors of horrific events to share their stories on his show. Increasingly these segments offer voyeuristic snapshots of men fornicating with prostitutes (caught on tape), cheating spouses confronted after being caught on tape (from the show "Cheaters") and simulated footage of peeping toms. These segments are dubbed "Maury Sexposés."

Jack Hanna:

Animal expert Jack Hanna comes to the show with animals, normally with at least one urinating and/or defecating on stage..

Secret Crushes:

These episodes focus on people that may or may not have been obese and have secret crushes. The objects of their admiration are eventually introduced to their intended after Maury interviews them.

High School Bullies:

Former high school bullies are reunited with the people they victimized as teenagers. Usually, the victim was obese or "nerdy" and now has transformed into an "attractive" person. The formerly geeky woman appears on stage most often as a stripper or porn star, often with a whole new persona, including augmented breasts and assuming a stage name. If the victim is a man, he usually will be buff and attractive. He or she then goes backstage. The former bully will emerge onto stage, and Maury will question him or her about the victim, often showing a high school photo of the victim. The bully responds with sneering, laughing, or a general attidude of mocking dismay. The victim is then called back out stage, prancing out in a revealing outfit and showing off their assets. As the crowd cheers and hoots, the bully will appear shocked and sometimes displays an arrogance towards the victim. Other past reactions have been asking the victim out, complimenting them, scorning them or even kissing the victim's feet as a form of apology. A variation on this theme is transsexualism. Sometimes the victim is a transgendered male-to-female transsexual who reunites with a woman who was kind to her in high school.

Female-to-Male Transsexuals:

Maury usually has an interview show featuring the transition of people born female into men although on rare occasions Maury would welcome several hunks and the audience would try to decipher whether the guests are real men or women in drag.

Abusive Husbands:

Women bring their abusive husbands/boyfriends on Maury's show, usually not in a confrontational manner. The women cry to Maury that they love their husbands/boyfriends and wish that they would stop beating them. Invariably the men walk onstage to the boos of the audience, yell a string of profanities, and brag about abusing their wives/girlfriends in great detail. Many of the husbands/boyfriends also teach their adolescent sons (maybe a younger child) to treat their wives/girlfriends the same way, causing great distress to Maury and the audience. Near the end of the show, they are yelled at by D West and are taken to a morgue where their wives/girlfriends await them laying in a coffin (the wives/girlfriends are acting). Most of the time, the men change their ways, but extremely rarely, they change for a short while, then start to be abusive again. There were two other cases where they appear on the show again being accused of cheating.

Irrational Phobias:

Maury has interviewed individuals on his show who are thought to have irrational and slightly rational phobias and fears such as those of peaches, balloons, mustard, pickles, birds, or even midgets. The general reactions of these people even on the sight of said phobia throws them in a panic, often running all around the set while cast & crew shove the said phobia in their face. On an extremely rare occasion, a female guest was so scared of mustard, she attempted to strangle a female audience member. The guests are helped by personal growth expert and life strategists Gary Coxe and motivational hypnotist Boris Cherniak.

Studios

Maury is taped at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. The studio audience obtain free tickets to the taping of Maury's program via the show's official website.

Criticism

Despite the seemingly compassionate attitude of Maury Povich toward his guests, The Maury Show is often accused by critics of exploiting dysfunctional families and minorities and for embracing and sensationalizing some of the worst stereotypes of American society and behavior. Although The Maury Show has a more serious tone and is less raunchy in nature, some critics denounce it as being even worse than other similar talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show, due to what is perceived as an insincere sympathy for the guests and using their serious problems for the entertainment and humor of the viewing audience. Whitney Matheson wrote about the show in her USA Today column, "Povich's talk show is, without a doubt, the worst thing on television. Period. Don't be fooled by the pressed shirt and pleated khakis; Maury is miles further down the commode than Jerry Springer."

South Park parody

In Episode 601 of the TV series South Park, "Freak Strike", the boys sign up their friend Butters to appear on the Maury show as a child with testicles on his chin, as part of a scheme to receive prizes from the show. Cartman also gets in on the act appearing in drag and announcing "Whateva! Whateva! I do what I want..." (See "Violent Teen Girls" above.) The episode serves as a commentary on how Maury exploits and trivializes the plights of real people ("This is terrible dude! Maury Povich parades these poor people around like carnival freaks, and then give prizes at the end as if to justify it. What a dick!", says Kyle Broflovski in the episode).

See also

• Duane West

References

External links

• Official Website
• the You Are NOT the Father Dance