The Phil Donahue Show

The Phil Donahue Show
Created by	Phil Donahue
Presented by	Phil Donahue
Theme music composer	Don Grady
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	29
No. of episodes	6,715
Production
Production locations	Dayton, Ohio (1967–1974; seasons 1-7) Chicago, Illinois (1974–1985; seasons 8-18) New York City (1985–1996; seasons 19-29)
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Avco Broadcasting (1967-1970; seasons 1-3) Avco Program Sales (seasons 4–6, 1970–1976) Multimedia Entertainment (seasons 7–29, 1976–1996)
Original release
Network	WLWD (1967–1970; seasons 1-3) First-run syndication (1970–1996; seasons 4-29)
Release	November 6, 1967 (1967-11-06) – September 13, 1996 (1996-09-13)

The Phil Donahue Show (also known as Donahue) is an American long-running daytime talk show hosted by Phil Donahue. The Phil Donahue Show aired for 29 seasons from November 6, 1967 to September 13, 1996, airing for a total of 6,715 episodes, including over 6,000 episodes that aired on weekdays. The Phil Donahue Show began as a local program on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, from its debut in 1967 until 1970. The show went to first-run syndication, which lasted from September 14, 1970 until the show's end on September 13, 1996.

History

Donahue as a local program

In 1967, Phil Donahue quit his job as a news reporter and interviewer at WHIO radio and television in Dayton, Ohio; right outside of his hometown in Cleveland, Ohio, to go into the stations' sales department. However, he found he didn't like sales and took an on-air news position at another Dayton TV station, WLWD, which later became WDTN. "The Johnny Gilbert Show" was a weekday variety, music, and talk program that aired on the same station as "The Phil Donahue Show." The show ended when Johnny Gilbert left to host a show in New York City. Gilbert later became the announcer for the syndicated version of "Jeopardy!", which debuted on September 10, 1984. When WLWD named Phil Donahue to replace Johnny Gilbert as the host of a daytime talk show, they kept the live format and studio audience. However, Donahue decided to take the show in a new direction to do a new daytime talk show called The Phil Donahue Show. Donahue interviewed guests on a variety of topics, including politics, religion, and social issues. For each show, Donahue would focus on a single guest and topic that ran for 60 minutes. After introducing the guest and explaining the topic, Phil Donahue would invite the studio audience to ask questions of the guest. He would then moderate the discussion between the guest and audience. The Phil Donahue Show debuted as a local program in Dayton, Ohio on November 6, 1967. It was first distributed by Avco Broadcasting. Donahue interviewed his first guest, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an atheist. Though he would later call her message of atheism "very important", he also stated she was rather unpleasant and that, off-camera, she mocked him for being Roman Catholic.

Donahue goes national

Donahue during a 1980 episode

Initially, the program was shown only on four stations owned by the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, which would later take the name of its parent Avco Company): Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Indianapolis. On September 14, 1970, "The Phil Donahue Show" moved from a local program to national syndication. Avco Program Sales took over production of the show. In 1976, Avco dissolved their broadcasting properties. Multimedia Inc. took over production and syndication of the program, and "The Phil Donahue Show" was renamed "Donahue." In 1974, The Phil Donahue Show relocated to Chicago, where it was produced at the studios of independent station WGN-TV. Multimedia ended its relationship with WGN in 1982, a move designed to protect syndication exclusivity in markets outside Chicago, and Donahue moved downtown to CBS-owned WBBM-TV.

In 1984, Donahue introduced many viewers to hip-hop culture, as a program featured breakdancing for the first time on national television, accompanied by a performance from the hip hop group UTFO. In 1985, Donahue and his program moved to New York City, and began recording in Studio 8-G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the home of his New York affiliate WNBC-TV. Prior to the move, a month-long series of commercials heralded the move, and NBC's late-night talk host David Letterman would use portions of his national program counting down the days to Donahue's move with a huge calendar in his studio.

Fainting hoax

One of the most discussed incidents in Donahue's history came on January 21, 1985, soon after the show moved from Chicago to New York. On this day's program, seven members of the audience appeared to faint during the broadcast, which was seen live in New York. Donahue, fearing the fainting was caused by both anxiety at being on television and an overheated studio, eventually cleared the studio of audience members and then resumed the show. It turned out the fainting "spell" was cooked up by media hoaxer Alan Abel in what Abel said was a protest against what he termed as poor-quality television.

International success

Donahue was also broadcast in the United Kingdom on the ITV Night Time line up in the late 1980s and early '90s, where it became cult viewing. After its success, Donahue made several shows in Britain featuring some well-known celebrities from the country as guests, recorded mostly in London but notably one programme recorded in Manchester, which had several members of the cast from the American sitcom Cheers and the Manchester-based soap opera Coronation Street. Thames Television also broadcast a number of episodes during daytime for the London area only.

It was also broadcast in Australia from 1982, first on WIN-4 in Wollongong and then nationwide on the Seven Network.

End of an era

In 1992, Donahue celebrated the 25th anniversary of his long-running television program with an NBC special produced at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, in which he was lauded by his talk-show peers. However, in many corners, he was seen as having been surpassed both by Oprah Winfrey, whose hugely successful national show was based in Donahue's former Chicago home base; and Sally Jessy Raphael, whose talk show was distributed by Donahue's syndicator, Multimedia.

In 1992, producers Ed Glavin and Debbie Harwick Glavin exited the show to work on The Jenny Jones Show.

The talk show field became increasingly saturated as the 1990s progressed. Many of these shows took an increasingly tabloid bent. Donahue shied away from this trend, continuing to take a "high-road" approach. However, Donahue featured some similar sensational topics during sweeps periods. These factors led to a marked decline in ratings. The show's ratings also began to plummet after Donahue expressed his feelings regarding the first Gulf War.

In January 1995, ABC-owned KGO-TV in San Francisco ceased airing Donahue after carrying it for several years. Then towards the end of summer 1995, New York's WNBC-TV ceased airing the show after airing it since 1977. After production for the 1994-95 television season ended, Donahue was ousted from its 30 Rockefeller Plaza home, and subsequently relocated to new studios in Manhattan. Donahue was unable to resurface on another station in the nation's largest and eighth-largest markets, and its ratings never recovered. Many other stations either began dropping Donahue or moving it to graveyard time slots, causing a further loss of viewers.

The ratings for Donahue continued to decline, and Donahue decided to retire rather than have the show canceled.

Series finale

The series finale of "Donahue" aired in syndication on September 13, 1996. The show had been on the air for 29 seasons and had produced over 6,000 episodes. Host Phil Donahue announced his retirement from daytime television, as he had been hosting his own daytime show for many years. The final episode featured an interview with Donahue executive producer Patricia McMillen. McMillen had been with the show since the show premiered on November 6, 1967. Donahue and McMillen show clips from past episodes, reminisce about their time together, and discuss the show's impact on society. Donahue's wife, Marlo Thomas, made a surprise appearance on his show. She is the daughter of Danny Thomas. Donahue and Thomas both answered questions from the audience area. The studio audience asked questions about their experiences on the show. In 1977, Marlo Thomas appeared on "Donahue" for the first time. She and Phil Donahue were married three years later in 1980. Since then, Marlo Thomas appeared on "The Phil Donahue Show" many times. She has been a guest on the show more than any other celebrity. "The Phil Donahue Show" ended its run with a series finale that featured a celebration with the entire staff. The show ended with a party, during which confetti cannons were fired and champagne was poured over Donahue's head. Joining in the celebration was his guest, Marlo Thomas. "What Do I Know," the 1995 debut single by Ricochet, played in the background during the celebration.

Reception

In 2002, Donahue was ranked 29th on TV Guide magazine's list of the 50 greatest television shows of all-time.

External links

• The Phil Donahue Show / Donahue at IMDb