# The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon: A Comedy History

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac-a-daily-briefing-on-comedians-and-the-comedy-industry-519311/the-jerry-lewis-mda-telethon-a-comedy-history
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac-a-daily-briefing-on-comedians-and-the-comedy-industry-519311/the-jerry-lewis-mda-telethon-a-comedy-history.md
Podcast: [Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac](https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac-a-daily-briefing-on-comedians-and-the-comedy-industry-519311)
Published: 2026-09-05T07:08:32+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-jerry-lewis-mda-telethon-a-comedy-history--74829609
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/rss.pdrl.fm/a6631c/prfx.byspotify.com/e/op3.dev/e/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74829609/dcn_sat_jerry_rs.mp3
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Duration seconds: 852

## Resource

Eighty-five million people watched the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon at its peak in 1976. Almost every significant American comedian performed on it at some point. Don Rickles insulted Lewis to his face at Caesars Palace in 1982 — you can watch it on YouTube. Jerry Seinfeld appeared in 1995 at the height of Seinfeld. Jimmy Fallon did standup on it in 1997, a year before SNL. Ralphie May worked the overnight casino crowd before Last Comic Standing. Johnny Mac looks at what the telethon actually was as a comedy document — what happened in the overnight hours, why the Rickles-Lewis dynamic worked, what the 1976 Dean Martin reunion tells you about what live television could do that nothing else could, and why forty-four years of staying up all night for charity produced one of the longest continuous comedy archives in American television history. What comedians appeared on the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon?" – "Did Don Rickles appear on the Jerry Lewis telethon?" – "Did Jimmy Fallon perform standup on the MDA telethon?" – "Did Ralphie May appear on the Jerry Lewis telethon?" – "Did Jerry Seinfeld appear on the MDA telethon?" – "What was the 1976 Dean Martin Jerry Lewis reunion?" – "Why was Jerry Lewis fired from the MDA telethon?" – "What did Jim Carrey say about Jerry Lewis?" – "How long was the Jerry Lewis telethon?" – "What happened in the overnight hours of the Jerry Lewis telethon?" Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac--4522158/support . Today's DCN is brought to you by MyBookie use promo code DCN! Daily Comedy News is hosted by Johnny Mac and releases every weekday. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite app. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network. For transcripts and show notes visit www.daily…

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## Transcript

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