Why did Montel get dropped?
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- February
- 1
Say it ain’t so, Mo! It was announced on January 30 that “The Montel Williams Show” is coming to an end. Fast. CBS Television Distribution said that it will cease making new episodes and that, in lieu of new broadcasts, it will just supply “Best of Montel” shows instead. Said Montel to the AP, “I can’t say thank you enough to those who’ve welcomed me into their homes for the past 17 years. It has been both an honor and a joy.’’
What exactly precipitated the end of the Montel show? Was it due to Rupert Murdoch, Montel’s MS, Health Ledger, or marijuana? A few theories are after the break.
– In a recent episode of “Fox and Friends” that Montel appeared on, he attacked the media for its excessive coverage of Heath Ledger’s death, while at the same time virtually ignoring the deaths of 28 US soldiers in Iraq since the beginning of the year. A very good point. And one that Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox affiliated distributed the Montel show, has no interest in hearing. Check out Montel’s rant on YouTube. – Since being diagnosed with MS in 1999, Montel’s on-air performance hasn’t been noticably affected by the disease. However, it has made him an outspoken advocate for finding a cure (he even participated in the inaugural Westchester Walk to Defeat MS in Yorktown this year—hence the local connection). And he’s also become a champion for decriminalizing the use of marijuana. As he says on the Montel Williams MS Foundation webpage, “I would like to see all 50 states and the federal government decriminalize medical marijuana. I would also like to see more research into its effects on MSâ€â€for the treatment of pain and spasticity.” That’s a risky position to take. And again, Murdoch has been burned by pot people before (one guy was found to be illegally growing cannabis on the mogul’s California property this July). – Lastly, perhaps word got out that before getting his TV gig, Montel worked as a rodeo clown in Switzerland in 1991. Then again, that hardly sounds like grounds for cancelling the show. If anything, it’s a great idea for a new episode. “Pot-Smoking Swiss Rodeo Clowns—today at 3 p.m.” I’d tune in.
(AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
This entry was posted
on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 10:07 am by Ted Mann.
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