European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 v or a -. 7it in a a a a �?�? a i jul  it a Phil Donahue interviews Cross Dresser Melody during his syndicated television talk show in 1938.when the crazy babble fades nor by Bucky Gleason the associated. Press. I Here was the grandmother who slept with the paper Hoy. And the father of four who abandoned his family 20 years ago. Done to forget the Man who had sex with his Mother in Law and people who support killing abortion doctors. They re on their Way to becoming respected celebrities As daytime talk shows continue to desensitize audiences with subjects once considered taboo a Penn state University sociologist contends. A if you see shows about men who sleep with their mothers in Law enough people get used to these things a researcher Vicki Abt said. A if you see this All the time the Man who does t sleep with his. Mother in Law will eventually become  daytime talk shows have covered so Many topics once considered unspeakable that some viewers done to know the difference Between right and wrong Abt said. A your culture used to give us boundaries. Today there Are no boundaries. Nothing is forbidden anymore. Television emphasizes the deviant so that it becomes Normal. A if you really Are Normal no one  she and her partner English professor Mel see-1 Sholtz based their conclusions on 60 episodes of to rated talk shows a 20 each from the shows of Oprah Winfrey Sally Jessy Raphael and Phil Donahue the academics based at Penn states Ogontz Campus near Philadelphia will publish their findings. This summer in the journal of popular culture. They contend the talk shows have abandoned traditional talk show styles that focus on celebrities. Plugging recent books or movies. A. A re be n t Winfrey s h new i no Ludo d up i Sode s on person a i Ity tests and aggressive girl Raphael has featured women in love with convicts  daughters and women heroin addicts Donahue Asfe attired a woman a d i Spute Wilf her late husbands sex wife and another whose sister in Law had her baby Don Ahue spokes Woma n re n a Donlon said the show has taken summer hiatus and she refused to comment on the study. Representatives for Winfrey and Raphael also declined com ment saying they would need to read the article. Abt said  dosages of distress and dilemma have become More acceptable for viewers Over time. The result she said television prompts Peoples a Lions rather than vice versa. A a it a become More and More difficult for people to know the difference Between Fame and infamy a Abt said. A a child secs that if he acts terribly he might get on Phit Sally or  Darryn president of the National talk show guest registry of Reseda Calif said the researchers heed to lighten up. A a a. A for people to watch them like they watch the evening news is silly,11 said Darryn who tracks hundreds of people looking to be guests on talk shows then submits their stories to the shows. Darryn a registry includes people Selling ufos insurance a Man with More than 100 Disney character tattoos and people who have survived All sorts of traumatic experiences. A a a Darryn said most people who watch talk shows arc merely seeking entertainment a. A you have to take it with a Grain of Salt a Darryn said. A if they have negative kind of Impact on a person maybe that person is a talk show candidate  toward americans talking by Jerry Zelma Stamford Conn advocate. A few weeks Agdel in a stunning Public confession that would have shocked Ger Aldo i bravely admitted that i had auditioned to be a talk show Host. Readers with latent addictive masochistic personality disorders and the space aliens who love them on the next Oprah will no doubt recall that i had gone to new York City to try out for the americans talking talk search contest a nationwide Campaign to find the next Maury or Leeza. The contest which Drew thousands of entries was sponsored by americans talking the new All talk Cable network. Today As part of my therapy for delusional male career dysfunction on the next Richard Bey am making another stunning announcement one that will surely elicit gasps of disbelief and perhaps even shouts of Joy from millions of talk show watchers across the country. I did no twin. This of course comes As a bitter disappointment not Only because i could really use the Money $75,000 for the first year y but because i possess what i modestly feel is the most important qualification for a talk show Host i am completely devoid of any shame or self respect. To prove it i bought a Blank videotape and went Down to South Street seaport in new York to try out. Somehow failing to humiliate myself i said i deserved the Job because quite basically i was desperate finally i brought up Rose Abdoo the mistress of ceremonies and interviewed her at one Point asking Why she did no to have her own talk show. Her shocking answer a i done to  All in All it was a performance that if i May brag did no to get me arrested. So i mailed in my videotape and waited. A ,. Last week i found out much to my dismay that someone else had won. To add insult to in Juicy i did no to even make the final 20. The Winner was Bill Mccuddy a 37-year-old stand up comic and commercial writer from Haiti More whose video i must admit was even More demented than mine. Instead of going to an audition Bill we re already on a first name basis took to the streets. In one part of his tape he chased a perplexed Young woman and asked her if she thought he would make a Good talk show Host. As she ran away silent and apparently panic stricken. Bill turned to the camera and exclaimed a women love me a then he went to a fast food joint and asked the woman taking orders in the drive up Lane if she thought he would be a Good talk show Host. Her response a sure. Whatever you want a or something to that effect. Stuff like this helped Bill get to the final round which was hosted by de Mcmahon and televised on Cnoc which owns americans talking celebrity judges included  and Dick Cavett. The Day after Bill was declared the Winner i called him up and in the spirit of Good sports Manship promised not to kill him. A i appreciate that a said Bill whose show Tenta Lively titled Mccuddy on the Street opened july 4 with the rest of the americans talking network. I wish Bill lots of Luck and i know his show will be great. But i can to help but think of my first show in the event i have to take Over for him talk show hosts who bump off other talk show hosts on the next Jerry. Los Angeles tires Washington Post news service a sunday july 10, 1994