ntertal

•

51'4

_1 !

Maury Povich's
career and
personal life
could be the
subject of a
talk show.

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Walley Talky

t was five minutes before
taping, and the New
York studio audience of
the "Maury Povich Show"
sat patiently waiting for
their famed host. As the
slightly graying Mr.
Povich walked out from
behind the stage and
grabbed the microphone,
he said a warm "Hi" to
the audience filled with
obvious fans.
"We are taping three
shows today. The first
one is on adoption, the
second is an interview
with Marvin Hamlisch
and third is about a boy
who killed his parents,"
he explained.
"Five, four, three, two,
one," shouted the direc-
tor, and while a smiling,
personable Mr. Povich

his

stared into the rolling
camera, the audience
applauded enthusiasti-
cally. The show, which
airs locally on weekdays
at 9 a.m., Channel 4, had
begun.
For the past year and a
half, Mr. Povich has
walked across the stage,
introducing hundreds of
guests. He has kept his
fans tuning in every day
to watch poignant,
provocative and some-
times off-beat shows.
While it's not easy host-
ing one of the newer talk
shows in the highly com-
petitive arena, Mr.
Povich claims that he
offers a slightly different
approach.
"Since I have been a
journalist all my life, I

approach the material in
a journalistic fashion,"
said Mr. Povich, whose
interviews have included
survivors of the Luby's
Cafeteria massacre in
Texas, and Los Angeles
residents caught in the
middle of the riots. "For
the most part, we try and
do stories that spin off
the news, and many of
our ideas come from the
wire services and news-
papers from across the
country."
Another difference Mr.
Povich regards as one of
the show's strengths.
While competitors gab
about one topic for an
hour, he offers two sub-
jects per day.
Making a personal con-
nection with his guests

and audience is also very
important to him.
"If we're talking about
divorce, for instance, and
a guest is not forthcom-
ing, I'll start talking
about my own divorce,"
he said. "Often I surprise
myself by emoting much
more than I thought I
would."
Giving Nazis and other
hate groups air time is
something that Mr.
Povich feels very deeply
about.
"I have a strong view
on this," stressed Mr.
Povich, who has also
done shows on Holocaust
survivors and had aunts,
uncles and cousins who
perished in concentra-
tion camps. "I believe
that you attack every
subject no matter how
sensitive. I rely on my
knowledge of history to
know what the conse-
quences can be if you
turn your back or try to
ignore or downplay
them. The experience in
Germany has molded me
into believing that you
should expose hate
groups and show them
for what they are."
Mr. Povich said his
favorite shows have been
the family reunions. "We
reunite mothers, fathers,
sisters, brothers who
haven't seen each other
in 20, 30, 40 years.
Although some of the
reunions are bittersweet
— I have had sons and
daughters very angry
with their parents for
leaving them — any kind

WALKY TALKY page 62