Maury Povich made a name for himself in the world of daytime television with his namesake talk show. Recently, he looked back on a tragic incident that took place on another daytime talk show. He also touched on the impact that it even had on his show.
Maury Povich Hosted His Namesake Tabloid Talk Show From 1991 To 2022
For many, Povich is best known for hosting the namesake tabloid talk show Maury. Initially known as The Maury Povich Show, the syndicated series ran from 1991 to 2022.
In his personal life, Povich is married to journalist Connie Chung. Together, they briefly hosted the short-lived Weekends with Maury and Connie for MSNBC in 2006.
Recently, Povich spoke with Entertainment Weekly, sharing his perspective on daytime television. In particular, he discussed a real-life tragedy that had a large impact on the genre as a whole.
This was the murder of Scott Amedure, a gay man who had been killed by his straight friend, Jonathan Schmitz. The former had previously confessed his crush during an episode of Jenny Jones, a daytime talk show that ran from 1991 to 2003, in 1995. While the episode was filmed, it never aired on its scheduled May premiere date.
Looking back at the tragic happening, Povich shared, “Things changed in the talk shows [with] the unfortunate killing of a guest on Jenny Jones. That changed everything. Before that, no guest was ever approached about a subject they didn’t know they were going to be asked about.”
Povich Revealed That The Tragedy Saw Legal Proceedings Increase On His Own Show
In unearthed footage, Schmitz initially covered his face and told Amedure, “You lied to me.” While initially laughing things off, he ultimately killed Amedure with a shotgun three days later in Lake Orion, Michigan.
Povich continued, “Apparently, it was terribly embarrassing. After the show, days after the show, one of the guys was killed. It changed the whole viewing of daytime TV.”
Povich recalled that his own show’s booking and production process changed in light of the murder. He shared, “We had 10, 12 pages of legal documents that each guest had to sign. We had to make sure that there were never questions that were going to be asked that they weren’t prepared for. And every single show, all of a sudden, had an attorney that was attached to the show.”
Following the murder, Schmitz was found guilty on a count of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, being released on parole in 2017. Meanwhile, Jones was ordered to pay $29.3 million to the plaintiffs. However, this was later overturned by in a court of appeals.
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John Witiw has been a writer since at least 2015. He’s covered a variety of topics, especially when it comes to film and television.
