First Posted: 5/13/2013
In college, there were two occasions I would always skip class for: a bad hangover and a good TV show. Just as it was poor etiquette to show up for class looking as dehydrated as a child in a UNICEF commercial, it was just as unmannerly to walk away from a well-produced television show.
As my student loan bills remind me, my afternoons were meant to consist of Communication Theory, African American History, and Video Production. However, my man boobs remind me they actually consisted of Ramen Noodles, Kit-Kat bars, a two-hour “Jerry Springer” block, an hour of “The Steve Wilkos Show,” and back-to-back episodes of my favorite, “Maury.” Thug life!
In the end it paid off because fast forward a few years, and I found myself hanging out in Maury Povich’s office, scoring the first interview with him prior to the taping of his celebratory 2,500th episode of “Maury.” In your face, bookworms!
THE WEEKENDER: I recently listed your show as one of my favorite things! What are some of your favorite things?
MAURY POVICH: Well, I am a golf addict! Here’s my words of wisdom: If you have a passion, if you have an addiction, make sure your future wife understands it. Because if you have an addiction after you get married, they’re not going to understand it. That’s why I’ve been married twice.
W: Your career has spanned over 50 years. You’ve covered everything from Kennedy getting assassinated to whether or not Jamal was the baby daddy. What haven’t you done in your career that you would still like to do?
MP: That’s an interesting question. I think I’ve touched all the bases.
W: How about “Dancing With The Stars?”
MP: No! Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
W: 2,500 episodes! What is one of the craziest memories of something that has happened on your show?
MP: Here’s one that’s crazy; it’s only happened twice in 2,500 shows. A woman comes on and wants to find out the father of her twins. We’ve got the guy there. She’s accusing him of being the father, he’s denying it, “I’m not the father!” Read the result. He’s the father of one, but not the other! How’s that? It’s called a million to one shot!
Another million to one shot was my next question. I asked him to reenact the reading of a paternity test to me, with me as the biological father in question, so I could cross it off my bucket list. Maury agreed!
While hanging out with Maury Povich, I learned maybe the secret to a long career is learning how to not take everything too seriously. It worked for him, so maybe it will work for me, Mom & Dad.
