Maury (formerly known as The Maury Povich Show ) is a syndicated American television show hosted by Maury Povich. The show was created along the same lines as The Jerry Springer Show with the exception of the subject matter Maury discusses. Although Maury is similar to Springer, Povich discourages actual onstage physical confrontations, although he does seem to encourage verbal aggression among his guests. The majority of the show's episodes deals with issues of teenage pregnancy, sexual infidelity, paternity test results, unusual illnesses or makeovers, or "out of control" teenagers. Other issues discussed are disturbing moments caught on video tape, whether or not a person is a transgender man or woman, obese babies, little people, or unusual phobias, such as a fear of cottonballs or pickles.
When the show first went on the air in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Television. The show was revamped in the late-1990s as Maury, adopting its most recent name in 1998, when Studios USA (now NBC Universal) took over production. However, MoPo continues to co-produce with NBC Universal. Maury was taped in New York City for its first eighteen seasons; the upcoming nineteenth season is taping at the Stamford Media Center in Stamford, Connecticut. Maury is one of four NBC Universal syndicated properties to make the move to Connecticut, joining the former Chicago-based Springer and Steve Wilkos shows, which are taping at the same theater as Jerry Springer .
On November 5, 2009, The Maury Show was officially renewed through at least the 2012 season. The newest season of Maury began airing on September 14, 2009.
Common show themes
The Maury Show often revolves around a mother trying to prove or disprove her child's parentage through paternity tests. In fact, Maury popularized the catchphrase 'you are NOT the father' as the preferred method of revealing negative DNA results of paternity tests.
Who's My Baby's Daddy?
This type of episode is the most common theme in the last several years. A mother will bring her husband or boyfriend onto the show after the male has denied fathering the child. While the male is backstage, the female will describe how he does not provide any emotional or financial support for her baby, and, often crying, will describe to Maury how she is hurt that the man she once loved could deny their beautiful child and how she struggles to raise the baby without help. As in the infidelity episodes, a pre-recorded message from the male will be played, in which he explains why he does not believe that he is the father, giving reasons such as "She cheated", "She never told me she was pregnant", or "I can't have kids". This video is almost always very hostile toward the mother, often including multiple vulgar insults such as calling her various names (e.g. "slut") to imply that the child could belong to virtually any male. Sometimes, the male is accompanied by his current girlfriend, fiancee, wife or other family member.
After the video, with the female often further enraged or upset, the male will walk onto the set; he will usually be booed loudly by the audience. The male will typically react in a "you-don't-know-me" mannerism, showing confidence that he is not the father. A picture of the baby juxtaposed with a picture of the male will appear on a video screen, to which the female will usually say how she thinks they look similar, and the male will say how they do not look alike at all. One common occurrence is that each person will claim that he or she is beyond 100% (often 200% or 1,000%) sure that the man is/is not the father, with figures sometimes reaching as high as 1,000,000% (the highest this has it gone is "infinity-plus 1 percent", in the show aired on November 20, 2007 when a participant named Natasha (surname unknown) claimed to be "infinity-plus 1" percent sure that a man was the father of her child (The DNA test then proceeded to prove her wrong) ).
After further confrontation, and after Maury talks with both parties, he will be given a manila envelope containing the paternity test results and might say "Let's find out!", as a graphic reading "THE RESULTS ARE IN!" appears in the lower left corner of home viewers' TV screens. Maury will ask the man what he plans to do if the child is, in fact, his, and the man almost always responds by saying (often unconvincingly) that he will provide for the child in that (unlikely) case.
Usually when the man is shown to be the father, the woman gets up, chases the man, triumphantly declaring that she told him so and/or does the "give me yo money" dance (including cash hand gestures). She then challenges him to follow through on his claim that he will provide support to the child; there is usually no follow-up episode to see if this actually happens, possibly due to the rather large number of cases that appear on the show monthly. Upon such confirmation, most men accept the fact that they are the father. Conversely, when the man is proven to not be the father, it is very common for him to celebrate by performing a smooth yet spontaneous dance routine onstage or by running into the audience to high-five audience members (the audience will suddenly cheer the man on, even though they have spent most of the segment violently booing him) while the woman walks or runs backstage crying, often collapsing (or sometimes even diving) to the floor in the fetal position. In such cases, the man rarely receives an apology from his accuser. Maury goes over to the woman, consoling her, saying something like "We'll help you find who the father is..." and dragging her back on stage. Meanwhile, the man is gloating to the audience about being right in a very uncivil manner.
From time to time, the show also shows women making multiple appearances to find the father of their children. Some women have tested up to 17 men without finding the father, while increasing their percentage of certainty with each guest. There are also variations where the man brings his mother, sister, or current girlfriend, wife, or fiancée on the show to complain about the woman's lack of character, or two men are tested at once because either could be the father. On a rare occasion, a mother has gotten so mad that she threw a chair at Maury, thus making him angry. If the mothers are getting reckless, getting out of their seats and trying to hit the men, they may get expelled from the show.
The youngest person to get a DNA test on the show was a 12 year old girl, who tested a 13 year old boy (he was proven to not be the father). The record for most men tested for paternity on one episode by one woman was five, all of whom were proven to not be the father. Sholonda, a recurring guest on the Maury show, has given 17 men a paternity test for her daughter. She put the search on hold, but later appeared to confess to her husband that she cheated and that she didn't know if he was the father of another child (a paternity test proved him to be the father).
In at least two instances, a mother has denied a claim that a certain man is the baby's father.
A video clip from the Maury show called "You Are Not the Father Dance" has been very popular on video-sharing websites. A man named Andrew is being tested as a potential father of a woman named Sabrina's second child. The clip starts with Sabrina saying she is "not ONE hundred, not TWO hundred, but FIVE THOUSAND percent sure." Maury then reveals that Andrew is, in fact, not the father, which causes him to jump out of his seat and start dancing onstage while Outkast's "The Way You Move" is played in the background (this was added to the video by the uploader of the original video) and convince the crowd to wave their hands like they just don't care. On one later episode, Maury acknowledged this clip had been downloaded half a million times. After the show, he mentioned that he hadn't been in contact with either Sabrina or Andrew since the show was taped.
On occasion, when it's discovered that the man in question is not the father, Maury will console the guests by telling them that he has a child who's not biologically his.
Paternity Tests for Mothers Who Cheated
A woman will bring her husband or boyfriend onto the show to admit to him that she cheated on him in the past, and that their child might not actually be his. She will appear on set alone at first, with the male backstage. In these types of episodes, the male is secluded and cannot see or hear what Maury and the woman are talking about. The man was only told that his wife has brought him here to tell him a secret. However, due to Maury recently being so popular for paternity testing, one might wonder if the man finds it obvious what the secret is before being told.
The woman will talk to Maury about the "secret," and the audience will see a pre-recorded statement by the man, accompanied by heart-wrenching piano music, describing how he loves the woman very much and is shocked and hurt that she has been keeping a secret from him. The man will then walk onto the set and this time will be cheered by the audience. Maury will then tell the woman to face her husband/boyfriend, whereupon she usually makes some small talk such as "I love you.." before coming out and saying very slowly that she cheated on him and that the child might not be his. The men react in different ways, some more angrily than others, perhaps throwing the chair down and walking offstage, or just staring in awed silence. The man then consents to a paternity test, and the viewing audience rejoins
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