A Telethon is a marathon-length televised program devised for raising money for national and local charities or non-profit organizations. While The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon is perhaps the most notable, numerous examples of the form have raised billions for various causes.

The first telethon, a 16-hour event broadcast by NBC and hosted by Milton Berle in 1949, raised $1,100,000 for the Damon Runyan Memorial Cancer Fund. Berle's pioneering effort set the tone for years to follow; a big name star at the fore, a battery of telephone operators to collect pledges, and stage, film, and TV personalities appearing among impassioned pleas for donations. Jerry Lewis was one of the personalities to appear with Berle during the first telethon.

Without doubt, the Jerry Lewis MDA effort is the quintessential telethon. Hosted by Lewis since 1966, it is broadcast internationally, free of charge, by local stations signing on as part of the annual Labor Day "Love Network." The event, along with Lewis' off-key, emotional rendition of the song "Walk On," have become synonymous with Labor Day itself.

Telethons began showing their age in the early 1990s when various groups representing the disabled argued that telethons, with their accent on cures, paint a helpless and pathetic picture of people with disabilities. Lewis, a fervent campaigner for finding a cure for Muscular Dystrophy, has dismissed such complaints and continues his traditional approach. As of September 1995, the MDA telethon had raised over $1.4 billion for muscular dystrophy.

In addition to the MDA event, other annual telethons include those for Easter Seals, The Arthritis Foundation, United Cerebral Palsy, and the United Negro College Fund. On the local level, Public Television stations have borrowed from the form to raise money during their viewer pledge drives.

-Michael Kassel