In another life, perhaps Phil Donahue might have been a song and dance man. Heck, his soulmate and life partner was none other than Marlo Thomas, who came from the DNA of one of the most successful TV performers of its early days, and whom a lot of us, myself included, fell in love with as she followed in his footsteps pursuing her own possibilities both as herself and in her iconic 60s TV series, THAT GIRL. So I suppose he at least had the ability to appreciate those adept at those arts, even if he wasn’t quite up making a living through it himself.
Which makes the life he did life far more ironic, and therefore that much more impactful. Donahue broke ground and ultimately became the master of daytime TV talk shows, which prior to him had almost exclusively been the domain of those who could sing, dance and tell a joke, or at least be willing to try. Arthur Godfrey had his ukelele. Merv Griffin was a crooner. Heck, even within the station group which he launched his TV career relied upon those type of performers to host their Midwestern cities’ local shows. The flagship station of then-Crosley Broadcasting was in Cincinnati, where a guy named Bob Braun ruled midday for years. The guy he replaced in Dayton was a crooner who had earlier hosted a short-lived music game show and dabbled in announcing other ones. That’s exactly what that guy continues to do today–Johnny Gilbert, JEOPARDY’s resident legend still at work at age 96.
But Donahue had been established on a rival Dayton station as an interviewer, and one who would not shy away from controversial topics or guests. Perhaps the only show out there that featured anything or anyone similar was FIRING LINE, a weekly tour-de-force for William F. Buckley that came to fruition as did an emerging PBS during the turbulent Vietnam War era. Donahue found ways to bring his Mohammads to his mountain in southern Ohio at a time when it wasn’t necessarily on the itinerary of those promoting movies or series. He was unapologetically liberal and gave those with such opinions a forum to be heard by audiences that would otherwise not have access to them. A memorable 1972 sit-down with Jane Fonda helped to define his show as it began its run in syndication, but it also generated enough controversy for it to be dropped as quickly as it was hurriedly launched into national distribution as a mid-season entry in 1970. Indeed, for many station owners outside his employers, he was too much trouble for too few rating points.
But in 1974 Chicago’s Very Own, WGN-TV, gave him a chance to take on those more traditional daytime shows on a strong station with a commitment to news and information. And at last the show found success, enough so that it eventually made its way back to one of its earlier stations, New York’s WNBC-TV. And it was there that the show truly took off, and opened up a long-standing relationship between him and their profitable owned-and-operated stations. He was the ideal extension for THE TODAY SHOW, and eventually dominated ratings so much that dozens more stations eventually emulated him. By this time his employer was Multimedia Television, a group of competitive NBC stations themselves. And instead of complimenting him and expanding upon his success with more Bob Brauns and Johnny Gilberts they turned to another established radio interviewer, Sally Jessy Raphael, in St. Louis and a newscaster who was once the mayor of Cincinnati, Jerry Springer. Collectively, they made Multimedia a syndication powerhouse to be reckoned with at the 80s unfolded.
But in yet another wave of irony, in their quest to drive even higher ratings and impact WNBC-TV, by this time where the show now known as DONAHUE was being shot, “upgraded” its time slot to 4 PM. At just about the same time that another syndication powerhouse, King World, was beginning to export another local Chicago talk show success who had eventually eclipsed his WGN ratings on rival WLS. She was in many ways as groundbreaking and different at that point as was Donahue when he was an upstart, and counterprogrammed him in just about every crucial daytime demographic you can think of, and especially the ones you might be loath to point out. And indeed OPRAH WINFREY’s popularity grew at the direct expense of DONAHUE, especially in New York. By the time he limped into a final poorly rated season, he was no longer being seen in New York once again.
So when you read the eulogy Winfrey offered that was offered up by USA TODAY’s Brendan Morrow and Taijuan Moorman in the wake of Donahue’s death yesterday at age 88, take her at her word:
“There wouldn’t have been an Oprah Show without Phil Donahue being the first to prove that daytime talk and women watching should be taken seriously,” Winfrey wrote on Instagram, sharing a photo of the two together. “He was a pioneer. I’m glad I got to thank him for it. Rest in peace Phil.”
And yes, even the likes of Springer, Geraldo Rivera, Maury Povich and others who may have taken the genre into a more bizarre and controversial form owe their successes to Donahue as well. One can even argue that someone like Roger Ailes took note. After all, like Donahue they both started out producing local daytime shows in Ohio; Ailes with Cleveland’s MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW. A show that ultimately faded from TV as Donahue and his emulators took off.
While his show went off 28 years ago, he wasn’t exactly whittling for the final chapters of his life, as VANITY FAIR’s Savannah Walsh recounted yesterday:
Donahue wrote, produced, and codirected the 2007 documentary Body of War, which was shortlisted for an Oscar. In 2020, he and Thomas released a book called What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share With Us the Secrets to a Happy Life, and later cohosted a podcast together called Double Date With Marlo Thomas & Phil Donahue. Three months before his death, Donahue was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden. Thomas received the honor in 2014 from Barack Obama.
If that’s not the definition of a power couple, I don’t know what is. For sure, That Guy was as special as That Girl.
Until next time…