The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon individual stations, airing on ABC on Sunday, September 1, 2013, and running two hours. The final edition aired on ABC on August 31, 2014, again as a two-hour special, beginning at 9PM ET/PT. It was announced on May 1, 2015 that the MDA would be discontinuing the annual event for good. Jerry Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America (MDAA) in 1952 after a plea from a staff member who worked with Lewis and Dean Martin on "The Colgate Comedy Hour". Lewis had previously taken part in what has been described as the very first
The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon totals. That allowed MDA to claim the new format collected more than the old. Donations via phone, text and MDA's web site were urged by local network affiliates. In the final two telethons, viewers had visited MDA's website to view the online tote board. The backlash against The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon was immense because it embedded thoughts and images of what a person with a disability could accomplish in non disabled persons point of view. The Jerry Lewis Telethon had one goal—to raise as much money possible for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and to do this the