Robert Downey Jr. David Fincher's mystery thriller "Zodiac", which was based on a true story. He played the role of "San Francisco Chronicle" journalist Paul Avery, who was reporting the Zodiac Killer case. With all of the critical success Downey had experienced throughout his career, he had not appeared in a "blockbuster" film. That changed in 2008, when Downey starred in two critically and commercially successful films, "Iron Man" and "Tropic Thunder". In the article Ben Stiller wrote for Downey's entry in the 2008 edition of "The Time 100", he offered an observation on Downey's commercially successful summer at the box office: In
The Morton Downey Jr. Show media types. In 1988, Downey recorded an album of songs based on his show, entitled "Morton Downey Jr. Sings" (released in 1989). The album's only single, "Zip It!" (a catch-phrase from the show, used to quiet an irate guest), became a surprise hit on some college radio stations. Over the course of the 1988–89 season, "Downey" suffered a decline in viewership, resulting in many markets downgrading its time slot; even flagship station WWOR moved it from its original 9:00 PM slot to 11:30 PM in late 1988. A few months later, in January 1989, the syndicated "Arsenio Hall Show" premiered