The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film) insisted on Louis Hayward, who had just made "The Duke of West Point" for him. Louis Hayward played D'Artagnan in a gender-switched 1952 remake entitled "Lady in the Iron Mask" with Patricia Medina in the titular role and Alan Hale, Jr. as Porthos, the part his father Alan Hale, Sr. had portrayed in the 1939 version. In what may have been another instance of stunt casting, Hale Jr. played Porthos in the 1979 film "The Fifth Musketeer" (which is also based on "The Man in the Iron Mask"). Frank S. Nugent called the film "a moderately entertaining costume piece" with
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