Maury Povich's Maury legacy will be his paternity tests that were the show's "grossest ethical violations"

Mel Magazine

Povich turned paternity into a circus of shame, says Miles Klee of Maury ending after 31 years. "Beginning in 1998, the show partnered with DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC) to stage dramatic, often humiliating reveals of paternity before a live studio audience," says Klee, adding: "The footage of those babies and toddlers was one of Maury’s grossest ethical violations. I’d argue the disproportionate focus on Black couples was another. Worst of all, though, was the pretense that any of this had to do with helping the guests, or the need to uphold traditional norms. Before opening his little envelope, Povich liked to extract a promise from the potential father that, in the case of a genetic match, he would be 'in' the child’s life. It served as a moral excuse for the spectacle to follow. I cringe today, remembering how I laughed at these scenes, the cruelty toward ordinary people who appeared on TV for a meager paycheck and the chance to establish basic facts about their own lives. Yet if you want to understand the paradoxical theme of 'family values' in American politics — the way a vaguely defined set of ideals is less a blueprint for success than a weapon made to shame and dehumanize — then look no further." ALSO: It's tough saying goodbye to Maury's "very exploitative era" of TV.