Telethons

Programs like Friday's "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" do not exist to further musical careers, introduce new material or birth fruitful collaborations. Tragedies like last week's seismic disaster necessitate such urgent media efforts, and fundraising is their primary objective. Important information may also be transmitted; perhaps someone's consciousness will be raised. The pleasure, surprise or release that art can offer is merely added value. That said, several of the major names who came on board for Haiti went beyond the expected heartstring tugs.

Now 5 years old, the Cinefamily has become a pillar of the alternative film exhibition scene in Los Angeles alongside venues such as the New Beverly Cinema, American Cinematheque and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. From its location on Fairfax Avenue, Cinefamily has become a hub of activity with its heady mix of new and retrospective movies, a particular blend of the highbrow, offbeat and way-out with an only-in-L.A. flavor. Recent programming has included a series of films by and about the Beat Generation that included a sneak preview of the upcoming Kristen Stewart-starring "On the Road"; a number of little-known documentaries by the Japanese filmmaker Shohei Imamura; and screenings of the new cult fave "Miami Connection.

The major broadcast networks and a variety of cable channels are holding telethons for Hurricane Katrina victims this weekend. Now PBS is getting into the act too, with an event planned Sept. 17. The Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert and Auction will be televised from New York and will feature appearances by Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Bette Midler, Dianne Reeves, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Cassandra Wilson and others.

The East Coast is still recovering from the destruction of super storm Sandy, so on Friday the collected cable channels and networks of NBCUniversal will be airing a one-hour telethon to raise money for the victims. "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" will be hosted by "Today's" Matt Lauer and will feature performances by Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Sting; and have appearances by Jimmy Fallon and NBC News' Brian Williams. The telethon will air on NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!

Meryl Streep, Forest Whitaker, cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and other celebrities will take part in a three-network telethon to support cancer research, it was announced Tuesday. The hourlong "Stand Up to Cancer" will air live and commercial-free on ABC, CBS and NBC on Sept. 5 and feature musical performances and appeals from actors, athletes and journalists. Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, America Ferrera, Danica Patrick, Salma Hayek, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Masi Oka and news anchors Charles Gibson, Brian Williams and Katie Couric will be among those taking part.

After 10 years of doing the show in Los Angeles, Jerry Lewis says he's happy about hosting his annual telethon fundraiser for muscular dystrophy in Las Vegas again. "There's something about Los Angeles that subjugates it," Lewis, 80, told reporters on the set at the South Coast hotel-casino south of the Las Vegas Strip. "I always feel like I'm claustrophobic there." The Labor Day telethon, which has raised $1.35 billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.

A 16-hour nationwide telethon will be held this weekend for war-weary Armenians seeking freedom from the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

The annual Children's Miracle Network telethon will go international for the first time when it is broadcast this weekend (for 21 consecutive hours) from Disneyland. In addition to being seen on stations across the United States, it will be carried in the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The telethon's organizers believe this is the first time a United States-based telethon has aired in those countries. Locally, Channel 9 will carry the telethon starting Saturday at 6 p.m. (Channel 3 in Santa Barbara also starts the telethon Saturday at 6 p.m.; Channel 8 in San Diego tunes in at 7 p.m.)

Father Paul O'Conner, a missionary who flew a single-engine airplane through the African bush, has died in Las Vegas where he had gone to appear on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. He was 63. The Roman Catholic priest who lived in Detroit died Friday of respiratory complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Lewis' telethon benefits victims of ALS and other neuromuscular diseases. Lewis said he was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the priest's death.

The annual muscular dystrophy telethon is supposed to be a "Labor Day Love-In"--a sentimental and entertaining fund-raiser that collected more than $45 million last year for research and treatment of 40 neuromuscular diseases, according to its longtime unpaid host, comedian Jerry Lewis. But behind the scenes, the love-in is beginning to look more like a war.

The following post has been updated. See note below for details. Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Christina Aguilera, Sting and other celebrities will join forces for a one-hour live telethon “Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together,” airing Friday at 8 p.m. on NBCUniversal stations and streamed at NBC.com. Money raised during the telethon will be donated to American Red Cross relief efforts. In addition to being televised on NBC, the concert will be carried on Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, E!

For the first time in 45 years, Jerry Lewis will not be pleading for donations in front of a camera Labor Day weekend after he was abruptly dismissed as the host of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.'s telethon, an event that drew attention to the childhood disease and in its heyday was an annual television highlight. The group said the 85-year-old legendary comedian would not appear on this year's telethon, and would no longer serve as its national chairman, a position he held for nearly 60 years.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Change of plans: You won't get get to see Jerry Lewis on the MDA telethon one last time this year. He's out of the organization completely. ( Huffington Post ) President Obama's 50th birthday party is looking as if it'll be decidedly unstarry. ( Los Angeles Times ) CNN's Piers Morgan and Paul McCartney's ex, Heather Mills, are having a phone-hacking spat of their own. ( Los Angeles Times ) Her Royal Highness, Kate, has gained entry into the International Best Dressed list.

Telethon to be Lewis' last Jerry Lewis, who has hosted the annual Muscular Dystrophy Assn. telethon for 45 years, said Monday he would be retiring from that job after this year's show, which is undergoing a major overhaul. Starting this September, the Labor Day telethon will shrink to six hours, with the 85-year-old entertainer joined by four co-hosts: Nigel Lythgoe of "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance," "Entertainment Tonight's" Nancy O'Dell and Jann Carl, and "The Biggest Loser's" Alison Sweeney.

The venue and approach were about as far removed from Mitt Romney’s straight-laced, wealthy persona as could be, but that didn’t stop about 800 volunteers from gathering in a deserted wing of the Las Vegas Convention Center early Monday to participate in the first major telethon of the 2012 Republican presidential campaign. Supporters of the former Massachusetts governor spent the day huddled around phones as they asked friends, family and business associates to make donations.

There are lots of ways to raise awareness about a disease -- and having Hollywood celebrities tell their stories always helps. The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has gathered a number of notables, many of whom have a personal connection to the disease, for its first hourlong TV telethon on Saturday night. The Together for Care Telethon will feature, among others, actor Hector Elizondo, the foundation's honorary chairman, who has spoken openly lately about his own family's reluctance to seek help when his mother showed signs of Alzheimer's back in the mid-1960s.

Jerry Lewis won't be there, but a state Department of Education superintendent will join dozens of students, parents and administrators of the Irvine Unified School District this week for the county's first telethon for public schools.

Less than 24 hours after an earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, George Clooney was on the phone with MTV Networks president Judy McGrath trying to orchestrate a star-studded telethon to raise funds for its victims. Clooney, who helped organize televised benefits for Sept. 11 and 2004's South Asian tsunami, told MTV on the Golden Globes' red carpet, "There are times in our life when people are really without any form of help and in real danger. This is one of those times." Since that first phone call, more than 100 actors and musicians have signed on to headline "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief," which airs tonight commercial-free on more than 60 networks and online.

Eternal Telethon: Infinity + 24 Where: Machine Project, 1200 D N. Alvarado St., L.A. When: Saturday, Nov. 20, 12 p.m. to Sunday, Nov. 21, 12 p.m. Price: donation Information: (213) 483-8761; http://www.eternaltelethon.com

The words "eternal telethon" evoke a kind of fever dream, a never-ending parade of well-meaning celebrities and philanthropic lions such as Jerry Lewis endlessly pitching and pitching. John Burtle is aware of the associations. But the 24-year-old L.A. artist also believes that the art world hasn't yet realized the full potential of the much-maligned telethon format. Like, for instance, building a retirement home for artists near the Salton Sea. For 24 hours beginning Saturday at noon, Burtle is cohosting and coordinating the latest installment of a categorically open-ended charity drive called the Eternal Telethon, broadcast over the Internet in a live stream on the project's website, http://www.