Long before Maury Povich became known for shouting “You are the father!” on daytime TV, he and his wife, Connie Chung, found themselves at the center of a very different kind of pop culture punchline — one built around their private struggle to start a family.
Povich, 87, recalled a time Jim Carrey, 64, parodied him on the sketch comedy series In Living Color, according to an article Entertainment Weekly published on Tuesday, July 21.
The show, created by Keenen Ivory Wayans, aired on Fox from 1990 to 1994 and launched the careers of stars including Carrey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lopez and the Wayans family, and became known for its edgy sketches, memorable characters and dance troupe, the Fly Girls.
“I remember In Living Color. It was way back, Connie had to quit her big nighttime show on CBS called Eye to Eye With Connie Chung because we were trying to have a baby. And it kind of went viral that she was going to do this,” Povich said, per the report.
The journalist, 79, made headlines in July 1990 when she stepped away from Eye to Eye to focus on the couple’s efforts to conceive.
“Maury and I have reached an important point in our lives,” she said in a statement shared with The Washington Post at the time. “We want very much to have a child. Unfortunately, time is running out for me when it comes to childbearing.”
She acknowledged it had been “difficult to publicly reveal such an important private moment.”
Late-night comics pounced anyway.
“It became fodder for the late-night TV shows and stuff, about Connie and I trying to have a baby, and what goes into that,” Povich continued, per Entertainment Weekly. “And then In Living Color, Jim Carrey played me jumping on Connie in a bed… It was this big skit at the time, and I’ve got Jim Carrey playing me. It was surreal.”
The sketch, “We Want Maury,” aired in 1992 and starred Carrey as Povich and Steve Park as Chung, complete with a silly seductive scene set to a reworked “Me So Horny,” called “Me Want Maury.”
Povich and Chung adopted son Matthew in 1995. According to the article, Povich called the adoption “the best” decision.
Read More From First For Women
- 15 America's Favorite Sitcom Beauties from the 80's and 90's
- Top 15 Sitcom Stars Who Were Everyone’s '90s Crush
- 14 Celebrities That Embrace the Makeup-Free Look
This story Maury Povich Reflects on His and Wife Connie Chung’s Fertility Journey Being Mocked by Jim Carrey first appeared on First For Women. Add First For Women as a Preferred Source by clicking here.