The Phil Donahue Show: Jerry Rubin

The Phil Donahue Show: Jerry Rubin
Syndicated
April 1970 (see below)
Talk Show
VHS
C+

As Phil himself says in the end, this is disappointing and could've been an interesting discussion.  This re-aired in 1988 as part of a "Golden Oldies" week, but, except for a brief introduction, the episode is basically intact from eighteen years earlier.  Rubin, a few years before he would indeed take the advice to cut his hair and put on a suit (he eventually became a multimillionaire and a Republican), spends most of his time ranting and not listening to other people.  It's clear this is a performance piece, and Phil, a relative newcomer, doesn't know how to balance the guest, the studio audience, and the callers.  The irony that Rubin sees Donahue as "plastic" is rich in retrospect of course, and certainly Phil by '88 had more left-of-center cred than Jerry did.