Editing Morton Downey Jr. (section)

===Celebrity, cancellation, and bankruptcy===
The success of the show made Downey a pop culture celebrity, leading to appearances on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in 1988,<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanders|first=Clinton|date=1990 |title=Marginal Conventions: Popular Culture, Mass Media, and Social Deviance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qrkb55RlUAC&q=morton+downey+jr+appearance+saturday+night+live&pg=PA173|publisher=Popular Press |page=173 |isbn=9780879724900 |access-date=August 17, 2014 }}</ref> [[WrestleMania V]] in 1989 in which he traded insults with [[Roddy Piper]] and [[Bruce Prichard|Brother Love]] on ''[[Piper's Pit]]'', and later roles in movies such as ''[[Predator 2]]'' and ''[[Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation]]''.<ref name="CNNObit"/> He was also cast in several television roles, often playing tabloid TV hosts or other obnoxious media types.<ref name="CNNObit"/> Downey notably starred in the ''[[Tales from the Crypt (TV series)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' episode "[[Television Terror]]" which utilized several scenes shot by characters within the story, a format which became popular in horror films a decade later with the [[Found footage (pseudo-documentary)|found footage]] genre.

In 1989, Downey released an album of songs based on his show entitled ''[[Morton Downey Jr. Sings]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-04-ca-1068-story.html|title=Morton Downey Jr.--The Mouth Goes on the Record|first=Robert|last=Hilburn|date=4 April 1989|access-date=28 February 2019|via=LA Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Morton Downey Jr. Sings|url=https://www.amazon.com/Morton-Downey-Jr-Sings/dp/B0007Z2SKS|work=Amazon.com Music Listings|access-date=23 August 2011}}</ref> The album's single, "Zip It!" (a catch-phrase from the TV show, used to quiet an irate guest), became a surprise hit on some college radio stations. However, over the course of the 1988–89 television season, his TV show suffered a decline in viewership, resulting in many markets downgrading its time slot; even flagship station WWOR moved Downey's program from its original 9:00 PM slot to 11:30 PM in the fall of 1988. Beginning in January 1989, the time slot immediately following Downey's program was given to the then-new ''[[Arsenio Hall Show]]''. Following Hall's strong early ratings, however, the two series swapped time slots several weeks later, thus relegating Downey to 12:30 AM in the number-one [[television market]]. {{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}

In late April 1989, Downey was involved in an incident in a [[San Francisco International Airport]] restroom in which he claimed to have been attacked by [[neo-Nazi]]s who painted a [[swastika]] on his face and attempted to shave his head.<ref>{{cite news|title=TV Host Takes a Beating|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/43987/TV-HOST-TAKES-A-BEATING.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024021914/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/43987/TV-HOST-TAKES-A-BEATING.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2012|access-date=23 August 2011|newspaper=Deseret News|date=26 April 1989}}</ref> Some inconsistencies in Downey's account (e.g., the swastika was painted in reverse, suggesting that Downey had drawn it himself in a [[mirror]]), and the failure of the [[police]] to find supportive evidence,<ref>{{cite news|title=Attacked or Not?|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/45045/ATTACKED-OR-NOT.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024021925/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/45045/ATTACKED-OR-NOT.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2012|access-date=August 23, 2011|newspaper=Deseret news|date=May 3, 1989}}</ref> led many to suspect the incident was a [[hoax]] and a ploy for attention.<ref name="washpost">{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-412459.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026094823/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-412459.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 26, 2012|title='Mort the Mouth' Downey Jr. Dies; 'Trash TV' Talk-Show Host's Draw Was Shocking, Mocking|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 14, 2001|access-date=2009-08-07}}</ref><ref name="CBSDeath"/> In July 1989, his show was canceled, with the owners of the show announcing that the last episode had been taped on June 30, and that no new shows would air after September 15, 1989.<ref>{{cite web|title=Morton Downey Jr. Show is History|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/56373/MORTON-DOWNEY-JR-SHOW-IS-HISTORY.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426194257/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/56373/MORTON-DOWNEY-JR-SHOW-IS-HISTORY.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 26, 2012|work=Deseretnews.com|access-date=August 23, 2011|date=July 23, 1989}}</ref>

At the time of its cancellation, the show was airing on a total of 70 stations across the country, and its advertisers had been reduced primarily to "direct-response" ads (such as 900 chat line and [[phone sex]] numbers).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/20/arts/downey-show-canceled.html|work=The New York Times|first=Jeremy|last=Gerard|title=Downey Show Canceled|date=July 20, 1989}}</ref> In February 1990, Downey filed for [[bankruptcy]] in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news|title=Downey Wants Protection from Creditors|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/88157/DOWNEY-WANTS-PROTECTION-FROM-CREDITORS.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024022006/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/88157/DOWNEY-WANTS-PROTECTION-FROM-CREDITORS.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2012|access-date=August 23, 2011|newspaper=Deseret News|date=February 22, 1989}}</ref>