In its early years, Montel was similar to most tabloid talk shows especially The Jerry Springer Show. As time went on, however, the genre became less popular, and so toward the end of the show's run, Montel usually focused on inspirational stories and less controversial subjects. Common themes seen on Montel include finding lost loves, reuniting mothers who gave their children up for adoption, or stories of strong women who faced certain danger and fought their way out. Multiple sclerosis was also a frequent topic, as Williams suffers from the disease. Most Wednesdays, self-proclaimed psychicSylvia Browne was Montel's guest, and performed psychic readings of guests as well as discussing her ideas about spirituality and the afterlife. Her predictions have been the target for much criticism, and her psychic abilities explained as cold reading by critics such as Robert S. Lancaster. She refused to partake in the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge from James Randi, a prominent skeptic. In August 2007, this American talk show was awarded The Truly Terrible Television Award for peddling pseudoscience and superstition to its audience for every episode that has showcased Sylvia Browne. Other winners have been Psychic Detectives, A&E's Paranormal State and SciFi's Ghost Hunters. During its final week on the air, Montel's television talk show aired a series of clip shows known as "Finale Week" looking back on its past 17 seasons, including past guests and Sylvia Browne's past appearances on the show.
Production and distribution
The series was produced by Mountain Movers for its entire run, with Out of My Way Productions co-producing on its first four seasons and then Letnom Productions for the following two seasons. The first three seasons were distributed by Viacom Enterprises. After Viacom's purchase of Paramount Pictures in March 1994, Viacom Enterprises was merged into Paramount Television's distribution arm, Paramount Domestic Television. PDT began distributing the show in fall 1994, and became CBS Paramount Domestic Television after the Viacom/CBS Corporation split in 2006. Its distributor changed names once again in 2007, as CPDT was merged with King World Productions to form the current distributor, CBS Television Distribution. It was taped at the AMV Unitel 53rd Street, 433 West 53rd Street Studio in New York City for most of its entire run. The first season, however, was produced and recorded at CBS Television City in Hollywood.
Cancellation and further developments
It was reported in Variety that CBS TV Distribution terminated the show when key Fox-owned stations chose not to renew it for the 2008–2009 season. The final episode aired in most markets on May 16, 2008, with some markets airing it at a later date. In June 2008, Ofcom of the UK ruled that ITV2 "breached standards with a repeat of the Montel Williams Show in which a 'desperate' couple were told by self-professed psychic Sylvia Browne that their missing son, Shawn Hornbeck was dead - even though he turned up alive the previous year." The ruling concerned "breaching rule 2.1 of the Broadcasting Code, which relates to protecting viewers against offensive material."
