Donahue, who died Aug. 18 at the age of 88, invented the genre by inviting audiences to question the guests - a format that's become standard.
He got his start on a local station in Dayton in 1967, then took the show national in 1974.
Donahue was a smash, seen in more than 200 markets and winning nine Emmys. But by the mid-1990s, the ratings had dropped dramatically as audiences turned the channel to watch the tawdry confessions, screaming matches and free-for-all mêlées on his rivals' shows.
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