 The final edition aired on ABC on August 31, 2014, again as a two-hour special, beginning at 9PM ET/PT.It was announced on May 1, 2015 that the MDA would be discontinuing the annual event for good.Jerry Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America (MDAA) in 1952 after a plea from a staff member who worked with Lewis and Dean Martin on "The Colgate Comedy Hour".