9 TO 5's Parton, McEntire, Orlando & More Will Perform During The 2009 Jerry Lewis Telethon 9/6-7

MDA National Chairman and Telethon star Jerry Lewis will host the 2009 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. Lewis will be joined on-stage by cohosts Jann Carl, Nancy O'Dell, Alison Sweeney, Ace Young and Billy Gilman. The network show will air from 9 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 6, to 6:30 p.m. ET Monday, Sept. 7. Broadcast times vary in some areas. Check local listings for start times.

The entertainment line-up at this year's Telethon includes Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Tony Orlando, Charo, Wynonna, Train, Bo Bice, Terry Fator, comedian George Wallace, Lee Greenwood, Joshua Bell accompanied by Frankie Moreno, Three Dog Night and many more.

More than 250,000 volunteers and thousands of business and community leaders nationwide will appear on the Telethon or work behind the scenes of the marathon 21½-hour show.

The 44th annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon will feature live interviews with adults and children with muscular dystrophy and related diseases; medical and scientific research updates; and an ongoing sequence of top entertainers.

The national broadcast originates from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas. Live segments are also broadcast from Chicago and New York. Telethon stations across the country contribute live segments for their local viewers during each hour of the show.

The Telethon reaches 40 million viewers in the United States and Canada via 180 television stations in MDA's "Love Network." The show also is available worldwide on the Internet via RealNetworks at www.mda.org.

Thousands of grass-roots MDA fundraising events will be held at shopping malls, civic centers, recreation facilities and other public gathering sites nationwide in conjunction with the Telethon.

The telethon helps support MDA's lifesaving programs of research, services and education for children and adults with muscular dystrophy and related diseases. In 2008, pledges and donations to the MDA Telethon brought in a record $65 million.

For more information, visit www.mda.org.

Photo Credit: Adam Nemser PHOTOlink