It was the end of an era Sunday night as the first Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon was held without comedy legend Jerry Lewis at the helm. The good news is that this year's show raised almost $61.5 million for the MDA, up about $2.6 million from 2010.

However, the absent Lewis was on the minds of many, and Nigel Lythgoe, who co-hosted this year's telethon with Jann Carl said he was sad that his predecessor didn't participate, but that the MDA needs to move on to ensure the fundraiser continues.

Lythgoe also told the Associated Press that he'd been expecting Lewis to show up, either during the telecast, or to pre-tape his signature song 'You'll Never Walk Alone.'

"I was fully expecting him to turn up at any point and join that six hours -- and I'm sorry he didn't," Lythgoe said. "And hopefully another year he might. I mean, he knows that he is always welcome on the telethon. It's his baby."

In May, Jerry Lewis made waves by announcing that this year's annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon would be his last, but now it seems he won't appear on the show at all.

MDA Chairman of the Board of Directors R. Rodney Howell, M.D., said in a statement Wednesday, "Jerry Lewis is a world-class humanitarian and we're forever grateful to him for his more than half century of generous service to MDA. We will not be replacing him as MDA national chairman, and he will not be appearing on the Telethon."

It truly is the end of an era.

Comedian and overall TV legend Jerry Lewis announced today that he'll retire from hosting his annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, with this Labor Day's event being his last.

"As a labor of love, I've hosted the annual Telethon since 1966, and I'll be making my final appearance on the show this year by performing my signature song, 'You'll Never Walk Alone,'" he said in a statement. "I'll continue to serve MDA as its National Chairman -- as I've done since the early 1950s. I'll never desert MDA and my kids."

When I was a kid, watching The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor Day was a must. It was just fun to have this all day, all night, live event happening every September. One year I even stayed up all night watching it (the next morning I knew it wasn't worth it).

The show isn't looked at as "hip" anymore (if it ever was), but along with the older showbiz vets we always see there are some new acts mixed in too. Are you going to watch it?

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to eat a little crow from one of my previous posts. The Jerry Lewis telethon made a whopping 65 million dollars this year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Obviously, people are still watching.

Apparently, the show also pitched help for any MDA-registered families that are victims of Hurricane Gustav. It's a good idea and a brilliant P.R. move by Lewis and company. It did get me thinking: why should all that money only benefit those with muscular dystrophy? Why can't next year's donations go towards fighting cancer or some other charity?

For the first time ever (as far as I know), Jerry Lewis will devote a portion of his marathon show for the Muscular Dystrophy Association this weekend to also helping another worthy cause. He'll be devoting the first four hours and the last four hours of the telethon to raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims through celebrity appeals.

It's not clear whether there will be two giant signs showing the current level of contributions for both causes or if the Katrina donations will be handled in a different way from the MDA ones. Go Jerry!