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  2. Star Hustler → Star Gazer

Star Hustler → Star Gazer

By razib on December 11, 2008.

I used to watch Jack Horkheimer's show when I was a kid back in the '80s. In fact, sometimes I would stay up late just to catch it. Today I found this out on Wikipedia:

Question: Why did you change the name of the show from 'JACK HORKHEIMER : STAR HUSTLER' TO 'JACK HORKHEIMER : STAR GAZER' ?

Answer: The name was changed due to our presence on the internet. When people, especially children, were accessing our Star Hustler site by using a search engine, STAR HUSTLER was not the HUSTLER they got to link to...so, after some upset folks wrote to us calling attention to the situation we realized that like it or not, the word Hustler didn't have the same connotation as it did when the show began over two decades ago.

The changed occurred in 1997. Back then, before Google, these were major issues...I remember when Excite brought back a bunch of porn stars when I typed Shelby Steele into the search engine....

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I always wanted PBS to do a show where Jack Horkheimer, LeVar Burton, and Bob Ross teamed up to fight crime.

By chancelikely (not verified) on 12 Dec 2008 #permalink

You seem to have followed the same "nerd trajectory" that I and everyone else who grew up in the 80's followed - I'd wager $100 that you probably were a fan of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series also! Count me as one, I own the DVD collection and watch it every year, during the cabin fever days of winter.

Funny, my wife actually asked me about Horkheimer the other day, "Whatever happened to the Star Hustler?" He did have a certain creepiness to him with his nom de plume and the Member's Only jacket!

I always loved the whistled version of Debussy's "Arabesque #1", which was used as the musical theme.

The word hustler has always had the same connotation, and especially two decades ago. Horkheimer was creepy, let's face it.