Mary Hart Syndrome

In 1991, news sources reported an epilepsy expert noted that it was probably the pitch and quality of the voice as a sound that caused the epileptic episodes. (Science News 140(3) p.45 July 20, 1991).

When the woman stopped watching the show, the seizures stopped. It has long been known that pulses of certain color lights could cause epileptic fits, but this was the first known case to have been caused by the "sound waves" of a television broadcast.

In episode No. 36 "The Good Samaritan" (3/4/92) on the sitcom SEINFELD/NBC/1989-98 hipster Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) experienced seizures triggered by the voice of Mary Hart. As he told his friends "Suddenly I got dizzy and the next thing you know I hit my head on the coffee table."

TRIVIA NOTE: In an October, 1957 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Meyer Naide identifies "television legs," blood clots that result from watching TV too long.

In 1969, some people were concerned that the quick editing style proposed for children's series SESAME STREET on PBS might cause epileptic fits in the child viewers.

In the 1980s, the media reported a disorder called "Carsonogeneous Monocular Nyctalopia" (a.k.a. "Johnny Carson one-eyed night blindness") named for a patient who allegedly viewed THE TONIGHT SHOW with one eye buried in a pillow while watching TV. (People v31 Summer-Special Issue 1989 p.20). See also "Seinfeld Syncope"