TV & VIDEO - Aug. 11, 1988

The wages of shock TV were paid by “The Morton Downey Show” Tuesday night, when CORE National Chairman Roy Innis shoved New York civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton off the stage during the show’s taping. Sharpton--the Brooklyn preacher who is heavily involved in the controversial Tawana Brawley sexual assault case--and Innis, the head of the Congress of Racial Equality, began swapping heated words that escalated to insults and finally climaxed with Innis pushing Sharpton over backward in his chair. Several fights broke out in the audience and taping of the show, scheduled for broadcast Aug. 30, was stopped for 20 minutes while police were called. The denouement? On Wednesday the two men were talking about stepping into the ring and duking it out for charity.