Media Watch Column: Jerry Springer, Is he too hot for TV?
By JULIE GOETSCH
It seems that every time we turn on the television today, we are bombarded with trash talk shows. They are hard to avoid, short of not turning on the television.
The worst part is that people willingly go on these shows to expose their private lives for the world to see. It is a wonder that people want to expose their secrets (it does provide their 15 minutes of fame) and that they can pick which show to appear on.
Potential guests can choose from Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones, and Sally Jessy Raphael. The worst is Springer. He makes no attempt to attack real issues. Sorry, but "Your Lover Belongs to Me" or "Sex Secrets Revealed" are not the central issues affecting our society.
The fact that these topics are covered regularly on national television is what concerns me. What direction is our society heading?
Unfortunately, Springer’s popularity continues to grow. His is the first talk show to overtake Oprah in the ratings race. He is everywhere. Videos of his show are for sale, scenes that were "Too Hot for TV." He even has a movie, "Ringmaster," due out Nov. 25.
Audiences cannot get enough of him and the show, the exposed secrets (and bodies), fights, and Springer himself.
People I know who have seen the show in person say it is hilarious and a great experience. Guests appear, usually to reveal a secret, a heated "discussion" develops, and then the fights begin. Chairs are tossed, hair is pulled, punches are thrown. The audience eggs the guests on with chants of "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry."
Anyone invited to be a guest on the show has to know that any news they receive will be bad – such as their lover is gay, a porn star, cheating on them, is not the gender they believed, etc.
And I question how much of the stories is true. Springer’s show did have professional actors playing out a story. I have acquaintances who appeared on a now defunct talk show with a false story. They invented a love triangle story which provided them with an all-expenses paid weekend in New York. They had a wonderful weekend for a few minutes of angry words and tears on TV.
What concerns me about shows like Springer’s is that many youth are becoming mirror images of the guests on the shows – multiple sex partners, foul mouths, and general lack of respect for themselves and others.
I am by no means a right-wing, ultra-conservative, but I do feel talk shows have gone too far. I remember seeing Phil Donahue running through the audience with a microphone in his hand in his pioneering talk show. His show included some sensationalism, but it was not a three-ring circus like Springer’s.
Finding hilarity in others’ misery does not appeal to me.
11/19/98 the Apache