Be good to yourselves. And each other! (Jerry Springer Show, The)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Jerry Springer Show, The
Date:	20/11/08 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compelling

Disadvantages: Ludicrous

Talkshows and chatshows involving the audience and also involving a number of everyday folk who come out on stage and air their dirty laundry to the world at large have been around for a while now. Rikki Lake and Oprah Winfrey have been going a long time as TV agony aunts, offering sound psychological and physical advice, introducing professionals and attempting to resolve conflict, all to rapturous applause from the studio audience.

Here in the UK, we have had a number of them, too, with perhaps Jeremy Kyle the latest and most well known of British shows of this ilk. But none can beat the wild and controversial Jerry Springer Show. The former lawyer and a man with a few skeletons in his own closet used to close each of his shows with the catchphrase: 'Be good to yourselves, and each other!', and I think there is no more apt phrase than this for the show.

The difference between Jerry's show and other talkshows is the controversial side of things. Quite often, you'd see one person brought out on stage, tell everyone how he's been wronged by his estranged wife, who then comes out to boos, before her new lover comes out, who threatens the ex-husband, before the wife finally reveals she used to be a man! Or something like that!

Springer ended up having his show cancelled, with too much controversy surrounding it and it having gotten almost out of control, and indeed unbelievable to the point where a lot of people thought it was all made up. They ended up having two people in wheelchairs playing 'chicken' on the stage, regular fisticuffs (often between women while the men egged them on), and the security guards always had their work cut out from stopping people seriously hurting each other.

The Jerry Springer show was presented by Jerry himself. Nowadays, he has a much less public profile, but no matter what he does he will always be best remembered for this above all else. The show has ended up being released on DVD (featuring the most controversial parts) and also has been made into a stage show! I have seen neither, but every now and then, you get repeats of the Jerry Springer Show being aired on one of the more random Sky channels (Living or Challenge), and I like to sit down to watch an hour or so of the most ridiculous scenarios unfold on a chatshow. It's compelling viewing, but definitely for adults only!

Summary: Addictive viewing about people airing their dirty laundry in public (sometimes literally!!)