Here’s one which escapes me. Why do the guests on Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake and the rest agree to go on these shows? What’s in it for them? Are they paid, or do they enjoy finding out that their husband/wife has been screwing their sister/brother on (inter)national TV? Are they all just actors? Do all Americans enjoy humiliation?
Have any of the dopers been on or known someone whose gone on one of these shows? How did they come to be on the show? You’ll have to excuse my morbid curiosity on this one…
Channel surfing last night and stopped on Jerry (can only stand about 2 minutes at a time anymore) and the guest was a woman whose boyfriend had a secret to tell her (side note: If you EVER get a call from one of these circuses and the title of the show is “I’ve got a secret”, RUN LIKE A SONUFAVABITCH as far away as you can!!!). The secret? He was leaving her for a pre-op trans-sexual!! A real bruiser, too.
This topic somehow got opened twice, so I’ll close the shorter copy (this one). Please refer to the other thread, located [I’ll edit it in later].
I recall reading a story where two unemployed actors were busted when they appeared on two different talk-shows in the same week, claiming entirely different “problems” on each one.
After they were caught, they appeared on Sally Jessy Rafael’s show to discuss the incident. That’s just sad.
Here’s another incident, courtesy of Chuck Shepherd at http://www.newsoftheweird.com:
1996 – According to a March Associated Press story, Multimedia Entertainment Inc., producer of the “Jerry Springer” show, recently filed a lawsuit against four Toronto, Ontario, comedians who had fooled the show’s staff and posed as a couple and their baby sitter (and her boyfriend) on a show themed around men who sleep with their children’s baby sitter. Multimedia says such hoaxes threaten the integrity of daytime talk shows like Springer’s.