# So Apparently There's This Show Called "Jerry Springer" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825 "2003-12-24T12:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/1 "2003-12-24T12:01:52Z")
Although I knew who Jerry Springer was, from having lived in Cincinnati where he was a respected news anchor & disgraced former mayor, I’d honestly never seen his program until yesterday. Well. What on earth is going on here? People taking their clothes off and running around naked? Screaming invective at former and current lovers? “Resolving” family disputes through public confrontation and chair tossing? And the audience members (some of whom appear to be literate) engage in ritual chanting and egging-on of the participants. One of them flashed her chest for the camera, at the urging of her fellow observers. These aren’t really people, are they? Is it all a trick done with computers and really sophisticated imaging? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/2 "2003-12-24T12:17:52Z")
The proof that Jerry has taken over the world was delivered in Australia a couple of years ago. At a major sporting event a fight broke out between two guys in the grandstand and the other patrons chanted “Jerry,Jerry” until they stopped. I caught an episode recently (having not seen it for years). I was home sick, laying in front of the TV and it came on. I didn’t have the remote and couldn’t be bothered getting up to get it. The show was hysterical. I liked the way the whole audience instantly knew the chants “Cup cake whore, cup cake whore”, “Barbie looking whore, barbie looking whore” Smelled a bit of some help. Maybe it is all CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/3 "2003-12-24T12:29:26Z")
The saddest thing about the show that it is the only programme in English (well, American) on French TV. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/4 "2003-12-24T13:16:03Z")
Sheesh. That crap is still on? ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/5 "2003-12-24T13:22:05Z")
[Springer opera wins theatre prize](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3233252.stm) ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/6 "2003-12-24T18:28:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fessie \* > \*\* > Well. > > What on earth is going on here? > \*\* Wow–I involuntarily looked around for my mother when I read that. It was her stock phrase which actually meant, “You are in really deep shit now!” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/7 "2003-12-24T19:19:25Z")
The one that really squicked me out was where a woman and her adopted daughter were lovers. Eeeewww!!! I know they’re not blood-relatives, but c’mon, that’s just…ick. You’re still a parent to this girl! ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/8 "2003-12-24T20:14:31Z")
Seriously, where DO they get these people? Is there really someone on earth, much less in amerika, who hasn’t heard about this show, and thinks that something good will come of their appearance? And why do they ALL take off their clothes? “Today on springer: midget wrestlers and the goats they love!” And the freakin’ GOAT will shear itself before the hour is up! Ok, sure, in the first year or so the show was produced, I can see people agreeing to appear. In the years after that, I can see people wanting to appear just for the fun of getting on such a famous show. But today? Someone walking out from backstage to meet their ‘significant other’ and NOT knowing that something terrible is about to happen? Where are these people coming from? How can they find that many people with so little idea of what is actually happening in this world? Oh, right… registered voters. q;} ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/9 "2003-12-24T20:28:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fessie \* > \*\*One of them flashed her chest for the camera, at the urging of her fellow observers. \*\* :eek: If you and I are thinking of the same episode, that was one of my co-workers! [sub]P.S. How often do audience members flash the camera? I don’t watch the show and I don’t know if it’s a regular occurence. All I know is that one of my co-workers flashed the camera in order to get some beads or something. It pleases me to know that her message is heard across the country…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/10 "2003-12-24T20:31:53Z")
It’s a freak show. And JS is a carny. Nowadays we don’t show physically deformed people, only those mentally deformed (or those acting that way). ---
**Author:** ![HeatMiser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecd19e/32.png) [@HeatMiser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeatMiser)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/11 "2003-12-24T20:57:12Z")
There was an interesting article in _The Stranger_ (a local Seattle-area independent/alternative newpaper) a few years back about a fellow who conspired with a female friend to concoct some type of sordid story in order to appear on the show, and recorded his experiences in some detail. For yucks I typed [www.thestranger.com](http://www.thestranger.com) in my browser and lo and behold, there’s a web site with an apparently complete set of archives. [http://www.thestranger.com/1999-05-20/feature.html](http://www.thestranger.com/1999-05-20/feature.html) Definitely worth reading for some insight into the workings of the show. Of course the author _did_ tell any number of outrageous lies to get on the show, and I suppose that doesn’t make him the most reliable source - but his description rings true to me, and it’s an entertaining read either way. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/12 "2003-12-31T19:57:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragon Phoenix \* > \*\*The saddest thing about the show that it is the only programme in English (well, American) on French TV. \*\* If this is true, it explains everything about recent French attitudes towards America. ---
**Author:** ![raizok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@raizok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raizok)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/13 "2003-12-31T22:12:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AwSnappity \* > \*\*:eek: If you and I are thinking of the same episode, that was one of my co-workers! > [sub]P.S. How often do audience members flash the camera? I don’t watch the show and I don’t know if it’s a regular occurence. All I know is that one of my co-workers flashed the camera in order to get some beads or something. It pleases me to know that her message is heard across the country…[/sub] \*\* Heh actually I used to watch the show fairly regularly (yes yes I know, its called unemployment) and audience members often flash the camera for beads. They have a Mardi Gras thing happening there, I can’t wait till I get into the audience someday 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/14 "2003-12-31T22:28:34Z")
[Take heart.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=191208) I physically can’t watch that show. But I had to get my oil changed last week and it was on the TV in the waiting room. There was noplace else to wait, and I was literally stuck in the room, forcibly exposed to Jerry Springer. Eventually I had to go stand in the garage area, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. So whenever I accidentally see some Jerry Springer I think back to that thread and repeat to myself “It’s all probably fake… It’s all probably fake…” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/15 "2004-01-01T00:18:39Z")
Jerry Springer is semi-fake. Not as fake as wrestling, but more fake than other talk shows. They don’t recruit actors to play the parts of the guests, but they don’t check the stories of the people who volunteer to be guests, and they definately coach them to act up and be outrageous and get physical and act sleazy. The producers know the game, and the guests know the game. The producers want a good show from the guests, and the guests know that if they provide a good show they’ll get a free vacation: airfare, a hotelroom, some room service, and a chance to be on teevee. And the audience knows that they will get a freak show. Everybody wins. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/16 "2004-01-01T00:38:32Z")
Seems to me that the show has got a LOT worse in the last five years. They never used to have nearly as much flashing and the beads are certainly newer. I’m not saying that they ever were anything intellectual but I didn’t used to feel quite so ashamed to watch as I do now. Anyone else ever been to the studio for a taping? I think I went to the dullest possible JS: Same sex marriages. And it wasn’t a debate/fight, they had a minister and wedding decor and the guests were in formal wear and they performed a non-binding ‘committment’ ceremony or something. Not a single word said in anger. That was about 8 years ago; now that wouldn’t even come close to a Jerry topic. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/17 "2004-01-01T01:21:55Z")
Heck, women in the studio audience for _The Man Show_ have been known to flash their boobies from time to time, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/18 "2004-01-01T02:05:34Z")
I’ve been unemployed for a couple months (started a new job today, woo!) and have occasionally watched Springer during this period. I find it absolutely hysterical. And baffling. The thing that gets me is when two women fight - physically fight - over the biggest loser on god’s green earth. You’re fighting over _that guy?_ He’s a crackhead 30-year-old pizza guy! (I’m not making this up, that’s an actual example from a show I saw.) Since I live in Chicago, where Springer is filmed, I am verrrry tempted to try to get tickets. We’ll see. Springer is infinitely more entertaining that other talk shows on at the same time, like Maury Povitch And His Amazing Polygraph Machine. ---
**Author:** ![the\_O-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@the\_O-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O-man)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-this-show-called-jerry-springer/220825/19 "2004-01-01T15:06:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gorgon Heap \* > \*\*Sheesh. That crap is still on? \*\* Not in my area. Noticed the other day that I have not accidentally run across it flipping channels lately, and I just did a program search confirming that it has been removed from my local viewing area. Maybe the public is finally getting sick of it.