The title just about says it all. About 10 years ago I had some friends from DePaul who got on the show. How many of these nutcases do you think are real? Would you “Act” in order to get a free hotel room, and a limo ride?
Some friends of my roomies were on Springer once… they told them that the fights were encouraged because the most outrageous ones that made it on tv got extra cash for the shock value.
Apparently these 3 people went down in the same vehicle and all drove back together and are still friends to this day… but their story was legit even if used for shock value.
I don’t know anyone personally who has been on the show, but I do watch it occasionally, if nothing else is on. Obviously people go on the show and become physical, because with the reputation that show has, fighting is to be expected. Jerry Springer has it easy, he doesn’t even do anything but stand around in the audience piping in every now and then with what he thinks as a “witty” comment. Then at the end of the show he has his “Final Thought”, but what a bunch of hooey that all is. He makes money off of exploiting people’s problems, then pretends to care by giving his “advice” at the end. Yes people go on the show voluntarily, although I agree that in many cases, some stories are fictional, perhaps even paid / bribed to make fools out of themselves. If the price is right, and I mean RIGHT, I would go on the show to “act” too, but everyone has their price I suppose. Oh but it would also depend on the storyline that they wanted me to go with. lol.
I once knew some people who were on Springer, the topic being something like “My girlfriend and I had a threesome, and now she’s in love with the other girl.” They were possibly the trashiest people I’ve ever met, and the story was about half-fake; their threesome was an ongoing situation, but they wanted the free trip. These folks had no standards to begin with, so it wasn’t much of a step down for them.
You know, for some money and a free trip, I’d be completly willing to make a fool/ass out of myself, Hell, I do it for free all the time anyways. I’m sure I could easily get myself and a couple of my friends from the theatre group here to write up an outrageous, yet plausible, scenario and then act it out. Enough of us are also in the improv group that when ever we couldn’t stick to the script, we could easily fake whatever we needed to.
I live in SC, and I can’t get Springer on any station. None! (At least as of a few months ago.) Maybe the programming managers think it won’t sell anymore locally because “Why would people watch our show to see the same thing they see at home?”
Mr. Tucker, you must not live in the upstate (the good part ;))
Nope.
BTW, are you familiar with “Doohickey?”
As another word for “thing-a-ma-bob”? Yes. . . . Is this a trick question?
I do it just for the plane trip and a chance to act like a fool TV 
Naw. Probably before your time. He was a TV-4 (back when it was WFBC) “personality,” sidekick of Monty DuPuy.
I do it just for the plane trip and a chance to act like a fool TV
My cousin & his wife were on the show. They called in with some phony story and were asked to be on the show. The phony story didn’t make it because they were given an even phonier story to act out. They did get an all-expenses paid trip.
I worked with two guys - not actors at all - who made up a story and used it to get on Ricky Lake, just for the free trip to Chicago.
If it were mostly faked, it would restore a small measure of my faith in humanity.
Geez, I also know some theatre students (now all graudated and working plenty), who made up some story about “cheating with the best friend.” They kept their story very, very simple so they wouldn’t screw it up easily. I can’t remember if it was Springer or one of the many similar genre.
Okay, so how many Dopers does that make who’ve had friends/acquaintances to a fake show? Makes you wonder how many other folks can make the same. Maybe more were fake than you’d expect (and I expect a LOT were phony).
Wow, this is is awesome to finally know exactly how they dredge up the guests and the stories for the show! I figured most of that stuff was scripted and/or acted.
I actually seriously love the Jerry Springer Show. It’s really the only show I watch on a regular basis. (My TV only gets one channel, and it happens to come on that particular channel.) Like many of the rest of you, I keep thinking I could get a few of my theater improv-type buddies to help me come up with something really outrageous so we could get ourselves on the air. Heh, it just seems like so darn much fun!! (You wouldn’t believe some of the costumes I’ve got I could wear on that show!)
However, (on second thought) I think I’ll pass; because, like a tattoo, bad videotape of oneself is forever. :eek:
Nah, videotape starts to degrade as soon as ten years after it’s made, and can be completly gone in less than half a century…now, if it’s DVD of oneself, then oneself would be screwed.
Heh. Whew. Maybe I’ll reconsider, then…
I thought the people on the show were campaign workers from his possible senate bid.