"The Jerry Springer Show" and its host left a lasting impression on
American culture. But there's more to Springer's story than televised smut
run amok. So buckle up. You're in for a wild ride.
If Jerry Springer's show was a person, it would be legally old enough to binge drink. There are
full-grown adults who can't remember a time when Springer wasn't the Oprah of fistfights
and nudity because they hadn't been born yet. But his career started way before that. Some might
know he was the mayor of Cincinnati, but most probably know little else about his political
career. For example, did you know Springer sat on the city council in the early 1970s?
"This American Life" producer Alex Blumberg lived in Cincinnati during
Springer's political ascension and opened up about him on an episode of the podcast.
"Nobody had ever heard of him. But he was against the war in Vietnam, and he supported civil rights.
And here's the thing you might not guess: he was fantastic."
Another Ohioan compared Springer to Robert
Kennedy. A third admired his "guts" and cross-party appeal.
As WCPO Cincinnati recalled, Springer hit a home run on his first political at-bat in 1971,
getting elected to the city council. He then got re-elected in '73. Springer was
a man with both bell bottoms and moxie, enough moxie to steal a bus
to make a point. He spent weekends chatting with average Cincinnatians,
a weekday working with garbage men, and a night in jail commiserating with inmates.
Jerry Springer's political career was not free of scandal. As WCPO Cincinnati detailed,
back in December 1973 and January 1974,
then-Councilman Springer went to a Kentucky health club to pay for sex. On both occasions,
he paid by check, which made him pretty easy to nail when cops finally dropped the hammer.
It may have been the '70s, but even in the age of free love and affection, paying a sex
worker still earned negative attention. The city council unceremoniously ousted Springer.
"But I believe it in the best interests of this community
that I resign until such time that the air has been cleared."
True to his word and his name, Springer sprang back the next year,
once more getting elected to city council and later becoming mayor.
But when he unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1982, opponents dredged up and distorted
his past. Springer classily responded in an ad which spoke about facing the truth:
"I'm not afraid, even of the truth, even if it hurts."
Unfortunately, the truth probably hurt his chances.
Despite falling from grace, Jerry Springer refused to remain crestfallen. Even when he fell short of
becoming governor, he didn't just retreat from the limelight. Instead, Springer became a newscaster.
As Springer told the Columbia Journalism Review, he never chased his chance to work in news.
Rather, NBC pegged him as someone Cincinnatians would trust and basically handed him his first
job in TV journalism. Ever the professional, Springer refused to let his liberal leanings
slant how he reported the news, even when discussing politicians he disagreed with.
Viewers took to the segments, which took Springer to the top of the ratings ladder.
During his 10 years as a broadcaster, he won a dominant 10 Emmys. Then a new opportunity
landed in his lap: the chance to host a talk show. Ironically, Springer's on-air
wholesomeness led to him becoming the poster child for tawdry entertainment.
"The Jerry Springer Show" first aired in 1991, and it was a slow-motion rollercoaster of meh.
As The Independent described, the first episode featured under-the-top guests like Oliver North
and Jesse Jackson. It contained as much adrenaline as a sleeping pill,
and the ratings reflected that. That's why, according to The Washington Post, producer Richard
Dominick tried to put some pep in the show's step by focusing more on unorthodox lifestyles.
In the early going, Dominick often got shock-blocked by higher-ups. But when
Universal Television took over in 1994, the gloves finally came off. After getting
greenlit to do the show he wanted, Dominick required Springer and company to focus on
increasingly crazy stories. Springer gladly obliged but also admitted his
show's bellicose antics and brazen braless-ness don't really appeal to him. He bluntly told CNN:
"I think [the show is] silly,
crazy and has no redeeming social value other than an hour of escapism."
Jerry Springer's show found a curiously high number of
humanoid cartoon characters who like vaunting their oddness.
"I did this for you. I feel really stupid."
"And I still love that you do that for me."
"I'm an alligator."
Sure, everyone knows somebody weird. But are there really enough men who've proudly
married horses to fill up a quarter-century of shows? How many people actually swing
their fists the second they get upset? Obviously, the guests are acting, right?
Well, yes and no. Springer addressed the issue in 1998 amid accusations of wholesale fakery. He told
the Associated Press that the show doesn't permit made-up stories, but he also admitted that it was
possible that a producer had pushed a little too far to get the guests animated. He said:
"Understand, we have no obligation to make the show truthful,
because it's entertainment, not news."
On the topic of punching, he explained that fights are discouraged but that the
guests are certainly encouraged to get in each others' faces.
Yes, Jerry Springer made a country album. For that, you can blame his daughter.
Springer explained the inspiration for his 1995 album, "Dr. Talk," during a
1996 interview with The Chicago Tribune. According to the singer,
he got the idea while taking his daughter to a country show in Nashville. He said:
"As I was listening to the music, it dawned on me that the subject matter
of country music is the same subject matter as talk shows."
Per Entertainment Weekly, he came up with the CD's title track, which sang the praises
of talk shows, while sitting on an airplane. His singing career, however, never took off.
In 2009, Springer dusted off his vocal cords in hopes of striking
the right chord with Broadway. He agreed to play morally mixed lawyer Billy Flynn
in the musical "Chicago." The New York Times noted the role's biographical significance,
as Springer worked as an attorney before turning to politics. Springer portrayed
the part as a fitting representation of the various hats he's worn in life. As he put it:
"A little fact and a little fiction, that's every job I've ever had, to tell you the truth."
"The Jerry Springer Show" was basically a salacious soap opera without the soap.
It was dramatically dirty in captivating ways and way too theatrical not to imitate onstage.
"You would mess around with your own daughter's boyfriend?"
"Mm-hm."
And since a soap-free soap opera is really just an opera,
it's only logical to add music, singing, and stylized haranguing to "Jerry Springer."
"Jerry Springer: The Opera" debuted at London's National Theater in 2003,
per The New York Times, and earned Britain's Olivier Award for Best
New Musical. The Guardian provided a scintillating glimpse, writing:
"The show contained more than 200 swear words and depicted God, Jesus Christ, Mary, Adam and Eve,
and Satan as warring guests on a special edition of the Jerry Springer show set in hell."
Critics adored it. Christians, by contrast, abhorred it.
In 2005, a Christian group unsuccessfully sued BBC head Mark Thompson for blasphemy after he
allowed the show to air on television. Various American Christians also got cross. According
to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, organizations like the Catholic League condemned the show.
The uproar upended plans for a Broadway run, which was delayed for a decade.
Jerry Springer had a more mixed reaction,
telling The AV Club that the musical was well done but uncomfortable to sit through.
"You can't be going to a Jerry Springer opera and think, you know,
that you're not gonna get a little bit edgy."
It wasn't the irreligious snark or tap-dancing Klansmen that bothered
him. Rather, it was seeing himself portrayed onstage while others watched.
"And then at the end of the first act I get murdered. I was against that."
It's no secret that Jerry Springer didn't watch his own show. In a way,
that made him the perfect person to host it. He acted as the grounded foil to a
parade of preposterous people, dispensing sober moments of truth while TV audiences
drank up the insanity. But he was not merely the winking straight man in an
absurdist comedy act. Per The Daily Beast, the real Springer wore his blandness on his sleeve.
Springer led a "very normal" existence and preferred to keep his private life just that,
private. Of course, normal people sometimes do outrageous things with their privates,
hence their desire for privacy. That certainly seemed true of Springer back in 1998. As The New
York Daily News elaborated, a British tabloid reported that he had relations with adult film
star Kendra Jade and her stepmother in front of a camera. He threatened to sue the paper.
When asked by The Daily Beast whether a tape of his tryst exists,
Springer gave a non-denial denial, saying:
"I would hope not. I would never want to be in that kind of movie."
After the end of "The Jerry Springer Show," it wasn't the end of Jerry Springer's place
on television screens across the nation. "Judge Jerry" ran for three seasons,
and it wasn't just a gimmick: Originally having a background in law, he went and got certified
as a judge in what he described as "the first grownup job I've had in 30 years."
"So I find for the plaintiff in the sum of $1,000."
In spite of the fact that reviews for the show weren't great, Springer said that it was a ton of
legitimate work put forth on legitimate cases. He explained to the Post that the people who appeared
on the show had filed real grievances, and he did very real prep: One week would be spent
hearing — and filming — as many as 35 cases, and the next week would be spent reviewing not only
the next batch of cases but the state laws that applied in each. And once they started filming,
there were no wild audiences, cheers, and jeers — he made sure of it. He went on to explain:
"These are real cases, and whatever I decide, that's it. Therefore, I'm real
conscious of treating these people with respect because these issues are important to them."
"The Jerry Springer Show" has long been America's punchline. With a shocking 4,969 episodes filled
with some of the most outlandish, unbelievable stories audiences could imagine, Jerry Springer
has been surprisingly candid about the complicated legacy it's left behind. When he appeared on The
Dean Obeidallah Show in 2022, he was asked whether or not he thought the years of his television show
had contributed to America's normalization of the extreme, and ultimately, rise of Donald Trump.
In short? Yes. Although Springer pointed the finger at social media as well,
he agreed with the comparison.
"The reason there's more respect given to the people who were on my show is
they have enough sense not to run for president."
Springer acknowledged the fact that his show was a ridiculous outburst
of anger and over-the-top emotion, and continued:
"What made Trump unique, the only thing that separates him from the guests on my show,
is the fact that he had this delusion of he knew how to run the world."
It was far from the first time Springer denounced not only Trump but the media
circus that surrounded him. In 2020, he went on the "That's So Cincinnati"
podcast to condemn journalists for letting Trump run press conferences.
On April 27th, 2023, news broke that Jerry Springer had passed away. The cause of his
death wasn't immediately released, but People later confirmed that he had been
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer not long before his death. In spite of the fact that
he will undoubtedly be most well-known for hosting his long-running show, he was almost
universally lauded for his kindness, generosity, and his ability to connect with anyone he met.
Perhaps the most touching tribute came from his rabbi, Sandford Kopnick. Kopnick said
that he was always the first in line to lend a helping hand for the congregation, adding,
"He was a remarkable family man, and he was somebody who understood what it
means to pay it forward. He always knew his good fortune. He never took it for granted."