The Jerry Springer Show
Uploaded by jimicide on Sep 16, 2001
Television has come a long way from the first black and white silent show to its current craze, which happens to be the television talk shows. In the nineteen eighties, the daytime airwaves were monopolised by soap operas and game shows but the trend gradually evolved to talk shows towards the nineties. Being before my time, research appears to imply that the talk show intrusion of our airwaves all seemed to start with the originals such as Geraldo Riveria, Donahue and Sally Jesse Rafael. Surprisingly though, some of the morality and the topics remain somewhat similar throughout the years, such as the improvement of society and the quality of life often show on shows like the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Montel Williams Show.
As we approach the darker realms of talk shows, we come to talk shows such as the Jerry Springer show. At first impression, one may get the inherent idea that the show is basically is exploiting the misery and troubles of real life people who do not live the blessed lives that we imagine up in our ideal minds. There is no doubt to me at all that the main aim of such shows is to exploit the lives of these misfits and the more dirt the producers get, the higher their ratings. But unfortunately, it is ironic that when the decrease in society's morals is highlighted in every episode Springer airs the producers are getting richer. Looking deeper at the show, we can safely say that the show is based mainly on relationships between people. Morality is first put into question when guests start to confess of deeds that have betrayed their partner’s trust, at this point, a fight would normally occur and the audience would cheer on the fight with shouts of “Jerry, Jerry!” Once again, morality questions the reactions of the audience. There is no basis on what is the right kind or ideal life, but it is apparent that when the audience cheers when the guests act up, the audience is reassuring the guests that the lifestyles in which they live, regardless of how the audience truly feels, are satisfactory . Jerry Springer would end every show with his final thought and it is here where he offers advice as to what is the appropriate way to handle one’s personal relationships. Personally I think that this is a bid to enhance his...