"Fights, Camera, Action": How Jerry Springer exposed the beginning of America's decline [View all]

"Fights, Camera, Action": How Jerry Springer exposed the beginning of America's decline
A new documentary explains how "The Jerry Springer Show" was a herald of the end of American civility

By Melanie McFarland
Senior Critic
Published January 7, 2025 1:30PM (EST)


(Salon) Before the man who transformed “The Jerry Springer Show” into a gladiatorial showcase of the worst common denominator took over as its executive producer, Richard Dominick made his living writing headlines for Weekly World News and the Sun such as “Two-headed Man Sings in Stereo,” "Toaster is Possessed by the Devil" or “My Wild Affair with Bigfoot. ”

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“The Jerry Springer Show” aired nearly 5,000 episodes over 27 seasons before being shoved through a woodchipper in 2018, and to say that nobody missed it by the time it ended is accurate.

When it had run its course, “Springer” was also a liability, linked to a murder case that becomes the narrative focus of the documentary’s second hour) and blamed for another man’s suicide. But its obsolescence is the result of its influence more than its exposure to civil litigation.

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Feder credits, or blames, "Springer" for ushering in our current era "with no guardrails or boundaries," and the documentary illustrates this with clips from “Real Housewives of New Jersey” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” where people are throwing hands. A vintage clip from “The Apprentice” also makes a cameo to exemplify the way "Springer" made saying anything we think of into a virtue.

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This is why, for a time, “The Jerry Springer Show” was beating the intentionally uplifting “Oprah” in the ratings. Oprah Winfrey’s message was one of self-improvement. “Springer” confirmed that no matter how badly your life was going, someone someplace else was worse off – and, as the show portrayed it, their misfortune was the sum of their choices. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/07/fights-camera-action-how-jerry-springer-exposed-the-beginning-of-americas-decline/