“Where else can you see three White women fight over a nigga with one tooth?”- Paul Mooney
Back in ’97 after I graduated high school, there were few things I enjoyed more while wasting my afternoons than watchin’ The Jerry Springer Show. Back when pop culture as a whole was reveling in crude humor, sex, and violence more than ever, Jerry and his crazy-ass guests brought it every afternoon at 3 p.m. If you wanted to watch two lesbians tongue each other down while their boyfriends slugged it out, this was the show to watch.
It was also some crazy shit to see, because I remember when Jerry Springer was a normal talk show. I used to stay up late at night writing, with the TV as background noise, back when Jerry was coming on at 2 a.m. He was just a former politician who’d have shows about shit like disgruntled postal workers and KKK members. Sometimes, he’d even have those “deep” episodes when he’d interview homeless teens or broken families. This was way back in ’92-’93, and I wasn’t watchin’ it faithfully, but I knew of its existence.
So seein’ this show a few years later was off the wall. It wasn’t like there were no shows like it before, but this shit was crazy on a daily basis. Even if it was predictable as hell, and you knew they weren’t gonna let ‘em go at it too long, it was still entertaining to see people gettin’ plucked and dragged across the stage every afternoon. The way Springer blew up that year was proof that no matter how much people complained about sex and violence on TV, it was goin’ nowhere, because people love that shit. By early-’98, Springer was the #1 talk show in the country, with even more viewers than Oprah.
But then, you know somebody had to get all ass-hurt over it and shut shit down. Around summer ’98, Springer was almost the most popular show on TV period. It was also the most controversial, because of all the violence and sexual content. People complained and censorship groups started applying pressure, so it was announced that the fights and blurred nudity were gonna be edited completely. As much as people liked the show, everybody knew it was gonna be ass without the main two things we were watchin’ it for.
When the censorship went into effect, I almost immediately forgot about the damn show. It was Trash TV to begin with (and mostly staged), and I knew that, but I wasn’t tryin’ to watch it without the main trash. I was tuning in to see the fights, not the audience’s facial reactions to the fights. The censors and advertisers got their way, and by the time the violence ban was lifted, a good deal of Jerry’s viewership (including myself) had stopped watching.
It still comes on today, but I’m too old to be interested in that dumb shit now (even though I do still fukk with Maury and his paternity tests). For that little brief time in the late-’90s though, it was the right kinda show during the right era. Much like how that show changed, so did the amount of over-the-top shit in movies and music, with the limits being pushed a little bit more each time. Even the President of the U.S. was involved in his own share of fuckery by ’98. It was the perfect time to be as inappropriate as possible, and when it came to TV programs, Jerry Springer did the most.
‘Til next time- take care of yourself… and each other.
-D!
Yo…this fly ass hoodrat, Angelina, that I was in lust with took our boss on Springer. He was a married jackass who fancied himself a player, and actually got outed to his wife via Angelina’s confession that she was his other woman, on the show. Apparently, she didn’t like that she wasn’t the only “other woman” that he was effing. She and his wife cussed each other out, and then attacked him together. And they were both back at work the week following the taping of the show. Funniest shit ever.
Wow!!! LMAO!!! That’s some major bullshit right there. And nobody got fired for that shit? That’s amazing.
HAHAHAHAHA! So was everything cool after that, or just wild awkward?
-D!
Wow!! Im so used to just typing my comment that I didnt even realized that I needed to type in my infomation again. I became anonymous on Mark Dub comment. LOL
I remember Jerry Springer being the great late night show that it was. I was pregnant with my daughter and was always up in the middle of the night and Jerry Springer was actually one of my favorite shows to watch. It had substance and was kinda educational and informational. I dont know when the show made it’s change with all the fuckery, but I wasnt hooked on it until 2001 when I was working at a nursing home and the residents used to watch it and had me watching it with them on the clock. LMAO!!! Oh the fuckery on that show. I dont even remember Richard Bey like that, but I know it could never compare to the fuckery that was Jerry.
Oprah put an end to that shit. She wasnt having it. She didnt like that he was on before her. She didnt like that he was getting all the attention and the money. She made them move Jerry eventually and if you ask me that is how he got stuck on Fox.
I tried watching again, but I couldnt stomach it anymore. Just to stupid and retarded for my liking. But Jerry had a good run and I just saw that Jerry is making a come back as a game show host. LMAO!!! JERRY!!! JERRY!!! JERRY!!!!
Yep, you read that right… I’m sure Oprah put pressure on them to go hard on Jerry. She was prob’ly like “I worked too hard to have this muthafucka take my spot with this bullshit”, lol. If the advertisers, church groups, etc. weren’t enough, that was the kicker
-D!
I use to tune in to Jerry to get my daily fix of mindless debauchery. Gangster dikes, midgets and backstabbing sex triangles were in abundance. Shit was microwaving my mind into cheese. People had enough with all the licentious topics,crude language and nudity that it wasn’t a big surprise they censored the show of what made it so popular. Sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll be channel surfing and hope by some miracle I stumble across one of his lewd desanitized shows. Great post D!
Yo… I’ll never forget that one time this big-ass nigga who liked to be treated like a baby… the nigga rollin’ around on the stage, talkin’ baby talk and shit, rockin’ a diaper and suckin’ a pacifier. Unbelievable. Only Jerry would have people wild enough to do some shit like that on his show.
-D!
jerry springer=epitome of fuckery
we used to try and stay up and watch this in the middle of the night. Trannys, kiddy pools, wedding cake, just too damn much. We have become so desensitized to shit as a society, i dont know if thats a good or bad thing…
Yeah, you’re right- especially with it being like every day… it’s funny to see some of the stuff they used to think was so bad and controversial on TV, and then see all the stuff they eventually let fly. I think TV has gotten a lil’ more PC in the last few years, cause they don’t wanna ‘offend’ people. But at one point? Sheeeeit, they were lettin’ all kinda shit fly. I remember when ‘Married With Children’ was controversial… lol- now you can damn near make dick jokes for a whole half-hour and nobody bats an eye to it.
-D!
Mad niggas, including me, use to eat that show up. I remember in college, me and my peoples use to skip class and watch the show at this chick’s dorm. Remember when the uncensored VHS tapes (2 Hot For TV) came out? Those shits were circulating like mixtapes in the hood lol
‘got that Jerry Springer’ LOL… yeah, I remember when they were the new hot shit for a minute. People everywhere were watchin’ that shit- I remember goin’ to laundromat and people were in there watchin’ it… like literally doin’ laundry and payin’ close attention to what was happenin’ on Springer. He had it in a smash in ’97-’98.
-D!
Lmao, Jerry vs Maury……
Who do you think is the bigger Ho! lol
I got Maury, and his show is more interesting, When it comes to the case of 31 year old devon miles, Joey, you are…..not the father……lmao!
You a fool…
Maury, prob’ly. But I bet Joey Greco from ‘Cheaters’ is the biggest of all of ‘em. How many women has he ‘comforted’ after catchin’ their boyfriends. You know he be in the van on some “you’re a beautiful girl, you don’t deserve that… let’s go somewhere and talk” shit.
-D!
Damn I’m in the wrong field! lmao
I’m going to be a P.I., ……lol. Joey Nino! lol