Jerry Springer says his talk show ‘has no redeeming value’

Here’s another story for the “Well…duh…” file. When you think of The Jerry Springer Show (if you actually ever think of it), you probably think of shoe throwing, hair pulling fist fights, profanity and lots of yelling – all to entertain a pack of rowdy audience members chanting “JER-RY! JER-RY! JER-RY!” Highbrow television, right? Well, according to the man himself, he never expected any critical acclaim or awards for introducing the world to adult babies and crazy hillbillies.

Jerry recently “confessed” to Entertainment Tonight that his show, which has been on the air for an astonishing 25 years, has “no redeeming social value.” The 72-year-old host, who dabbled in politics, serving as Mayor of Cincinnati back in 1977, said he still provides a forum to address such important topics as “Bisexual Betrayals” and “I Married the Wrong Twin” (actual episode names) because “it’s fun to do.” He added, “I’m not that good at golf. I think I’d go crazy [if I retired.] I’m always afraid not to be working. It’s psychological, I’m sure. If I ever have nightmares about something, it’s about not having a job, which is crazy, I know.”

As for his humble beginnings, Jerry had no intentions of being a pop culture fixture when he began his career in serious journalism, but remained humble even after he became part of pop culture history:


On his humble beginnings: “I was anchoring the news in Cincinnati for the NBC affiliate there, and I had been doing that for 10 years,” he told ET. “One day the CEO took me out to lunch and said, ‘You know Phil [Donahue] is going to be retiring, and we’re going to start another talk show, and you’re going to host it,’ and I was assigned to it, because I was an employee. They adjusted the pay and all that, but it wasn’t anything I ever aspired to.”

On what it takes to be a successful talk show host: “Anybody can be a talk show host. You do three things to be a talk show host. You have to be able to say, ‘You did what? Come on out! We’ll be right back.’ If you can do those three lines, you’ve got a career.”

On the moment he knew he “made it”:“The day I figured out, ‘Wow! We’re on to something,’ there were two cultural moments that impacted me, and I think one was being on The Simpsons. And the other was being on the cover of Rolling Stone. That’s honestly the first time I noticed that ‘Oh my gosh! People are really noticing me.’”

[From Entertainment Tonight]

And when it’s time for Jerry’s true “Final Thought”, he already has the inscription for his tombstone ready, joking that it will read “I won’t be right back.”

I’ve heard Jerry on a lot of interviews, and he comes off as a very likeable, smart guy. If they’re trying to imply that he ever thought his show was anything even close to hard-hitting journalism, it’s not working for me. I seriously doubt he set aside space on his mantle for an Oscar for his work on Ringmaster. He had GWAR on the show, for Pete’s sake (side note: GWAR is awesome.) The show has been on the air much longer than many shows of its ilk (RIP, Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, Jane Pratt, and oh, so many more.) I suspect that after the apocalypse, it’ll just be Maury and Jerry, entertaining cockroaches, Cher and Keith Richards. Hey, as long as there’s an audience for shows like “My Stripper Sister Strikes Again,” Jerry will be there – and I’m okay with that.

Photo credit: WENN.