In the 1990s the most violent thing on television wasn’t wrestling, or NHL hockey it was The Jerry Springer Show. The daytime talk show regularly devolved into wild physical fights between guests that were excitedly cheered on by riled up audience members

During the 90s more than two dozen similar daytime talk shows, that ranged from provocative to downright trashy, ruled the airwaves.

Big names you probably remember like Jenny Jones, Geraldo Rivera and Maury Povich and others you may have forgotten about like Ricki Lake & Montel Williams were adored by millions of fans until a shocking tragedy turned the industry on its head.

On this episode of History of the 90s host Kathy Kenzora looks back at the era of trashy daytime talk shows.

Contact:

Twitter: @1990shistory

Facebook: @1990shistory

Instagram: @that90spodcast

Email: [email protected]

Guests:

James Nadler; Graduate Program Director, Masters of Arts in Media Production at Ryerson University

Laura Grindstaff; Professor of Sociology at UC Davis & author of The Money Shot: Trash, Class and the Making of TV Talk Shows

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices