Jerry Springer

February 18, 1999

I've avoided talking about Jerry Springer on these commentaries, until now. What changed my mind were the recent comments by Oprah Winfrey about Jerry Springer. She blasted the sleazemeister for turning daytime talk into a cesspool.

I don't know if you read about it, but Oprah Winfrey exploded in an interview published in the Sunday Times of London. She blasted the Jerry Springer show and said she will probably quit her talk show in two years when her contract runs out.

She predicted that Americans will soon see sex acts on television, even a televised murder. After all, she argues, where will Jerry Springer go next? If people are hitting other people over the head with chairs, isn't a killing the next likely event? If people are already stripping in front of Jerry Springer's cameras, isn't a sex act the next likely event?

Perhaps not, but Oprah Winfrey doesn't want to stay around to find out. She is sick of the business and ready to get out of it. In some respects, I've been surprised that she has lasted as long as she has. Remember that Phil Donahue got out of the business for basically the same reason. Even though his show had themes on cross dressing and sexual fetishes, he refused to go as low as Jerry Springer. He left the talk show business after a 29-year run.

I guess there isn't much else to say when your fellow talk show hosts leave the medium because they are sick of the antics of your show. Jerry Springer has brought television to an all-time low. But I can't blame him completely. The viewers put his ratings at the top. More people watch Jerry Springer than watch Oprah Winfrey. So what does that say about American society? Not much, I guess.

I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion. © 1998 Probe Ministries International