New Netflix documentary about Jerry Springer reveals the highs and lows of reality TV

As “The Jerry Springer Show” climbed to the top of the syndicated TV rankings, Winfrey called the show “appalling,” an assessment that few media intelligentsia then or now would dispute. As The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck wrote when Springer died in 2023 (an event that drew more lamentation than the usual appreciation): “The show’s themes were a veritable smorgasbord of incest, pedophilia, adultery, hate groups, perversion and the worst of them Instincts of humanity.” general. Violence and nudity were commonplace.”

The year before his death, Springer apologized for what his show had caused, saying on a podcast that he had “ruined the culture” and then joking: “I just hope hell isn’t so hot, because I’m very burn easily.”

Admittedly, like most TV talent, Springer has taken too much credit – or in this case blame – for his show’s denigration of the public square. The documentary suggests that executive producer Richard Dominick’s “win at all costs” mentality was also a big motivator. Dominick once told an interviewer that there was “no line” he wouldn’t cross. “If I could kill someone on TV, I would execute them on TV,” he said at the time, according to the documentary.

Although there were no executions, the reality television genre popularized and perfected by Springer was marred by death. The documentary details the murder of Nancy Campbell-Panitz, who was killed by her ex-husband after appearing on the series in 2000. Another high-profile murder was linked to “The Jenny Jones Show,” one of many Springer-lite series that would populate the daytime television landscape. In 1995, Jonathan Schmitz killed his acquaintance Scott Amedure just days after he revealed his “secret crush” on Schmitz during the show. (Schmitz told police he shot his friend after he was embarrassed on television; he was eventually paroled in 2017.)

After his incredibly lucrative 27-season TV gig, Springer may actually have some regrets. But Dominick’s indifference to questions of collateral damage seems more representative of the series’ ethos. Nor should we overlook the complicity of the audience. The show’s high ratings—capped by its Oprah milestone—sent a message: Forget our better angels, appealing to our basest instincts was an equally acceptable recipe for success.

Jerry Springer is gone today. But the remnants of “Jerry Springer” remain in our media and political ecosystems – the aftereffects of a hit, at least symbolically, we can still feel today.