Jerry Springer Dead at 79

Jerry Springer, one of the most influential figures in television history, has died at 79 years old.

The TV star hosted the syndicated talk show โ€œThe Jerry Springer Showโ€ for 27 years.

His show was so popular that in the late โ€™90s, he beat even Oprah Winfrey in a few cities.

โ€œSpringerโ€ finally went off the air in 2018.

โ€œJerryโ€™s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,โ€ Jene Galvin, spokesman for the family said.

โ€œHeโ€™s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on.โ€

He ran for Congress in 1970, unsuccessfully, before being elected to Cincinnatiโ€™s City Council in 1971.

He was elected mayor of Cincinnati in 1977.

According to Yahoo:

โ€œThe Jerry Springer Showโ€ began its multi-decade run in 1991 and, in 1998 at the height of its popularity, beat โ€œThe Oprah Winfrey Showโ€ in the ratings, drawing 12 million viewers.

Like Geraldo Rivera, Springer signed on for a show that he thought seemed like the logical next step in his journalism career โ€” a show not unlike โ€œDonahueโ€ that would take a serious look at a variety of important issues.

Slay the latest News for free!

We donโ€™t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

But as with โ€œGeraldo,โ€ the pressure to score big in the ratings pretty quickly meant appealing to the lowest common denominator โ€” Springer and his new producer, Richard Dominick, whoโ€™d worked at the Weekly World News, made significant changes to the show in order to garner higher ratings in early 1994 โ€” and โ€œhere he was,โ€ wrote Todd VanDerWerff in a June 2014 piece on Springer on the A.V. Club site, โ€œno longer exposing Americaโ€™s dark underbelly but rolling around in it.โ€

There were precursors for โ€œThe Jerry Springer Show,โ€ including โ€œDonahueโ€ and โ€œThe Morton Downey Jr. Show.โ€

READ MORE: Former NFL Player Chris Smith Dies Suddenly at 31

SHARE:
join telegram

READERS' POLL

Who is the best president?

By completing this poll, you gain access to our free newsletter. Unsubscribe at any time.

Our comment section is restricted to members of the Slay News community only.

To join, create a free account HERE.

If you are already a member, log in HERE.

Subscribe
Notify of

Recommended

1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x