RIP Jerry Springer: Remembering One Of The Most Influential Yet Controversial TV Hosts

 

It was reported early Thursday morning by TMZ that Jerry Springer sadly passed away at the age of 79. His death has been confirmed by his family. The reported cause of death is pancreatic cancer, with which Springer had been diagnosed several months ago.

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Jerry’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,” Jene Galvin, spokesman for the family said. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”

Springer was known as one of the most influential yet controversial television figures who hosted the syndicated talk show, “The Jerry Springer Show” for 27 years.

Debuting in 1991, fans loved to tune in to see which guests would grace the screen day after day until the show officially went off-air in 2018.

Springer was a native of Cincinnati, where he once served as mayor before beginning his long career as a talk show host. He was also an attorney and politician. In the early 1980s, he launched a campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Ohio but lost.

Springer would then go on to be arguably one of the most popular Daytime TV hosts in America. His controversial show often pitted family members against one another in scandalous and salacious moments. But regardless of how controversial the show was, its popularity was unmatched. The show had more than 4,000 episodes before it was taken off-air in 2018.

Springer never lost his interest in politics and even weighed in on the Republican candidates in the 2016 election, including Donald Trump. The punchline was that even Springer, who has seen it all on his show, was shocked by the GOP candidates’ gutter talk.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Springer compared the Republican debates to a race for “junior high school class president.”

Springer told the international daily: “Clearly they could be on our show, but now they’ve gone off the deep end, and we would start bleeping out some of what they’d say.”

That prompted Colin Powell to reportedly quip: “You know you’re in trouble when Jerry Springer even thinks it’s over the top.

Springer was a an undeniable catalyst for messy daytime television and paved the critical foundation for shows like Maury, The Ricki Lake Show and Dr. Phil to enjoy similar levels of success.

As we keep the family in our thoughts, keep scrolling for some of the best moments from Jerry Springer’s daytime television show.