In the world of entertainment, TV talk shows have undoubtedly flooded every inch of space on daytime television. Many of us have seen and heard the often recycled topics found on such veteran shows as Montel and Sally Jessy Raphael. And anyone who watches talk shows on a regular basis knows that each one varies in style and format. One might enjoy watching the sometimes-trashy subject matter found on Jenny Jones, while someone else might prefer the more serious and lighthearted feel of the Maury Povich show. But no two shows are more profoundly opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey show.

Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "trash talk." The topics on his shows are as shocking as they get. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show themes of love, lust, sex, sexuality, adultery, cheating, guilt, hate, conflict and morality to quite a different level. In a vintage Springer show, one finds women who cheated on their boyfriends or husbands and are ready to confess. However the boyfriends are in for a bigger surprise. As it turns out, not all the women have been secretly

seeing other guys, but rather seeing other women, who by surprise also happen to be waiting backstage. Another episode tells of a lot more twisted story. A male cuts off his own manhood because he claimed that his homosexual neighbor was stalking him. Shocking, indeed, but the list of talk material goes on from dangerous love triangles, broken homes, pregnant strippers, teenage prostitutes, adult film stars, devil worshippers to the ever popular talk show regulars, the members of the Ku Klux Klan. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is a display and exploitation of societies moral disasters and catastrophes, yet people are willing to eat up the intriguing predicaments of other people's lives. "Hard to believe that this is reality and hard to imagine that people would want to watch and listen to such negativity." It is worth mentioning though that Jerry Springer's tremendous success is no less than a reflection on us as a society. As shocking as it might sound it must be true, for we the viewers are responsible for the show's popularity. Strangely, people are always intrigued and drawn by things that are forbidden, unaccepted or morally wrong. On the other hand, the show could serve as the perfect example of improvements that we as a society are in need for.

Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show is like toxic waste being dumped on society. Still, there are times when Jerry Springer has made an effort to help the troubled people on his show. Most likely to somewhat ameliorate the extreme harshness of his show. The most notable is

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