After the death of television star Jerry Springer last month, The Jerry Springer Show has been getting some renewed attention. In late April, it was announced that Springer had passed away at the age of 79. The news came as a surprise for fans, as it was not known that the controversial talk show host had fallen ill. He had been keeping his pancreatic cancer battle secret after he’d been diagnosed months earlier. His passing had fans all across social media sharing their memories of watching Springer’s talk show, which was certainly unlike anything you could find on television
The Jerry Springer Show debuted in 1991 and ran for 27 seasons, coming to its eventual end in 2018. It was especially popular in the 1990s, rising to fame by having episodes focused on highly controversial topics, ranging from adultery and incest to racism and drug addiction. The show was also known for its constant physical fights that would break out on the set. These kinds of shenanigans were exactly why people watched, and typically, people in the crowd would chant Jerry’s name whenever anything wild happened.
These days, The Jerry Springer Show can be found streaming on the free streaming platform Pluto TV, available on what’s called the “Nosey” channel. Per TMZ, so many viewers had streamed the show on Pluto TV that viewership across the platform doubled. Reps for the streamer say that tens of thousands of new viewers started watching the episodes after Springer’s death, spending around 33% more time on the app than what is typical. Many fans online had said they planned to watch some classic Jerry Springer episodes in honor of the late talk show host, and the numbers are backing that up.
Daytime Television Was a Lot Different, Thanks to Jerry Springer
Things would be so chaotic on The Jerry Springer Show that a security team was present at all times to step in and separate people when necessary. The most known of these was Steve Wilkos, who memorably served as the head of security on the show before he’d get his own talk show spinoff. That talk show is still going to this day, though Wilkos had seen Springer about a month before his passing, as the two remained close friends.
“He embraced me. He hugged me like he had never done before and he was telling me he loves me,” Wilkos told Entertainment Tonight. “We sat down, and I think back now, we were reflecting a lot on the good times that we had, which we normally didn’t do a lot, but this time it was a lot of reflection on the good times that we had together.”
Noting how Springer didn’t even tell him about what exactly he was dealing with, Wilkos added, “I’m hearing that he had pancreatic cancer, but he did not say anything to me. So, I’m really not sure. But if it’s true, then he definitely said goodbye to me in a way that he was letting me know that that was the end.”
You can stream The Jerry Springer Show on the Pluto TV app as well as at Pluto.TV.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
