Jerry Springer, a former mayor of Cincinnati, hosts this show that has to pull itself up in content quality to qualify as "Trash TV". TV Guide named it as the worst show ever — which it proudly declares at the start of every episode. One of the most infamous Guilty Pleasures on TV. In the show's first few years, before it became wildly popular, it took a more serious approach, with episodes that dealt with serious issues and politics (for example, in one episode, Jerry spent a night with a homeless teenager living on the streets). However, before long, they came to the realization that the formula of "poking guests with sticks until they started fighting" earned much better ratings. It, along with Ricki Lake and Jenny Jones, paved the way for shock talk shows. It's still the king of shock talk, having outlasted most of its competition. And definitely talk's answer to the Black Comedy. Your standard episode will feature a woman telling her husband's mistress to stay the *beep* away from her man, then dumping him at the end of the episode. Then there's usually some sort of crossdresser. And a person with some weird out there sexual fetish. Maybe a young girl who sleeps with older men. Every now and then you also get Klansmen and neo-Nazis for good measure. The show is notable for its security, as fights are started about five times an episode. Similarly, Jerry Springer let his security chief, Steve Wilkos, fill in for him often; this led to Wilkos getting his own talk show, which deals with VERY serious issues and is most definitely NOT the walking cartoon that Jerry's show is. It goes without saying that the show couldn't be quite that bad without some help. While (presumably) most of the guests are realnote , the production crew has admitted to giving them advice on how to make a better show out of their issues. In addition, Springer and Wilkos themselves often dispense advice, on-stage or off-stage.