RIP Jerry Springer

[waverider]

Wasn’t sure if this should go on the “former Tulane…” board

He was 79.

[PeteRasche]

Mayor of my hometown until he got caught having used the services of a, uh, "lady of the night"... because he paid with a personal check.

Rebounded quickly from that and became the #1 local evening news anchor (both the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts) for about a decade through the 80s into the early 90s. I have many recordings of my high school basketball highlights where he's the anchor handing it to the sports guy, and then the highlights when Tulane played at Cincinnati my freshman year where the sports guy razzed Jerry for his alma mater losing to UC. I can still hear the sports guy saying "We all know you're hurtin', Jerr..."

A decade of being the top news anchor led to a local daytime talk show, which was so popular it led to a national syndication, and quickly morphed into the spectacle that revolutionized talk shows forever (for better or probably mostly for worse).

During his time as news anchor, he'd wrap the broadcast with a personal commentary piece. That, of course, became the little bit he'd do at the end of his talk show.

RIP.

[WaveProf]

Mayor of my hometown until he got caught having used the services of a, uh, "lady of the night"... because he paid with a personal check.

Rebounded quickly from that and became the #1 local evening news anchor (both the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts) for about a decade through the 80s into the early 90s. I have many recordings of my high school basketball highlights where he's the anchor handing it to the sports guy, and then the highlights when Tulane played at Cincinnati my freshman year where the sports guy razzed Jerry for his alma mater losing to UC. I can still hear the sports guy saying "We all know you're hurtin', Jerr..."

A decade of being the top news anchor led to a local daytime talk show, which was so popular it led to a national syndication, and quickly morphed into the spectacle that revolutionized talk shows forever (for better or probably mostly for worse).

During his time as news anchor, he'd wrap the broadcast with a personal commentary piece. That, of course, became the little bit he'd do at the end of his talk show.

RIP.

Pretty confident he resigned as councilperson because of the hooker, got reelected a year later, and was later appointed mayor for one year by the council (several years after the affair).

Either way, a Cincinnati fixture. A way more interesting man than you'd suspect from his truly terrible tv show

[PeteRasche]

Mayor of my hometown until he got caught having used the services of a, uh, "lady of the night"... because he paid with a personal check.

Rebounded quickly from that and became the #1 local evening news anchor (both the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts) for about a decade through the 80s into the early 90s. I have many recordings of my high school basketball highlights where he's the anchor handing it to the sports guy, and then the highlights when Tulane played at Cincinnati my freshman year where the sports guy razzed Jerry for his alma mater losing to UC. I can still hear the sports guy saying "We all know you're hurtin', Jerr..."

A decade of being the top news anchor led to a local daytime talk show, which was so popular it led to a national syndication, and quickly morphed into the spectacle that revolutionized talk shows forever (for better or probably mostly for worse).

During his time as news anchor, he'd wrap the broadcast with a personal commentary piece. That, of course, became the little bit he'd do at the end of his talk show.

RIP.

Pretty confident he resigned as councilperson because of the hooker, got reelected a year later, and was later appointed mayor for one year by the council (several years after the affair).

Either way, a Cincinnati fixture. A way more interesting man than you'd suspect from his truly terrible tv show

So I might have had those details and the timeline a little fuzzy because was in early Elementary school at the time and just remember it being a big deal in the local news... I coulda sworn he was Mayor when he got busted. I never looked it up.

But yeah, he was a very interesting, intelligent, and from all accounts, very kind man, whose talk show was a perfect example of someone proverbially "selling out" and doing what made for must-see television at the time. He made millions of dollars and at one point was probably the most well-known American celebrity. He might have been thought of as a sleazebag due to the kinds of people he had on his show every day, but he was just airing what "sold".

[waverider]

[quote
So I might have had those details and the timeline a little fuzzy because was in early Elementary school at the time and just remember it being a big deal in the local news... I coulda sworn he was Mayor when he got busted. I never looked it up.

in any case, what he did shouldn’t be a reason for losing his (or any) job.

[ml wave]

[quote
So I might have had those details and the timeline a little fuzzy because was in early Elementary school at the time and just remember it being a big deal in the local news... I coulda sworn he was Mayor when he got busted. I never looked it up.

in any case, what he did shouldn’t be a reason for losing his (or any) job.

Whether it should or shouldn't be is a different topic, but it is against the law and having public officials break the law used to be frowned upon...would probably be celebrated these days.

[ml wave]

Mayor of my hometown until he got caught having used the services of a, uh, "lady of the night"... because he paid with a personal check.

Rebounded quickly from that and became the #1 local evening news anchor (both the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts) for about a decade through the 80s into the early 90s. I have many recordings of my high school basketball highlights where he's the anchor handing it to the sports guy, and then the highlights when Tulane played at Cincinnati my freshman year where the sports guy razzed Jerry for his alma mater losing to UC. I can still hear the sports guy saying "We all know you're hurtin', Jerr..."

A decade of being the top news anchor led to a local daytime talk show, which was so popular it led to a national syndication, and quickly morphed into the spectacle that revolutionized talk shows forever (for better or probably mostly for worse).

During his time as news anchor, he'd wrap the broadcast with a personal commentary piece. That, of course, became the little bit he'd do at the end of his talk show.

RIP.

Pretty confident he resigned as councilperson because of the hooker, got reelected a year later, and was later appointed mayor for one year by the council (several years after the affair).

Either way, a Cincinnati fixture. A way more interesting man than you'd suspect from his truly terrible tv show

So I might have had those details and the timeline a little fuzzy because was in early Elementary school at the time and just remember it being a big deal in the local news... I coulda sworn he was Mayor when he got busted. I never looked it up.

But yeah, he was a very interesting, intelligent, and from all accounts, very kind man, whose talk show was a perfect example of someone proverbially "selling out" and doing what made for must-see television at the time. He made millions of dollars and at one point was probably the most well-known American celebrity. He might have been thought of as a sleazebag due to the kinds of people he had on his show every day, but he was just airing what "sold".

May his will/estate remember Tulane athletics fondly...

[PeteRasche]

in any case, what he did shouldn’t be a reason for losing his (or any) job.

Whether it should or shouldn't be is a different topic, but it is against the law and having public officials break the law used to be frowned upon...would probably be celebrated these days.

Yeah, uh... he broke the law, got arrested, and got caught by doing something really stupid and easily traceable. He was a public figure so he was all over the news for the arrest, the particularly lurid crime he committed, and the stupid way he was caught (If it was no big deal, it would be legal more places than Nevada!) Frankly, I was shocked (as a grade schooler) when he appeared on TV only a couple of years later, and I remember thinking that someone who did THAT should be in jail or something.

[waverider]

[quote
So I might have had those details and the timeline a little fuzzy because was in early Elementary school at the time and just remember it being a big deal in the local news... I coulda sworn he was Mayor when he got busted. I never looked it up.

in any case, what he did shouldn’t be a reason for losing his (or any) job.

Whether it should or shouldn't be is a different topic, but it is against the law and having public officials break the law used to be frowned upon...would probably be celebrated these days.

True. Lawmakers care more about arrests than safety or it would be.

[WaveProf]

Look, what's normalized changed rapidly over the past few decades. In 1992 it was a huge deal that Clinton tried marijuana in college without inhaling. Just 8 years later we saw an election between someone who had been a daily, intense pot user through college and beyond (Gore) against someone who had dabbled in coke (Bush) and it wasn't even an issue in the campaign. Right or wrong, we'll always be partially judged by the era we are in. And, at very least, hiring a hooker (and paying by check) when one is a city councilman doesn't show a lot of intelligence in that moment. Legal or not, immoral or not, it isn't a good look for someone in his position. But he handled it well and it ended up not stopping him from getting elected back to council. There's something to be said for that too.

[waverider]

The Jerry Springer Football Facility has a nice ring to it.

Next we get Elon Musk an honorary degree and hit him up for a billion dollar NIL endowment.

[waverider]

Look, what's normalized changed rapidly over the past few decades. In 1992 it was a huge deal that Clinton tried marijuana in college without inhaling. Just 8 years later we saw an election between someone who had been a daily, intense pot user through college and beyond (Gore) against someone who had dabbled in coke (Bush) and it wasn't even an issue in the campaign. Right or wrong, we'll always be partially judged by the era we are in. And, at very least, hiring a hooker (and paying by check) when one is a city councilman doesn't show a lot of intelligence in that moment. Legal or not, immoral or not, it isn't a good look for someone in his position. But he handled it well and it ended up not stopping him from getting elected back to council. There's something to be said for that too.

I completely understand the severity of issues changing with the times. At one time Title IX meant men couldn’t compete in women’s athletics.

Jerry deserved to be punished for using a check to pay for it alone. Now, people should be beheaded for using checks in a grocery store.

[WaveProf]

Next we get Elon Musk an honorary degree and hit him up for a billion dollar NIL endowment.

He'd find a way to run our athletics back into the ground too, after much fanfare.

[PeteRasche]

The Jerry Springer Football Facility has a nice ring to it.

Fireball Field in the Jerry Springer Facility!

[Sophandros]

Look, what's normalized changed rapidly over the past few decades. In 1992 it was a huge deal that Clinton tried marijuana in college without inhaling. Just 8 years later we saw an election between someone who had been a daily, intense pot user through college and beyond (Gore) against someone who had dabbled in coke (Bush) and it wasn't even an issue in the campaign. Right or wrong, we'll always be partially judged by the era we are in. And, at very least, hiring a hooker (and paying by check) when one is a city councilman doesn't show a lot of intelligence in that moment. Legal or not, immoral or not, it isn't a good look for someone in his position. But he handled it well and it ended up not stopping him from getting elected back to council. There's something to be said for that too.

I completely understand the severity of issues changing with the times. At one time Title IX meant men couldn’t compete in women’s athletics.

Jerry deserved to be punished for using a check to pay for it alone. Now, people should be beheaded for using checks in a grocery store.

Title IX still means that.

[Johnny Mac]

I met Jerry once in Atlanta.. he was a speaker at a broadcast advertising luncheon. One of my co-workers was acting president and she knew I went to Tulane so she introduced me to him. Was very nice.. although his breath was staggering, like he had just eaten a bowl of dog doody.

[gerryb323]

Mayor of my hometown until he got caught having used the services of a, uh, "lady of the night"... because he paid with a personal check.

Rebounded quickly from that and became the #1 local evening news anchor (both the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts) for about a decade through the 80s into the early 90s. I have many recordings of my high school basketball highlights where he's the anchor handing it to the sports guy, and then the highlights when Tulane played at Cincinnati my freshman year where the sports guy razzed Jerry for his alma mater losing to UC. I can still hear the sports guy saying "We all know you're hurtin', Jerr..."

A decade of being the top news anchor led to a local daytime talk show, which was so popular it led to a national syndication, and quickly morphed into the spectacle that revolutionized talk shows forever (for better or probably mostly for worse).

During his time as news anchor, he'd wrap the broadcast with a personal commentary piece. That, of course, became the little bit he'd do at the end of his talk show.

RIP.

Pretty confident he resigned as councilperson because of the hooker, got reelected a year later, and was later appointed mayor for one year by the council (several years after the affair).

Either way, a Cincinnati fixture. A way more interesting man than you'd suspect from his truly terrible tv show

The new This American Life podcast goes into all of this in pretty good detail. Recommend a listen.