Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action

I can’t even say I’m disappointed since my expectations were low, but boy, there’s not much meat on this bone. As a documentary, it doesn’t do much that a 30 second Tiktok of “Wow, remember how wild Jerry Springer was??!” would have done, with a dash of “Weren’t the 90s crazy?” as if there aren’t similarly bonkers reality shows today. I’d even go so far as to argue the documentary does it’s best to absolve Springer, and while I’m not expecting a condemnation, he was weirdly not present in a documentary ostensibly about his own show. He made no decisions (good or bad), had no life once the show ended, Crew and critics talk about the unethical acts by show staff as if they were weather events, not predictable nor stoppable by the efforts of humankind. The tone is reminiscent of the passive voice used to shield the police when a police officer kills someone.  The final few minutes of the show gesture at the show’s long-term impact on culture, and I’m far more interested in that than a few, “sanitized to protect our interviewees” horror stories.