Jerry Springer's Life in Photos
Jerry Springer Dominates Daytime TV
He didn't. The show quickly rose in the ratings — often rivaling Winfrey — thanks to its off-color brand of content and on-screen fights.
"Sometimes we have a show, and a hockey game breaks out," Springer joked to PEOPLE in 1995. "I've seen more fights than Ali."
To critics who called the show trashy or even accused it of being fake, he said, "It's entertainment … lighten up."
The show made a celebrity out of bodyguard Steve Wilkos, continued to lead the daytime charge and even found itself the subject of some serious situations, like when a guest was murdered hours after her episode aired in 2000 (her ex-husband was later arrested, charged with second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison).
In 2018, after around 4,000 episodes, the show was quietly canceled.
The polarizing TV personality died on April 27 at 79 years old
