I was looking around YouTube and ran across a few short clips, just for a cool time capsule. Keep in mind, this is when it was normal and serious, and before that many people knew about it. He was a news anchor before then (which overlapped for a couple years with the show) and his public persona kinda shows it.

1. A woman who got revenge on men in general by scamming them into believing she was a talent scout for a men's magazine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p56Suvto1q0

2. From what I can tell, this guy who steals from rich people and advocates marijuana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6qLEnMvlh8

3. For a more lighthearted and interesting one, Jerry has a past life regression with a hypnotist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9wbr3A3k_Y

4. Not from the show at all, but from when he was still a news anchor, giving a commentary on race relations in baseball (I'm not sure who the person or the event was, but it was insightful anyway):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxOoAO7Hw_E

Here's another one about a teenage transsexual (again, handled in a serious way, and before stuff like that became staples of the show). I know this is like a twelve-year old's sense of humor here, but listen to this clip around :15 seconds in. It was just funny to me because I didn't expect it. ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM5l3Wg2E94

Remember when Springer first started out and he was really serious.  LOL.  Wasn't he on a differnt show?  It wasn't called Jerry Springer.

Kinda like Maury Povich started on "A Current Affair" I believe.  Now I think his show (if it is still on the air) is 100% dedicated to paternity tests.  Why is that?  Was he abandoned by his father?

Remember when Springer first started out and he was really serious.  LOL.  Wasn't he on a differnt show?  It wasn't called Jerry Springer.

Kinda like Maury Povich started on "A Current Affair" I believe.  Now I think his show (if it is still on the air) is 100% dedicated to paternity tests.  Why is that?  Was he abandoned by his father?


"The Jerry Springer Show" started in 1991.  It was totally a serious show.  He often had on political figures and talked about real and important issues.  He even once had a whole show devoted to Rodney Dangerfield, who came on to promote his then movie "Meet Wally Sparks"

Apparently Springer wanted higher ratings, so he revamped the show to make it more trashy and lowbrow.  It worked because he ended up beating Oprah in the ratings in several markets across the USA.  His best role ever is his current hosting duties on "America's Got Talent".  That's the Jerry Springer I like.  When he does his talk show, I can't stand him

Remember when Springer first started out and he was really serious.  LOL.  Wasn't he on a differnt show?  It wasn't called Jerry Springer.

Kinda like Maury Povich started on "A Current Affair" I believe.  Now I think his show (if it is still on the air) is 100% dedicated to paternity tests.  Why is that?  Was he abandoned by his father?


Actually what's weird is that Springer's show IS technically the same, it's even the same studio set and everything. I really liked his early shows, since they seemed heartfelt and serious. In a way he was being more himself, I think...and seemed kinda like a caring father figure type. It's also cool as a time capsule now to see those. In 1998 and '99 they were still showing early '90s reruns, which is where I saw some firsthand. I wish I could get ahold of some of them, but they'd never re-air those today, so it's limited to whatever pops up on YouTube or something.

I don't think Maury likes those paternity test shows per se, or Jerry with the trashy trailer park atmosphere (he himself admits it's a silly show that doesn't have any redeeming qualities, but he seems respectful of everyone on it). ;D That's more about what the producers want and what gets ratings. From what I've read and heard, when Springer started out serious, it wasn't very popular, so they slowly shifted it to be more youth oriented the way Ricki was around 1994/95.

Yeah I remember when he was all normal and serious...I watched a lot of talk shows back then...then he had to turn all Richard Bey on us. :P