JERRY!, JERRY!

The Jerry Springer Show is the grand daddy of the recent crop of exploitative and outrageous reality TV shows like Flavor of Love or American Idol. I remember growing up and giggling whenever I caught my grandparents or parents watching the Springer Show. They would always quickly change the channel and grumble about the crap on TV nowadays. The reasons I think these types of shows are so popular is one, the glee that comes from watching the train wreck of these peoples lives or performances, but also a recognition that these people really aren’t so far off from the rest of us. Today’s NY Times ran a hilarious and intriguing cover story on “Jerry Springer: The Opera”, that opened for a two show run recently in New York. A project like this could have easily been a series of dirty jokes and foul language sung in operatic voices, but the writer contends that the show, “finds the sublime in the squalid”, and that, “audience members bring their own irony, if they like; the performances are totally free of it”. I’d love to get the chance to see this musical, but unfortunately protests by Christian groups might scare away potential investors for a prolonged Broadway run.