Jerry Springer interview: GSN's 'Baggage', kindness and politics

By April MacIntyre Sep 12, 2011, 17:48 GMT

Born in England, raised in New York, America’s favorite mediator, host and observer of the human condition is Jerry Springer, a noted academic of the human condition.

Born in England, raised in New York, America’s favorite mediator, host and observer of the human condition is Jerry Springer.

From examining politics to televised 'who's the daddy' pregnancy rows, Mr. Springer's natural charisma diffuses and dissects the situation, and is always a welcome fixture inside all our homes.

The Jerry Springer show is still going strong. Synonymous with 'trainwreck', Springer's TV show is a people's platform for personal grievances and life lessons. 

Mr. Springer holds a law degree from Northwestern University, and is a political activist who worked on Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign and served as Mayor of Cincinnati for two terms.

Mr. Springer's career includes being a political pundit, lawyer, Emmy Award-winning newscaster, country recording artist, and international emcee and TV personality.  He even had a twirl on the competition dance floor of ABC's “Dancing with the Stars.”

Every medium has been touched by Jerry Springer, from his radio talk show career to every conceivable hosting gig on TV.  His runaway hit series "Baggage" on GSN is another feather in the network that turns out audience participation reality TV that is family friendly and good fun.

On GSN's "Baggage," Mr. Springer guides the fun as one dater chooses among three contestants, who reveal the intimate secrets and hidden flaws that are typically kept under wraps to impress a first date. Each contestant enters with three suitcases—small, medium and large—containing the quirky, annoying and sometimes truly shocking “baggage” that may or may not eliminate the contestants from competition, to the accompaniment of the dater’s tagline, “I’m sorry, but you have too much baggage.”

Monsters and Critics was fortunate to have an interview with Jerry and we covered a lot of ground.  We talk about his GSN series "Baggage," "The Jerry Springer Show," republicans and democrats, his memories of family lost in the Holocaust and what matters in life, kindness and family.

Monsters and Critics: Jerry, at the NBC press day a few years ago, you were playing the piano and David Hasselhoff and Piers Morgan were singing around you.

Jerry Springer: Oh my gosh. I do remember that. I'm so sorry. Find the tape.

M&C: [laughter] Well first of all, I love how prolific and varied your career is. You've got your education, you're an attorney, you're a presenter. You have so many talents. And the fact that you're continuing with the Springer show, I'm really curious to know how GSN's Baggage fits in with your new season of taping of The Jerry Springer Show?

Jerry Springer: The truth is Baggage is a perfect fit with my show. It's a step up in terms of... The people on Baggage don't have all the drama. What they have is normal Baggage.  Basically we all have baggage. So, it's a normal dating show, but it has a twist. And the twist of course is normally you don't find out about the quirks in a person’s personality or what baggage a person has in their life situation until you're six months or a year or two into the relationship.

Well on this show, you find out going in. And it really raises the question as you watch the show. "Wow! If my significant other had these issues could I handle it?" or, "Wait a second, my significant other has bigger issues than this, can I handle it," or "I have bigger issues." So it really invites involvement by the viewer. So the show works and it really is, as I said, the next step up from our show. Because on our show the people never get together, or they're breaking up.

Here it's the beginning. So we catch the people, before it becomes drama. It's a fun show to do. I really enjoy it. It's on two different coast which may get a little difficult because my show I do here on the east coast in Stanford, and Baggage I do out in LA. So other than the logistics, its pretty fun to do.

M&C:  I can't believe you're shooting over 300 episodes of the series so far, and it's being syndicated to Australia, any other markets?

JS: Yeah. I think Australia, England, a bunch of other countries. I know they're doing that. And they’re going to syndicate it here in the states. I know that NBC Universal, which is Comcast, is taping it out for next year. 
Their taping it out now, so it should be syndicated in September of 12. In other words, a year from now.

M&C: Now, I've watched the show several times. Have you ever had contestants say, all the Baggage is too much. It's all a deal breaker?

JS: Well yeah. Actually, they got to take one. And often times what they do is they take the one, "Okay, I can handle this". I mean I'm not marrying the person. It's just to go out on a date. So the truth is, you could handle all the baggage if it were one date. I don't have to keep going out with the person. But then, that person has 
to open up his or her baggage. And often times, the one selected will say, hey wait a second thanks for choosing me. I'm very flattered, but I can't handle your baggage. So they don't go out. But it's like real life situations. So it kind of resonates.

M&C: I know you're happily married. But if you were a single man, what would be some of the top baggage 
items that would be a deal breaker for Jerry Springer?

JS: Oh, wow. If you're still involved with your ex. No matter what they say that ultimately winds up with an unhappy ending. I'd say that's the major one. Then you'd have to think of individual things that you wouldn't want to handle. But I guess meanness and dishonesty. You want a person to be kind. If they're kind, you can 
overlook a lot.

M&C: Interesting. You're very trim. You always have been. You have an incredible work ethic. You have a lot of energy. And I've been observing people like you, in entertainment, that go on and on. Like Joan Rivers, she's 75 and she won't quit until she dies. Don Rickles. He's in his 80's. He won't quit until he dies. And you 
all have this work ethic.

Just go with me for a second. And I'm observing a whole generation of young people, it seems, that don't have this work ethic and don't take care of themselves physically. They eat incorrectly, there's a huge obesity problem in this country. I'm going off on a bit of a tangent, but can you talk about how you approach your life as far as your diet, exercise, mental state, and how long do you plan to work?

JS: Well, I have no plans of retirement. So maybe it will be that I'll work till I die. And I was raised in an environment where everybody works, and I consider that life. So, I just would be bored if I wasn't working, So, I don't find it a burden. I'm very lucky. I realize that. And I think the common denominator of the people you mentioned, we all love what we do.

And how lucky are we as we get older to still be able to be employed doing something you love. If you're an athlete, that's not possible. Even in acting, unless you're a great actor,  it gets harder and harder; the roles become less and less as you get older. They're always finding someone who's younger, better looking or whatever.

But in this business, if you're in more the business of hosting, or comedy, or something like that, I guess it really doesn't matter how we look. So if we stay thin, I just think, obviously, if you're older, if you're still around when you're in your 70s or 80s, the chances are you are thinner because, otherwise, disease would have gotten you. You find very few very heavy people in nursing homes.  So, that's just a factor of life. If you keep working, the chances are you are thin because you're living longer.

M&C: Right. Speaking of fat and unkind, you were on Sean Hannity Show recently...

JS: [laughter] Yeah.

M&C: Just from an entertainment standpoint, the GOP debate that was aired on FOX News. And with your background in politics, being inspired by John Kennedy, who many likened Obama to as far as that inspirational feeling. Can you talk about your opinion of the GOP posse and what your feelings are far as the upcoming race?.

JS: Well, yeah, I think there is a meanness in politics, but it's beyond just the bad spirit among the competitive candidates trying to diss the opposition because you want to make yourself look better, so you criticize the opponent and make them seem like bad people. That is mean, and bad, and it's... But we see that.

But I think there is a more sinister kind of, if not meanness, certainly, a lack of caring. And if I have a complaint--and this is just a generality; there are obvious exceptions--but in generalities, there seems to be less caring in the GOP.

In other words, never in those debates has anyone looked into the camera and say, 
"Furthermore, what could we do to help those that are really having a tough time making it? How can we make life better for them? If it costs me a little more, so be it." I don't find any of that. In fact, if you, on that debate, said that, you'd be either booed or laughed off the stage.

So, there's no warmth there. There are a lot of people that say they love America, but they don't seem to Americans. And they're very content to see Americans suffer. And I just don't get it.

I think there are honest differences of agreement on how to get to being a more compassionate society, but I don't sense much compassion coming out of some of the speeches we hear. Maybe Huntsman, he was the closest I guess in that group up there.

For the others, it was, who can be more the tough guy, and screw the rest of them, and we're going to be the tough [ones]. It's just a total disrespect for the President of the United States. I mean, it's like good Lord. There used to be a time that even if you disagreed with the President, you didn't disrespect him.

And now, it's like a schoolyard fight. They will call Obama anything. And we certainly see that on the talk shows. What if the children are watching? If your child was introduced to the President of the United States, would you have your child say the same things to the President that these hosts of these shows are saying? I 
don't know.

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't get it.  So many people complain about my show. Well, good Lord, the politicians and these talk show hosts and these are political shows, they're behaving exactly like the people on my show except they dress better and they don't use the F-word. But their meanness or their disrespect, I don't know the difference, I can't see the difference.

M&C: It's like real news has been co-opted by entertainment..

JS: Yeah, the craziness belongs on my show but it does not belong on our political forum.

M&C: Thank you for sharing that with me. Back to your original Jerry Springer show, there are a lot of emotional moments. It's a sideshow and you get a lot of horrifically damaged people on who are exhibitionists and they love to share their problems. But you had an emotional moment on TV, with the BBC version of "Who do you think you are?"

JS: Well, obviously there's nothing heavier than the Holocaust, but the thing is when you do that, the cameras are rolling 24/7. So you're not at all conscious that the camera is rolling. It's not like they're in your face, those cameras are at a distance. It's just that they zoom in.

And so it wasn't to share that emotion because that was private and personal, but obviously...You hate to rate these things but it's pretty difficult to imagine any behavior of humanity worse than the Holocaust. I mean you can tie it maybe, you can find another six or 12 million people and slaughter them, but you couldn't beat it. So that's about as bad as it gets.

M&C: For you personally though, was that the toughest thing you had to do on camera? Not just as an entertainer but as Jerry Springer, the man?

JS: Well it was a tough personal moment because it was my family. So sure, it conjures up all kinds of memories. So, yeah, that's a tough moment. Sure.

M&C: Do you have any feelings either way, when you're in Germany?

JS: No, no actually Germany is a pretty progressive country now. The truth is the Nazis are all dead. Even if they survived they are now dead just because of age. So the people responsible for that aren't around anymore. I have no bad feelings to this generation of Germans.

They certainly have been very democratic.  And in fact, very open about admitting to the sins of their nation. My parents were Germans, Jewish-Germans, but Germans. So there is a great tradition and a great history in Germany, just not the 20th century.  Or the first part of the 20th century.

M&C: Okay then, lightening the mood, do you have a hankering for good German food? Like when you're in Los Angeles, do you ever go to the classic restaurant the Red Lion?

JS: I'm not sure I've been there, but I do like schnitzel Holstein and, my mind is blank but it's the beef with a wine...

M&C: Sauerbraten?

JS: Sauerbraten! That's it. I like sauerbraten and schnitzel Holstein, which is with the fried eggs on top.

M&C: Which US coast do you prefer to be on?

JS: I guess I have an attachment to New York. I was born there, I was raised there. So that's why I love the East Coast. But I never told you, when I was in LA, I love it there, too.

I'm very lucky; I have spent my entire adult life traveling. Thirty years in Cincinnati with my shows. I'm literally all over much of the world, much less America. So we have a home in Sarasota, we have a place in Evanston, outside Chicago. So I'm just lucky.  As long as I'm with my family I'm happy.

M&C: What's your favorite thing to do with your grandson?

JS: Hold him.  Yeah. Anything is just so great. Lately this summer we've been jumping in the pool and swimming and he just loves that. I just love playing with him. I just wish he would get a job, he's almost three.