Word: rickie
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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YOUR ARTICLE ON TALK-SHOW HOST RICKI Lake and the rise of trash TV was very timely [Television, Jan. 30]. Lane's show in particular was the reason I recently had my cable service canceled. I find it very disturbing that trashy people are allowed to go on national TV with the sordid facts, real or fabricated, about their pathetic lives. These are people I would never associate with or ever want to meet. It's maddening to have them on network TV, screaming out from channel to channel. There are viewers watching these shows who feel...
...emotions," says Springer, "the rougher it's going to be . Maybe our show can help people learn to tolerate differences. And maybe we can learn that everybody is capable of pain." Phil Donahue, a 27-year veteran of the talk-show wars, doesn't want to bash the Ricki influence either (even though it has contributed to a decline in his ratings). "I do think there's an awful lot of heavy breathing out there on the part of the so-called mainstream media," he says. "What is all the hand wringing about? Yes, there is an entertainment feature...
Only Oprah has taken a stand against these talk-show donnybrooks, rejecting Ricki-like confrontations and stressing more upbeat, inspirational programs. "Oprah's purpose is to lift people up, to help them move on in their lives," says executive producer Dianne Atkinson Hudson. The show is still capable of sensational moments, such as Winfrey's on-air confession two weeks ago that she had used cocaine. But most of her recent topics-couples with credit problems, people who have had bad experiences calling 911-would seem hopelessly staid to her voyeuristic competitors...
Producers for the newer talk shows insist they too are trying to be helpful, not exploitative. Usually, however, the uplift consists of simply a few bromides from the host ("Do two wrongs make a right?" Ricki likes to say) and some facile advice from a psychologist or other "expert" brought on for a few minutes at the end of the show...
...woman who appeared as an expert on Ricki Lake describes it as a disturbing experience. Before the show, she found herself in the green room with several of the guests-teens with gripes about a friend's mate. "A producer came in and gave them a pep talk," the woman recalls, "whipping them into a frenzy. She'd say, 'This is your chance to go out and tell the world your side of the story. No physical violence, but yell as much as you want. You won't make points by talking in an even-handed manner.' It seemed very...