Is NU Law Grad Jerry Springer at a Career Crossroads?
A Northwestern University law graduate with a nontraditional career and a private jet has reached a point in life at which many might opt to slow down.
But Jerry Springer is still going strong at 67, in his 20th year of hosting a lowbrow talk show that he himself describes as having no redeeming social value, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“I thank God every day that my life has taken this incredible turn because of this silly show,” he told the newspaper during a recent trip to the Ohio town for which he served as mayor, back in the day. Springer was also Cincinnati’s top news anchor, at one point.
In addition to hosting The Jerry Springer Show, described by TV Guide in 2002 as the worst television show of all time and unrivaled, as the Enquirer puts it, “when it comes to shows involving strippers … sex addicts, double-crossing cross-dressers and unfaithful lovers of all ages,” Springer also serves in the same role for the Game Show Network’s Baggage.
Springer shoots on Monday and Tuesday in Connecticut, Baggage from Wednesday to Saturday in Los Angeles. Plus, the prolific entertainer also has taken on a number of side gigs in recent years, including hosting a late-night Saturday show in London and South Africa. Hence the private jet.
Although not lacking in lucrative career options, he is clearly tempted by the prospect of a possible return to the political arena, whether as mayor, governor or a member of the U.S. Senate. He thinks about political issues all the time, he says, and ponders, as he’s reading the newspaper, whether he would handle situations differently if he were in office.
At the same time, though, Springer recognizes that he’s getting old and told the Enquirer that if he doesn’t soon pursue an opportunity to get back into government, it may be too late.
The beauty of the television genre he has made his own is that there will never be a shortage of the bad relationships on which it relies for material. “Someone’s always upset because someone cheated on them, that they were with someone else,” Springer says.
So, with Regis Philbin pointing the way, still a household name at 80, “I figure, maybe I’ll keep going.”
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