<span style="font-size:120%;">Jerry Springer may cut an unassuming figure, but there's just something about the talk show host that brings out the worst in his guests. Fights have been breaking out around him for 20 years, and it doesn't seem that it's going to stop anytime soon.

Springer, whose daily talk show has featured topics such as "Wives Battle Mistresses" and "Hot Headed Hookers," has transcended past criticisms of being a "sleaze peddler." He is increasingly recognized as one of the most influential pioneers of the reality television genre that has sparked such outlandish fare as "Jersey Shore," "The Real World" and the "Real Housewives" franchise, which emphasize spectacle over substance.

He's enough of a cultural icon that he inspired an opera in 2002 and mainstream enough to score gigs on "Dancing With the Stars" and " America's Got Talent." But Springer prefers to embrace his more notorious side as one of the enduring champions — and controversial lightning rods — of "trash talk" as he celebrates the 20th anniversary of the syndicated "The Jerry Springer Show" on Wednesday in a special edition that will air on KTLA-TV Channel 5. He will spotlight some of his greatest hits — and slaps — in a pretaped episode from New York's Times Square that airs at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The rest: The LA Times</span>

Edited October 27, 201015 yr by Sylph

I'm glad he admitted that he doesn't watch the show. He gets it, though, even if it's not what he's particularly interested in watching, he gets why others enjoy it. More power to him.

Give me my mid-to-late 90s Jerry and I'm good to go! From about '95-'99, it was gold.

I was just gonna say, at it's height, there was NOTHING like it! So much fun...

It was amazing in the mid 90s but went downhill when they stopped the physical fighting. I didnt like when they tamed it down. Thats when I lost interest. I see they now allow it again but Ive moved on. Im all about Maury now although he has gotten stale with the same old topics