And cheered outside the studio, where weary, parents–fighting for the souls of their children against a culture of depravity–will take any help they can get. The “revolt of the revolted.” as Connecticut Sen. Joseph Liebermann called it last week, is finally underway, with left, right and center opening fire at once at the likes of “Housewives vs. Strippers” (Richard Bey) and “You’re Cheating and I Have Proof” (Ricki Lake). Denouncing TV freak shows is politically easy, cheap . . . and long overdue. Even Geraldo Rivera, while critical of “malignant generalizations” that lump all daytime talk shows together, admits that “they’re on to something. The frayed edges should be cut off. These shows have great relevance to tens of millions, but sometimes the moral message is obscured by a burlesque theater.” Tabloid’s new elder statesman asks: “What comes next? Fornication on the air?”
Somewhere a TV booker is thinking: hmmm . . . Finding guests for that show wouldn’t be a problem; thousands a day write in trying to get on the air for one perversion or another. After all, it has al-ways been part of the American dream to run off and join the circus. These shows just let you do it without quitting your day job.
But something is changing in voyeur land. Maybe it began last March when one guest on Jenny Jones murdered another after the show. Rivera says it started earlier: “For the last year and a half, my topic selection has been positively G-rated.” He winced at the lesbian kissing he saw on Jerry Springer recently, fearing the ammo it gives the critics. Geraldo’s ideal uplifting, entertaining daytime topic? “Makeovers for Battered Women,” with the hotline numbers for battery victims flashed repeatedly.
That sounds like something Donna Shalala could live with. While conservatives like Bennett, Liebermann and Sam Nunn wield the stick of righteous press conferences, liberals like the secretary of health and human services proffer the carrot of cooperation and conscience. Shalala gave a thoughtful speech at a “Talk Summit” last week in New York between daytime talk-show producers (few of the big hosts themselves showed up) and social-service professionals trying to get the shows to be more socially helpful. The “summit” may sound like some dopey cold-war knockoff; on the other hand, shows like “Get Bigger Breasts–Or Else” (Rolonda) are currently a more serious threat to American youth than, say, the Red Army. “You know how to catch people’s eye,” Shalala told the talkers, explaining that Washington’s lame idea of communicating with young people is through pamphlets. “The question is, what are you going to tell them?”
The answer, as always in television, depends on the ratings. “If you’re selling [products] to women or young people, are you really going to stop and say, ‘Bill Bennett told me not to’?” asks Springer, placing the onus on the advertisers. No, Jerry, but some advertisers are growing skittish about the controversy, especially as they see viewers opt for the tamer Regis and Kathie Lee. And the market has too many daytime talk shows (nearly 20) with the started-up Dona-hue format. Bennett and Liebermann will no doubt claim credit, but when the shakeout comes, blame the glut not the smut.
For adults, trash TV can be funny, or at least diverting. There’s even an argument that the shows have some moral arc, with the “Mother Who Ran Off With Her Daughter’s Fiance” (Jenny Jones) or “Married Men Who Have Relationships With Their Next-Door-Neighbors” (Morttel Williams) vigorously booed nearly every time they open their mouths. In fact, this “morality play” point is the talkers’ principal line of defense. Springer tells Shalala: “Whenever there is a moral issue on my show, the kids get it right.” Or do they? A NEWSWEEK Poll earlier this year showed that nearly two thirds of the public believe that talk shows decrease the amount of shame attached to abhorrent behavior, “by making these people seem like celebrities or victims themselves.” Fewer than 20 percent felt the shows conveyed any real sense of shame.
The more immediate problem with trash TV shows is when they are on-morning, afternoon and early evening, during which time more than 650,000 American children, ages 2 to 11, are watching these programs. For teenagers, where viewership is much heavier, the problem is not that they will want to become, say, transvestites, but that a more general “anything goes” ethic will continue to infect the culture. As Liebermann puts it, these shows “make the abnormal normal.” This isn’t the most serious problem children face growing up, but it doesn’t help.
Even the severest critics of trash TV programs don’t want the government to force them off the air. So that leaves the kind of public campaign that Bennett has already successfully fought against Time Warner on gangsta rap. Ad boycotts and efforts to shame boards of directors are not censorship but their own form of free speech. “What happens is that these issues never get to the board unless there’s some pressure,” says Newton Minow, a former chairman of the FCC and the author of a new book about children and TV. The key, says Minow, who serves on the board of Tribune Entertainment Co. (which owns Geraldo), lies with reaching the outside directors. This applies not just to owners of the shows but advertisers and local stations.
Responsibility for rot extends widely. Ad executives speculate that Liebermann’s Senate campaigns have bought ads on some of the very shows he denounces. Bennett discovered that one of his big corporate backers, Chris-Craft, produces some daytime TV. The Washington Post Company, which owns NEWSWEEK, also owns a few stations that air some of these shows. Of course, most powerful of all are the viewers themselves. With an election coming, “cultural pollution” is certain to be a sexy campaign issue. But if Americans really wants to clean up trash TV they can vote first where it counts–with their channel changers. ..CN.- JENNY JONES (Time Warner) Viewers: 5.1 million
Recent shows: “My Sister Stole My Man,” “Confronting the Woman Coming On to My Man,” “Ambush Makeovers for Slobs.” ..CN.- RICKI LAKE (Sony Corp.) Viewers: 5.2 million
Recent shows: “I Won’t Wait for the Wedding Day, I Want to Sleep With You First,” “I Won’t Let You Use Me, So Choose Me or Lose Me.” ..CN.- MAURY POVICH (National Amusements Inc.) Viewers: 4.2 million
Recent shows: “You’re Too Old to Be Dating a Teen,” “My Mom Is Way Too Sexy,” “Killers With Custody,” “Secret Crushes.” ..CN.- SALLY JESSY RAPHAEL (Gannett Co.) Viewers: 3.9 million
Recent shows: “Surprise, I’m Your Secret Lover,” “Stop Robbing the Cradle,” “Sleeping With Your Ex,” “Lovers Reveal a Secret.” ..CN.- JERRY SPRINGER (Gannett Co.) Viewers: 3.2 million
Recent shows: “My Friend Is Dating My Ex,” “My Sister Stole My Lover,” “Please Act Straight,” “I Can’t Get Anyone I Want.” ..CN.- MONTEL WILLIAMS (National Amusements Inc.) Viewers: 4.4 million
Recent shows: “Should Parents Do Time for Their Kids’ Crimes?” “Irresponsible Teen Morns,” “Father Falsely Accused of Burning His Son.”
