I’m doing something a bit different with this week’s column. Normally I write about shows I enjoy or shows I feel don’t get enough press. Not this time. This time I’m writing about a show which should be so far off the beaten path that it should get lost in the woods, follow breadcrumbs deeper into the labyrinth and then get eaten by a wolf dressed in granny’s nightgown. Yep, I’m talking about The Steve Wilkos Show.
I suppose I should start with a bit of history, eh? You see, when The Jerry Springer Show first arrived on the scene, I think most television addicts (such as myself) tuned in for a show or two. Yikes! What a bizarre trashy concept of a show! But it worked. I have to give kudos to Springer for being smart, developing an audience and earning himself lots of money.
What does that have to do with Wilkos? Well, he was one of Springer’s security people, breaking up the hyped-up fights on stage. Apparently he began to gain the favor of both Springer and the audience. He was soon guest hosting The Jerry Springer Show on occasion. Okay, I have nothing against thug-like enforcement on a show like this. It’s nothing I’d aspire to, but all the more power to him.
That is, until he got his own show. Yes, it happened. I’m a night owl by choice at times, and I’ve come across the show in the wee hours. Oh, sheesh. People write into him with their stories of woe, tragedy, idiotic behavior … you name it.
“Steve, my baby’s daddy killed three people. I love him so much. Please help me!”
“Steve, child services has taken away my seven children! I’m a good Mom. I only do meth now and then! Please help me!”
Then, Steve’s usual approach to “help” them is to berate, bully, yell and scream at them. Of course, no person with a mind would go on the show, but still! It’s akin to public floggings without a whip. Wilkos is judge, jury, and executioner all the time with a chip on his shoulder about his own fine morals. If he had morals, he probably wouldn’t be involved in the trash show genre. I don’t understand why any of the “guests” would put themselves on a nationally syndicated television show specifically to be humiliated in front of a live audience and the world at large. What’s wrong with people? Are these people in the same world as you and me?
I thought Springer was trashy and bad. Wilkos is but an appendage of Springer which has somehow come alive separated from the body. I thought Maury with all the DNA tests to find out “who’s my baby’s daddy” was trashy. Heck, if you don’t know who the father of your child is, the kid might be better off with different parents.
But Wilkos takes the cake. He is the worst trash show of the trash shows.
Clacked by Jackie Schnoop 
on Jan 30, 2009 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
