To compete against Letterman and Leno, another station in town would rerun that day's Jerry Springer show. This wasn't always the case, but at least once a week you'd be guaranteed to see something that, in a talk show setting, you'd never seen before. I'd sit thinking "There's no way he's taking this seriously." I had been taught in the "School of Dave" that much comedy comes from taking something stupid completely serious. Such seriousness becomes the joke.
And so, Jerry's show morphed into what was making it popular, what was causing imitations each new fall season. And for our show we, too, were figuring out what was funniest, who we could trust to ad lib, etc. Our core of the show needed little direction: they could be trusted in any situation. There were others that were 50/50 on if they'd blend in or become a liability (Nic/Kevin). And there were others that I'd wish hadn't shown up, hadn't known about the taping, weren't invited, etc.
BUT, when you're doing a show like this, you need bodies, plain and simple.
One episode was titled "Oh those hobbies" and featured some unique hobbies. One man really enjoyed pecans. Another man enjoyed punting marshmallows. "It started a while back in the kitchen. Kind of raining out. This bag of marshmallows there...all kinds of different colors. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was hooked on...punting marshmallows."
In these instances, there were surprise clips of people at home doing these hobbies. "How'd you get that?" they'd ask. But it was too late - the audience had seen enough.
"If he ever moves into MY neighborhood, I'm gonna punt his marshmallow face right outta there!" (Audience goes crazy)
The pressure soon got to Jorge Tacomaisch. His personal hobby shown on television, well...
The guests (and nutty hobbies) continued. One man was in denial about his love of icing. Not wanting to be agreeable, the audience went for the throat.
In another, "Bounce Pass" Williams came clean on his uniform fetish and how he's able to manage life. He also shares of meeting people with "Lab coat fetishes."
A later episode, titled "I've Got a Secret" featured guests Garth Schlinkterz ("Boy! Me & Eggs! Forget it!) and Nim-Wam Nam ("Boy! Me and dryers at the dry cleaners!") sharing aspects of their unique personalities, all for the delight of the audience.
A couple years after these videos, I met Jerry, if ever briefly. Enough for a handshake, photo, and quick word. He was polite, forthright, kind, funny. A good TV personality. He was riding high. That's a good time to meet most people, I've found.
Our parodies were played for laughs. What were Jerry's "authentic" guests for beyond ratings and making money? On the show, Jerry would seem level-headed (and he was) and seemingly concerned (maybe he was) with each episode concluding with a "let's come together" thought. It kept everything upbeat despite how downbeat, bizarre, or depressing things would be during the episode.
In 2006, I was working at ABC. I was asked if I'd want to attend Dancing with the Stars episodes in the past and was asked again as the new season premiered. I politely declined. The next day, the reviews were in: it was some obscene audience total, like 22 million viewers. Flipping around the in-house TV, they showed a clip of Jerry being interviewed by fellow contestant Tucker Carlson. From Television City, they shared their war stories from the previous night. The insane size of the viewing audience was brought up, and they both shook their heads. They were amazed and couldn't believe it. A moment in time.
He chased the money. He was honest about it. He had willing and unknowingly willing enablers. And it worked beyond his wildest dreams. Me? Well, I watched Sabs convulse, Jonas channel his inner-audience, and Nim Nam talk about riding in a commercial-sized dryer. In a very 90's way, we both succeeded.
