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Get ready to dive into the wild and chaotic world of daytime TV like never before! From explosive paternity tests to onstage brawls and outrageous confessions, these shows turned private drama into must-watch spectacle. Join us as we explore programs where subtlety took a backseat and controversy ruled the airwaves. Which unforgettable moment had you clutching your remote in disbelief? Watch and find out!
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00:00I'm saying I would be happier without you because I've been miserable.
00:03This has been terrible. It's been a terrible time.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today we're counting down our picks for the most gloriously messy programs ever to rule the airwaves before primetime.
00:14So you did something that was kind of extraordinary of the five guys.
00:18I had three DNA tests done, yes.
00:22Number 10, The Bill Cunningham Show.
00:24Now what about these men that she brings into your home? Talk about the men.
00:27Okay, the other night I was sleeping and I heard the door open. It was her.
00:31I saw a guy run into the room. I don't know what she does with these guys. I confronted her
00:35about it.
00:36After debuting on Tribune stations in 2011, the conflict-heavy talk show expanded to the CW nationwide the following year
00:43and ran for five seasons.
00:45Its favorite ingredients were almost aggressively daytime.
00:48Cheating accusations, paternity disputes, feuding relatives, sex scandals, DNA results, and lie detector tests.
00:55You said no?
00:57That was the truth.
01:02This is what I'm talking about.
01:04Even the headlines screamed for attention.
01:07With gems like Wham Bam DNA Jam and I Hate Who You Date, Dump Your Mate, Cunningham counseled guests through
01:14the fallout while secrets, accusations, and relationship disasters kept the spectacle moving.
01:19Come here. Let's resolve this. Come here. Come with me. Do you want? Come on. As much pain as you're
01:25in, crying is not going to help.
01:28Subtlety clearly was never invited into the studio at all.
01:32Number nine, Sally.
01:34One of the supervisors from school called and said, your daughter missed school today.
01:39Your daughter missed school today.
01:41The woman in the iconic red glasses started the show with serious issues, making its descent into tabloid chaos particularly
01:48grim.
01:49As the show wore on, producers chased the shock tactics of rivals, turning an issue-driven frontrunner into daytime television
01:56spectacle.
01:57When you catch him dressed as a girl, how does it make you feel?
02:02It's just devastating. I mean, this is my son.
02:06Episodes tackled cheating spouses, young people struggling in abusive relationships, and families confronting out-of-control children.
02:13Sally Jessie Raphael later said pressure for ratings pushed the program toward what she considered junk, and that she hated
02:21its final years.
02:21Uh, grand theft and attempted murder is not in trouble.
02:27I've got in trouble, but they haven't done anything about it.
02:30They stuck me on probation.
02:32When even the host regrets the trash, you know the dumpster was blazing.
02:35Number eight, Geraldo.
02:37Look it. White Jerry King. That was your former name, wasn't it?
02:40It wasn't, and I really recommend that you don't push me too hard.
02:45Oh, come on.
02:46A broken nose became this show's infamous badge of honor, running from 1987 to 1998.
02:51The series chased the loudest version of daytime television, mixing relationship drama, sexual sensationalism, celebrity gossip, and extremist guests.
03:01If you have true belief in your convictions, and your movement is as good and as powerful as you say
03:06it is, why are you afraid to let other people speak?
03:09Episode titles like When Your Spouse is an Exhibitionist, When the Other Woman is a Man, and A Nudist Beach,
03:16marketed themselves.
03:17Then came 1988's Young Hatemongers taping, where a brawl involving white supremacists ended with Geraldo Rivera being struck by a
03:25chair, and left with a fractured nose.
03:28Daytime TV had discovered that chaos could be the main attraction.
03:32Now, why did you decide to give it up?
03:36It's stupid. It's bringing everyone down, you know? This country, you know, the people ought to work together and help
03:42make society better.
03:43Number 7, Ricky Lake.
03:45It's a woman's worst nightmare, catching her husband in bed with someone else.
03:48Today, wives face off with the other woman as they confront their husband's mistress for the very first time.
03:54This show understood that a messy confession was even better than a crowd yelling along.
03:57From 1993 to 2004, Ricky Lake turned relationship disasters and confrontations into a youth-skewing daytime party, complete with the
04:06audience chanting,
04:07Go Ricky!
04:08Go Ricky! Go Ricky! Go Ricky! Go Ricky! Go Ricky! Go Ricky!
04:13We love Ricky Lake!
04:15Thanks, Ricky!
04:16Go Ricky!
04:17Keep it coming!
04:18Topics arrived with titles like You Have No Friends, and today I'll tell you why.
04:22And today I nominate you the worst boyfriend in America.
04:24Lake, only 24 when the show began, met the chaos with breezy empathy instead of solemn judgment.
04:30Hey, great, Tim. You seem like such a nice guy. It seems like you do not deserve this kind of
04:35treatment.
04:35If you were to know some of the stuff I've done to her in the past, so...
04:38Somehow, all that humiliation came wrapped in the energy of a sleepover you absolutely knew you had no business attending.
04:44Number 6, The Steve Wilkos Show.
04:46We became best friends. He had a girlfriend at the time who I ended up actually getting really close to.
04:51Well, you were sleeping with him?
04:53No, I wasn't sleeping with him yet.
04:56Daytime's most intimidating head of security got his own stage, and subtlety never stood a chance.
05:01After guest hosting more than 50 Jerry Springer episodes, Steve Wilkos got his own series in 2007
05:07and became known for his tough-talking style as a host.
05:10You can't be taking women's phone numbers or giving out your phone number so she can text you, and you
05:15can text her.
05:16The show's casting page saw people who suspected their partners of cheating, abuse victims, people caught in family drama or
05:22false accusations,
05:23and anybody needing lie detector or DNA tests.
05:26That menu became the formula.
05:28Serious allegations, combustible confrontations, test result reveals, and guests being told to get off the stage.
05:35Packaging private crises as public high-volume judgment made this daytime television at its absolute most aggressively tabloid.
05:43I am on my knees on national television, telling you from the bottom of my heart that I have loved
05:49you since I have met you.
05:52I have loved you.
05:54Number 5, The Jenny Jones Show.
05:56You're about to meet a man who's in the hot seat.
05:58His name is Rudy Taylor, and sitting with him is his wife and the mother of his two children, Jean.
06:03What began with celebrities cooking, exercise, and fashion did not stay that way for long.
06:09After weak first season ratings, new producers and a new format arrived, pulling the series into daytime's increasingly lorded spectacle.
06:16You should be insulted that he lied to you.
06:19Exactly.
06:19You know what?
06:19I ain't even worried about it, because like I said, you better take a good look at that little boy,
06:23because he won't see him no more.
06:24Its darkest legacy came from a shelved 1995 Secret Crush episode, in which Scott Amador revealed his feelings for acquaintance
06:32Jonathan Schmitz.
06:33Three days after the taping, Schmitz took Amador's life, and was later convicted of second-degree murder.
06:38The alleged perpetrator of this vicious crime was an acquaintance of his, 24-year-old Jonathan Schmitz.
06:44The episode eventually aired on Court TV, and the tragedy came to permanently overshadow the show's legacy.
06:50The incident became a terrifying example of how the era's appetite for shock could collide with real-world horror.
06:56You used him as a source of entertainment, having no idea what his emotions would be for other people, didn't
07:03you?
07:03No, that's not the way I see it.
07:04I don't use people on the show.
07:06Number four, The Richard Bay Show.
07:07They dress sexy, they date lots of men, and they don't care.
07:11And they all think they should be Ms. All That.
07:14Please welcome them to the show.
07:16This was less a talk show than a carnival built around people's very public mess.
07:21During its 1990s run, personal stories became the setup for games, spoof dating segments, sound effects, and deliberately ridiculous punishments.
07:28Eating that good pizza, good solid nourishment.
07:34Here they come.
07:35The most infamous was The Wheel of Torture, which spun a guest in circles while their partner dumped stuff over
07:41them as a form of on-air punishment.
07:43Critics called the program No Brow, and a mindless parody of a talk show.
07:47However, that was apparently the appeal.
07:49Shame, spectacle, and a host who openly admitted daytime TV was lowbrow entertainment.
07:54You may be big, but I have the biggest mouth.
08:01Number three, The Jeremy Kyle Show.
08:03When you were asked to do a lie detector by my friends, what did you say?
08:07No.
08:08Why?
08:09Why?
08:10Because what's the point?
08:11Why Amy believes it, everybody else believes it.
08:13She thinks you're a...
08:14Few daytime hosts could turn messy private conflict into a very public trial quite like this.
08:20Guests came hoping to resolve difficult personal situations inside a format built for confrontation.
08:25Do you not think that...
08:26Do you think John is perfect?
08:28No.
08:29How many times has he cheated on you?
08:30Four.
08:31Don't know of.
08:32How long you been together?
08:33A week?
08:34No, it's over a period of a year.
08:36The rows could get so ugly that, after one guest head-butted another man on stage,
08:41a judge called the program human bear-baiting.
08:44In 2019, the series was cancelled after guest Steve Diamond died a week after filming an unaired episode.
08:49Carl described Steve Diamond as being very upset at the fact that he was called a liar on this show
08:55after failing a lie detector test.
08:58A coroner later found no causal link between his appearance and his death.
09:02By then, after years of exposing personal crises for daytime television,
09:06Britain's trash TV reckoning had finally arrived in public view.
09:09Number 2, Maury.
09:11Is Tanner the father of Chazen?
09:13He is the father all the way!
09:15Look at my baby!
09:17One envelope, one pause, and suddenly, a studio was holding its breath.
09:22When producers found the niche that defined the series, paternity tests, lie detectors, and out-of-control teenagers, they stuck
09:28to it.
09:29When it comes to 11-month-old Jason, Larry, you are not the father.
09:35Povich later admitted why.
09:37Paternity episodes rated better, so the show made more of them.
09:40The DNA test reveals became its crown jewel, with Maury's You Are Not The Father delivery,
09:45turning private uncertainty into a recognizable punchline.
09:48When it comes to one-year-old Zaheem, Larry, you are not the father.
09:56Each paternity segment compressed love, betrayal, denial, audience judgment,
10:00and a lab result into a compact burst of spectacle.
10:03The format was brutally simple, endlessly repeatable, and impossible to ignore.
10:07He knows that the one might not be his.
10:12But he was on his way to the DNA test.
10:17If you love games, be sure to check out WatchMojo's new game, Terrible Influence.
10:22Just launched for purchase at TerribleInfluence.com.
10:25Terrible Influence is a satirical board game about the dark side of fame
10:28from the writer of the most popular girls in school and us, WatchMojo.
10:32Boom.
10:33I can make an apology video.
10:35Oh, you so would.
10:36Click on the link in the description to check out the game
10:38and be the first to play Terrible Influence.
10:42Number one, The Jerry Springer Show.
10:45Now, Quinn says she regrets breaking up with her high school sweetheart
10:49and wants another chance.
10:51Quinn, you broke up with your high school sweetheart.
10:54Before the fistfights and flying chairs, there were politics and current affairs.
10:58After ratings struggled, the show lurched toward tabloid spectacle,
11:02making sex, cheating scandals, profanity, and onstage brawls its calling cards.
11:07The audience egged everything on with the immortal Jerry, Jerry, Jerry chant,
11:13while security rushed in to break up fights.
11:16In 1998, the circus had become irresistible enough to overtake Oprah in the ratings battle.
11:21TV Guide reportedly placed it atop its list of the 50 worst TV shows ever.
11:26Revealing a secret can be painful, but keeping it inside can even be worse.
11:30Well, today my guests are here to tell their lovers the truth.
11:32For this countdown, that suspiciously feels like the highest honor imaginable.
11:37Which daytime TV moment made you stop and wonder how on earth was this allowed to air?
11:40Let us know below.
11:41We'll see you next time.