Talk Shows

Talk Shows in Society

As a teenager in a present day society the media helps form the reality of the scene expressed by teens today. Television shows such as Talk Shows, that are watched by me frequently have persuaded me in making many of my judgments and dissuasions. As I lay back with my remote control browsing through the channels. I come across at least six-seven Talk Shows within an hour. Talk Shows in the world of television, have undoubtedly taken up almost every inch of space on daytime television, and while doing so has caused much controversy.

In the nineteen eighties, soap opera's and game shows ruled the daytime airwaves, but the nineties are definitely the decade of the talk shows. The craze of talk shows all seemed to start with the originals such as Geraldo Riveria, Donahue and Sally Jesse Rafael (now called Sally) In fact, many of their original topics are still being used in today's talk shows, but with a different style and format. Some of the talk shows on the air today, such as the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Montel Wiliams Show are focused on improvement of society and the quality of life. They focus on topics such as children, the workplace, everyday life and sometimes have interviews with respectable celebrities. You can catch shows with titles such as "Teaching Your Children Responsibly", or "How to Manage Your Work Week". These shows actually educate people and teach the child right from wrong. They also have shows exposing things such as child or spousal abuse and make people aware of these dangers. People even feel a special attachment to their favorite talk show hosts and talk about them as if they know them.

Even the so - called "trash talk shows" such as the Jerry Springer Show, have their upsides. Jerry once did a show featuring David Duke, a former KKK clansman who was presently running for senate. Jerry claims his constant shows on the clan is to let people know about racism. Although he actually did it for publicity, I think that Jerry Springer actually did help us by exposing this man for what he was. Jerry's rebuttal to his bad wrap is that he is helping these people get the attention they need by letting them be on his show, and helping to avoid them trying to get it elsewhere. By watching shows like these people can see and understand things that they probably wouldn't witness in their everyday life.

Then there are the shows that aren't quite trash, but are not exactly educational either such as the Jenny Jones Show, or the Ricki Lake Show. These shows are good for a laugh and are lighthearted and not as drastically honorable as the the Opera Winfrey Show, or as blatant as the Jerry Springer show. The problem most people have with talk shows it that they exploit peoples lives for everyone to see. While flipping through all the channels you are bound to see titles such as sex, adultery hate and drugs, whether it is on the news or soap operas. The reason that talk shows take the most heat for this is because it is not an allusion;