Talk Tv

Daytime talk shows are certainly controversial there are those who find some of these types of show informational and helpful. There are others who view these shows as pointless and inappropriate. Daily viewers turn on there television and are bombarded with images of sex, drugs, and violence on some of the talk shows. The essay “Talk TV: Tunings into Trouble,” written by Jeanne Albronda Heaton and Nana Leigh Wilson is about TV talk shows that are influencing many people. In their essay “Talk TV: Tuning into Trouble,” they describe how the old TV talk shows provided useful information but, now modern talk shows have crude and vulgar topics. Heaton and Wilson’s main thesis is stated at the end of article where they state “Talk TV initially had great potential as vehicle for disseminating accurate information and as a forum for public debate, although it would be hard to know it from what currently remains. Because most of these talk shows have come to rely on sensational entertainment as the mean of increasing rating, their potential has been lost." Heaton and Wilson argue that the modern TV shows are not useful and the old TV talk shows “...provided useful information…” to their viewers (401).

Heaton and Wilson start there essay with comparing and contrasting the “pioneering shows” and present shows to develop and defend their argument. The “pioneering shows” shows were The Phil Donahue and The Oprah Winfrey. Oprah and Donahue shows were the most immaculate talk shows there is. It is unlikely that you will find guest on Oprah that have committed adultery or are part of a racist hate group. Instead, the shows focused on the improvement of society and individuals quality of life. Topics range from teaching your children responsibility, managing you work week, and entertaining interviews with celebrities. In paragraph four Heaton and Wilson states that “But those pioneering days are over.” this is a transition sentence to signal the shift in their focus from pioneering shows to modern shows. Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like toxic waste being dumped on society.(398)

Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “trash talk.” The topics on his shows are as shocking as they get. For example the show takes the ever common talk shows themes of love, lust, sex, sexuality, adultery, cheating, guilt, and hate. Clearly, the Jerry Springer shows is a display and exploitation of societies moral catastrophes, yet people are willing to eat up the intriguing predicaments of other peoples lives. Not only Jerry Springer there are other shows like Ricki Lake and Jenny Jones who bring guest out onto the stage and exploit their problems and in no way try to help the guest through whatever is bothering them. “Day in and day out, the shows parade all the myriad traumas, betrayals, and afflictions that could possible befall us (400)." These modern TV shows “now encourage conflict, name-calling, and fights”. Heaton and Wilson believe that despite many people’s beliefs that daytime talk TV today is purely entertainment, it is certain that it presents many immoral values and distorts the reality of how our society should behave (398).

Heaton and Wilson use “women” repetitively