Doing It Publicly Essay, Research Paper

With talk shows ruling day-time television, people are left with little choice but to watch this humiliating form of

entertainment. Turn the television on in the afternoon and you will find a large variety of talk shows to choose from.

“Maybe we have become a nation addicted to hearing our neighbors’ seamy personal problems?.Personally, I feel it

is both the lack of choice and the attraction to other peoples problems.

Many of the topics on talk shows are degrading to our society. If person came to

America for the first time and watched television, they would probably see a talk show. The model a talk show

would give of American society is horrifying. For example, a common talk show topic is teens having multiple sex

partners at young ages. However, not all teens are sexually active at such a young age. For this reason talk shows

are misleading not only to foreigners but to children and young adults who are learning about morals and our

society. In a letter to the corporate CEO’s distributing these programs, William Bennett and Senator Joseph

Lieberman asked: “Would you want your young children to view a program showcasing the sexual adventures of a

14-year-old girl who married her 71-year-old foster father”(Flint and Wharton). To those who do not tune into

these shows this discription may sound like an exaggeration; however, it is not. This is exactly the type of topics on

some shows. Not only are half the shows ridiculous with topics of deceit, revenge and “extreme behavior”, but some

of them are false(Flint and Wharton). On the Jerry springer Show a Canadian comedy troupe went on the show and

created a story. The story was that one of the men had an affair with his baby-sitter. After the show appeared on

television, the troupe members went to the press saying how they

deceived the program and its audience(You 52). Some people will do anything to be

on television. Some shows trick people into situations. The Jenny Jones show has had several episode entitled

“Secret Crush”. In these episode secret admirers are revealed to her guests. In some cases her guests are displeased

with their secret admirer. I can remember one episode that I watched. A woman was surprised by a man who had a

secret crush on her. She was very disturbed when she realized who he was. She proceeded to tell Jenny that this

man was insane and was pursuing her.This could have been avoided if the woman was told who the secret admirer

was before the show. However, if this was done the show would not be as interesting. In another incident, one of

Jenny’s guests confronted a secert crush, and it led to tragedy. Amedure, a male guest had a crush on Johnathan

Schmitz, another male. Amedure surprised Schmitz with his feelings on the show; however, Schmitz was expecting

a woman, from the impression he was given by the shows producers. Schmitz said he was publicly embarrassed

when Amedure revealed on national television that he had a “gay crush” on him. After the show Jonathan Schmitz

was charged with the murder of Amedure. Schmitz shot Amedure and killed him( In some

shows the guests are not informed of the topic, and they end up being embarrassed by a ridiculous

topic. This is wrong because these people with their loved ones or friends sometimes involved are mislead

and sometimes humiliated on

national television by the producers. Even though the guests agree to appear on the

shows because they wanted to, some regret it after the show (You 40). Therefore, we can not pose the guests as

helpless victims because they are adults. Also, if they have seen a talk show before they went on one, they would

know what they were getting themselves into. In my opinion there are just too many talk shows. According to

Larry Pollock there are 32 talk shows on television right now(Flint and Wharton). There are a few talk shows that

are conscientious and have very interesting and educational topics. For example Oprah Winfrey and Maury Povich

are two shows that have many rewarding topics such as family reunions. They also have educational topics on child

and spousal abuse. These shows are good because they expose us to different things that are going on in the world,

things that we can change. The best thing to do is to shift through all the talk shows and get rid of the garbage. In

the nineteen eighties, soap operas and game shows ruled day-time television. If we can find something entertaining

to replace talk shows, we can make them a fad of the past.