The first half of this obit goes harder than you may guess. > There is nothing about “The Jerry Springer Show” to be applauded — after all, his guests, representing an enormous variety of lifestyles deviating from what is perceived as the norm, were packaged as freaks and brought onstage to be mocked by the audience, and to be (at least seemingly) sternly judged by Springer. There's a lot of interesting lines to be s…
What stands out to me are the comparisons to Donahue, as if he were some serious sort of journalist that Springer made a mockery of. And while Donahue did sometimes try to be serious, sweeps month for Donahue could seem much like Springer ended up becoming, in kind if not degree.