Netflix’s ‘Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action’ Will Explore The Complicated Legacy Of A TV Legend

Whether you love him or hate him, it’s more likely the latter, there’s no denying the impact Jerry Springer had on entertainment. His obsession with the depraved and obscene paved the way for the rise of trashy reality television, a cultural shift that the industry is still grappling with today.

In light of his lasting influence, Netflix has announced a documentary series titled Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action, set to be released on Jan. 7, 2025. The two-part program will explore exactly how Springer and his team managed to bring their shocking final product to the air.

Per Netflix, the upcoming program will feature “extraordinary first-hand testimony” from producers and former guests. Along with “revelations from show insiders,” the production will provide an exclusive look at the thinly veiled darker side of the ’90s hit. Most importantly, it’ll confront a pressing question in the entertainment industry: How far are we willing to go for entertainment?

The Jerry Springer Show first premiered in 1991 and ran for 27 seasons, producing thousands of episodes before concluding in 2018. The show began as a relatively grounded analysis of political issues before it eventually devolved into sensationalism. The show became well-known for its physical altercations and eccentric rotating guests, including a man who married a horse.

Despite the larger-than-life presence of his show, Jerry Springer, who died at age 79 in 2023, was always candid about it. “My show is what it is,” Springer said in a 2019 Daily Beast interview. “My show is stupid. The only defense I ever give to the show, when people are attacking it or whatever, is that they won’t admit their criticism is elitist.”

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action comes to Netflix from director Luke Sewell and executive producers Sophie Jones, Alicia Kerr and Sophie Leonard. The series will fit right in with Netflix’s documentaries on other controversial men in the public eye, including Vince McMahon and Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez.