Pick of the week
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action
The Jerry Springer Show started out gently with nice surprises; reuniting long-lost daughters with their mothers, making the world a better place. But no one watched it. This grimly fascinating two-part documentary explores the making of a ratings monster as, under the supervision of producer and “diabolical genius” Richard Dominick, it ramped up extremity, actively provoked the worst impulses of its guests, abandoned any notion of duty of care and ushered in a dark era of television. Many of the show’s behind-the-scenes names are interviewed here and all manifest a revealing level of moral equivocation. Even Springer later said: “I don’t wanna live in a country that watches my show.”
Netflix, from Tuesday 7 January
