Daytime talk television is at the center of several heated debates. There are those who find these shows both informative and helpful. And, there are those who view these shows as not only tasteless but also inappropriate. A possible explanation for the two totally different opinions may lie in the type of daytime talk television that one watches. When looking at daytime talk television, you can see that there are two distinct types. There are shows like Jerry Springer that are simply created for entertainment, with no real value beyond that. And, there are shows like Oprah that are produced with the goal of informing and helping people. Although the two types of shows are formatted totally differently, they are still both make up the genre of daytime talk television. .
The first type of talk show includes shows like Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones, and Jerry Springer where the guests are brought out onto the stage simply to exploit their problems without actually making an effort to correct them. The guests on these shows are sometimes treated like they have no feelings at all. The audience usually isn't too supportive either. The guests have real problems, but they don't get real solutions. They just get the proverbial pie in the face. They are simply the idol of our attention for an hour each day at which time they are forgotten as quickly as we change the channel. These shows have topics that range from cheating spouses to homosexual crushes. The conflict is rarely resolved and in some cases the situation may be made worsened when the show is aired, and the all of the people around the guests learn about their problems. Daytime talk shows like these are often called flaky or cheesy. They are produced simply to entertain the public, and rarely have any value beyond that. .
However, there is at least one person who views these television shows and does find some value in them. In her article for The Village Voice, "How Jenny Jones Saved My Life", Donna Gaines tells the world how Jenny Jones did exactly that.
