For 28 seasons, The Jerry Springer Show ruled daytime television. Hardly lauded as a cultural achievement, the show nonetheless solidified its place as part of American T.V. canon, spawning rumors, references and copycats. 

The titular host, Jerry Springer, has come under fire throughout the show’s run for everything from accusations of feeding off the misery of poorer people to outright faking on-screen drama for ratings.

Viewers brought the authenticity of the guests into question most often, prompting speculation the show was either scripted or punched-up to create big, memorable T.V. moments.

Check out the clues that help reveal whether or not the iconic fighting, screaming, cheering, dancing and crying was legit or just for cameras.

Why Do People Think It’s Staged?

The Jerry Springer Show actually started out as a serious talk show, but as ratings slumped, producers turned to sensationalism to draw eyes, which makes it logical in most peoples’ minds that they then have an incentive to stage drama. 

But that wouldn’t be viable long term and, as the series ran for nearly 30 years, Jerry and the showrunners needed to make sure the show’s reputation stayed intact, even if it wasn’t particularly clean.

What Has Jerry Said?

Jerry discussed fan accusations of faking the show, responding in his coy fashion: “The show was 98 percent real.”

But what does that mean – what 2 percent was fake? According to the man himself, while they claimed they never coached or told any guest to lie, it’s likely some guests’ stories were either inflated or untrue.

There Were Legal Consequences

“In fact, the lawyers were involved,” the legendary host said. “You’d get sued if you made it up. Now, if you’re asking me, was there ever a time when someone fooled us and to this day we don’t know that they made it up, but before you get on the show, you sit in a room with the cameras rolling and the lawyers and you are liable for making up a story.”

The situation for a potential guest seemed pretty intimidating. While that probably wouldn’t stop a professional conman – or someone truly unhinged – most people sitting at home thinking about how hilarious it would be to drag a Springer audience wouldn’t want to risk it.

There’s No Real Financial Incentive

Making it more unlikely anyone were to spin total lies just to get on the show is the fact that guests were never paid to be on Springer. While their travel costs were often covered, as the show went off air in 2018, most of the guests had no outlet to turn their 15 minutes of fame into any sort of lasting attention or monetize it.

While nowadays someone who concocted a particularly juicy story could probably milk their appearance for a few bucks via social media, they would also face even more intense scrutiny given how easy it is to fact check most people today.

There Have Been Fake Guests

Despite everything the production tried to do to stop phonies from getting on the show, three guests famously faked a love triangle according to a source who spoke to Buzzfeed.

“I know a few people who were on an episode of Jerry Springer,” they said. “The entire storyline was fake. It was a love triangle where the man left a woman for her best friend, who was a man. But in reality, the man and woman weren’t even together, but the men were. They were all friends who came up with the story one night.”

Even Jerry admits to not being able to catch 100 percent of the liars, but 98 percent, if what he says is true, doesn’t make the show staged.