'Jerry Springer Show' producers share 'secret' to show's fights

From the outside looking in, "The Jerry Springer Show" was a Pandora's box of outlandish personalities and chaotic segments. But as it turns out, there was some method to the madness.

During an appearance on the docuseries "Hollywood Demons," producers from the controversial daytime talk show got candid on the behind-the-scenes process for generating the show's scandals, according to People magazine and Entertainment Weekly.

The Investigation Discovery series purports to expose the underbelly of pop culture's most infamous moments through in-depth interviews and industry analysis. The show's upcoming second season will pull back the curtain on "The Jerry Springer Show," "Saved by the Bell," the deaths of celebrities Prince and Matthew Perry, and other cultural touchstones.

"Jerry Springer never knew about the stories before we came to tape," producer Jimmy "the Hat" Haimann said in an advanced clip obtained by People. "And it may have actually helped, just due to the fact that maybe he wouldn't want to see some of the stuff we put together, you know?"

"The Jerry Springer Show," hosted by former politician and journalist Jerry Springer, started out as a serious political program modeled after Phil Donahue, but the show initially flopped in ratings. It quickly morphed into a tabloid extravaganza that sought out more outrageous guests with every episode.

The talk show, which ran from 1991 to 2018, became synonymous with trash TV thanks to its embrace of taboo social topics, ranging from incest and adultery to self-mutilation and sex work. The series often featured profanity, physical fights and scantily clad guests.

Reena Friedman Watts, another producer on the talk show, conducted a candid interview with Springer shortly before his 2023 death and asked the host if he knew "what it took to get that show on the air," per People.

"Yes, I knew what you guys did," Springer told Watts, as seen in People's clip. "But I was so separated from what actually happened, including not knowing ahead of time. They never told me who the guests were going to be."

'Jerry Springer Show' producer says talk show would encourage onscreen fights

"Jerry Springer Show" associate producer Houston Curtis, who also appears on "Hollywood Demons," revealed how the talk show's production crew would instigate conflict between guests.

"I noticed pretty quick what the secret was," Curtis said, according to an advanced clip obtained by Entertainment Weekly. "Let's say that I have two brothers in a conflict. When you're prepping the guests, you tell one of them, 'If your brother says something you don't like, you can yell at him, you can get up in his face, you can even spit on him. But whatever you do, don't hit him.' And you don't tell the other person any of that."

He continued: "Once you produce one person to get up and spit in someone's face, and then you don't give any instruction to the other one, the other one is going to haul off and knock the hell out of the one who did it, and boom. You got a fight."

Part of the series' success also stemmed from trafficking in racial stereotypes, homophobia, transphobia and the othering of disabled people. Guests from marginalized and vulnerable communities were often the butt of harsh jokes and sometimes actual violence (whether staged or unplanned).

"It would be so hypocritical for me to say, 'That show is terrible,'" Springer previously said of his talk show. "I've always said it's stupid. It's just camp. It's chewing gum. It's an hour of escapism. It has no real value."

Season 2 of "Hollywood Demons" premieres on Investigation Discovery April 20.

Contributing: Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY