Talk show host Jerry Springer passed away on Thursday at age 79 after a battle with cancer.
One of his last TV interviews was in August 2022, when he was The Meatball’s Host special guest on “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” in their very first episode.
WATCH Jerry Springer Get Interviewed By Snooki On ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’
Jerry was The Meatball’s Host special guest on “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” in the show’s first episode. Jerry gets driven up to the house before getting invited inside.
“Jerry Springer, like, is a G,” Angelina says in a voiceover as she goes to get him a water bottle on screen. “Hanging out with him is just so cool. I love that f—ing man.”
After showing him photos of her dog, she tells him about her roommate, Vinnie, asking, “Tell me how to get rid of somebody that’s obsessed with me, please.”
After a few cuts to the girls freaking out about Jerry being in the house, she continued, “He acts like he doesn’t love me to death in front of everybody, but behind closed doors…”
“…he does,” Jerry finished for her.
“I just feel like every time I see him, his pants grow,” she says as the camera pans to a reaction shot from Jerry. “And, I’m like, dude, I can’t.”
‘The Jerry Springer Show’ Had More Than 5,000 Episodes!
The video then cuts to Deena saying that she feels like Jerry is someone who “wouldn’t judge us” and an “O.G. in this entire hosting game.” Snooki adds, “An icon.” After reminding fans that “The Jerry Springer” show ran for 27 seasons and featured over 5,000 episodes, it cuts to Jerry back in the house, still listening to Angelina complain about how he “jump ropes for a living.”
The girls begin to have trouble with the walkie talkies, much to Jerry’s amusement. “Okay, I am sending in Mr. Springer now,” Chris says as the two girls continue freaking out. Deena and Snooki chant his name and Jerry waves to an invisible crowd as he exchanges hugs with the two girls.
“You’re… meatballs?” Jerry asks. When they confirm that they are, he asks, “Swedish?” before he gets the deadpan reply, “No. Drunk.”
When asked if he had ever seen “Jersey Shore,” Jerry admitted, “I saw a couple of episodes.” The girls start talking over one another, as Deena says, “We are where we are because of you.” Snooki added that they used to stay home and watch his show. “You brought reality TV to where it is,” Snooky says, to which Jerry replied, “I apologize.”
When asked if they can call him daddy, Jerry steals a classic line from Maury Pauvich, saying, “I am not the father.” Although Snooki proclaims, “You are our daddy and we love you,” Jerry asks, “Can we at least have a test?”
Jerry Springer Admits That ‘The Jerry Springer Show’ Was ‘A Stupid Show’
In a March 2022 interview with Page Six, the former Mayor of Cincinnati admitted that he couldn’t think of anything more fun than “The Jerry Springer Show,” which ran from 1991 to 2018.
“I can’t think of anything more fun,” Jerry recalled. “I mean, I never took it seriously. I always knew it was a stupid show. But it’s fun, and people enjoyed it.” He compared the experience of watching the show to chewing bubble gum, saying, “It isn’t going to save the world, but it’s not going to kill you, either.”
He went on to say that the show had “a democratic quality to it” that introduced the world to all kinds of people that they may not come face-to-face with in everyday life. He then compared it to other popular sitcoms of the 90s, including “Seinfeld” and “Friends.”
“‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Frasier,’ ‘Friends,’ it was always well-scrubbed-looking, upper middle-class people. And that was it, and all of a sudden my show comes on,” he recalled. He said that “The Jerry Springer Show” showcased people who “had never really been on television before,” which is what led to the show’s massive appeal.
Jerry also joked that, compared to social media today, “Our show is like ‘I Love Lucy.’”
In 2019, Jerry dished out grandfatherly advice in his new show, “Judge Jerry” which only ran for three seasons before its abrupt cancelation.
