The Steve Wilkos Show

The Steve Wilkos Show is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Steve Wilkos. The show debuted on September 10, 2007, two months after Wilkos' departure as director of security on The Jerry Springer Show.

The Steve Wilkos Show
GenreTabloid talk show
Created bySteve Wilkos
Presented bySteve Wilkos
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons13
No. of episodes2,000
Production
Executive producer(s)Rachelle Wilkos
Steve Wilkos Jerry Springer
Camera setupMultiple
Running time42 minutes
Production company(s)Stamford Media Center Productions
DistributorNBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original networkSyndication
Picture format1080i (16:9 HDTV)
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseSeptember 10, 2007 (2007-09-10) –
present
External links
Website

History

The show has Wilkos expanding on his Steve to the Rescue shows that he did while serving as a co-host for Jerry Springer whenever Springer took breaks or was doing other projects, such as Dancing with the Stars.[1][2] The idea of Wilkos having his own show came as a result of this approach, which proved to be so popular with viewers that the producers of Springer pitched the idea of giving Wilkos his own show to NBCUniversal, which proved successful.[3] On his show, each episode of the show focuses on the topics usually addressed by this type of talk show, mainly involving adultery, domestic abuse, paternity, disrespectful children and teenage pregnancy, with other topics of the same genre also covered often.

As noted, Wilkos' show takes a darker tone and deals with more serious topics than Springer's usually covered, most involving criminal justice issues. Wilkos will often refuse to allow guests accused of excessively heinous misbehavior, such as being convicted of certain crimes (especially sex offenses and spousal/child abuse) to sit down in the chairs on his soundstage. Wilkos will sometimes toss these chairs aside when he is angry (and at times he has also thrown the chairs, thereby breaking them). He often notes in his show that the reason he does so is that when the accused committed the crime against the victim, they weren't making them "comfortable" and as such, they don't deserve to be "comfortable" while on his show.[4] Irrespective of any heinous behavior, Wilkos typically lets pregnant women[5] and teenagers[6] sit on his stage.

A trademark of the show is Wilkos' chair-throwing. When angry, he often picks up and throws chairs, usually breaking them (in one notable instance during the first season, rather than breaking, a chair he threw got wedged into the wall), and often stating that he would like to do the same to his guests.[7]

Despite lack of evidence of their efficacy,[8][9][10] polygraph exams are commonly used on the show as a means for resolving issues. Often guests are polygraphed in regards to cases of physical abuse, child molestation, rape, murder, and infidelity. When the results of a polygraph are disputed by an accused guest, Wilkos brings out the production's polygraph expert, Daniel Ribacoff (who has been on the show since the third season) to explicate the results. Guests usually take the polygraph exam three times or more.[11][12]

The show also focuses on clearing the names of those who are wrongfully accused and/or convicted of serious offenses such as rape, abuse, murder, and other offenses of that nature. If the accused passes their lie detector test, Steve often turns his anger towards the accusers the same way he expresses anger at those who are guilty of committing those offenses.

Wilkos has appeared twice on Maury; once in 2008,[13] and participated in the 2,500th episode in 2013.[14]

On November 22, 2013, The Steve Wilkos Show celebrated its 1000th episode, along with Jerry Springer and Rachelle Wilkos as special guests. The 1,000th episode took a look back on the first seven of the ten seasons of the show.[15]

The Steve Wilkos Show celebrated its tenth anniversary in September 2016. Steve Wilkos and Rachelle Wilkos, as well as the producers, hosted a series of tributes entitled "A Decade of Steve", looking back on the first nine seasons of the show.

Changes

In the second season, Wilkos began dividing some episodes into two segments, each one dealing with different guests and issues. In rare cases, there can be three segments on one episode. Additionally, paternity tests and infidelity were added as topics to the show. As time went on with the paternity and infidelity stories, Wilkos would often make jokes with guests just to get laughs from himself, his guests and the audience, since paternity and infidelity aren't as serious an offense as abuse of any kind.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, executive producer Richard Dominick was forced from the program by Springer and NBCU Domestic Television after encouraging Wilkos to become extremely physical with a guest. Rachelle Wilkos, Wilkos's wife and a long time Springer crew member, became the program's executive producer.[16][17]

Wilkos' third season premiered September 14, 2009, originating from the Stamford Media Center in Stamford, Connecticut complete with a new studio. Fellow NBC-Universal talkers Maury and Springer made the move, as well.[18]

In June 2018, it was announced that the show had been renewed through 2020.[19]

In March 2020, NBCUniversal Television Distribution announced that The Steve Wilkos Show had been renewed for two additional seasons.[20][21][22]

Notable episodes
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Some episodes of the show have led to guests being arrested or convicted of sexual crimes.

  • In November 2011, Norwich, Connecticut police arrested Burke Bergman after he failed a lie detector test about sexually molesting his son, in the episode "Three Possible Dads, One Possible Molester" aired on September 19, 2011.[23]
  • Five months following the October 3, 2012 episode "Did You Rape My Daughter?", guest Shaun Whitt was arrested in Flagler County, Florida on charges of raping his then-11-year-old daughter beginning in 2010. In September 2014, Whitt was convicted of two counts of sexual battery against a child and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.[24]
  • The May 6, 2015 episode "Did You Violate Our Trust...and Our Children?"[25] led to the arrest of 22-year-old Dameion McBride in Kansas City, Missouri for sexually abusing three children.[26] McBride was convicted in late 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.[27]

Nearly a week after the May 15, 2017 broadcast of the episode "Horrific Child Abuse Caught on Video",[28] police in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania arrested 21-year-old Jessica Lynn Samick on two charges including felony endangering the welfare of a child. She is suspected of beating and burning a one-year-old boy whom she was babysitting.[29][30]

See also

References
  1. "NBCU to Launch The Steve Wilkos Show; Announces Clearances". Mediaweek. January 14, 2007. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007.
  2. Berman, Marc (September 3, 2007). "Mr. Television: Talking Tough". Mediaweek. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007.
  3. "'Maury,' Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos talk shows renewed through 2016". The Stamford Times. July 15, 2012.
  4. Video on YouTube
  5. Video on YouTube
  6. Video on YouTube
  7. Memories from 1000 Shows: Throwing Chairs - YouTube
  8. "Scientific Validity of Polygraph Testing: A Research Review and Evaluation". Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. 1983. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  9. "Monitor on Psychology – The polygraph in doubt". American Psychological Association. July 2004. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  10. Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences and Education (BCSSE) and Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) (2003). The Polygraph and Lie Detection. National Research Council. doi:10.17226/10420. ISBN 978-0-309-26392-4.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (Chapter 8: Conclusions and Recommendations, p. 212)
  11. Stevewilkos.com
  12. Video on YouTube
  13. Video on YouTube
  14. TV Guide
  15. Andrea Morabito (November 22, 2013). "Ex-Marine Steve Wilkos battles his way to 1,000 episodes". New York Post. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  16. Feder, Robert (September 11, 2008). "Choked up; Ex-'Springer' producer says he gave 'everything I had inside me'". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008.
  17. Feder, Robert (September 3, 2008). "Fall from 'Springer'". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  18. The new studio - Steve Wilkos Archived September 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  19. Littleton, Cynthia (January 4, 2018). "Talk Show 'The Real' Renewed Through 2020 as Other Syndicated Series Teeter on Bubble". Variety. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  20. "The Steve Wilkos Show: Daytime Talk Show Renewed through 2022". canceled + renewed TV shows - TV Series Finale. March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  21. Albiniak, Paige. "'Steve Wilkos' Joins 'Maury' With Two-Season Renewal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  22. Paige, Sara. "DAYTIME TALK SHOW 'THE STEVE WILKOS SHOW' RENEWED THROUGH 2022". NBCUniversal. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  23. Smith, Greg (November 2, 2011). "Taftville man arrested after TV appearance". The Bulletin. Norwich, CT. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  24. Holt, Tony (September 19, 2014). "Flagler child rapist was confronted on 'Steve Wilkos' talk show". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  25. https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/the-steve-wilkos-show/episode-121-season-8/did-you-violate-our-trustand-our-children/290120/
  26. Babbitt, Kasey (July 15, 2015). "Kansas City metro man charged with child molestation after appearing on daytime talk show". Fox4KC.com. WDAF. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  27. Kaplan, Don (February 19, 2017). "Steve Wilkos helps bust perv, failed TV lie detector test launches police investigation". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  28. https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/the-steve-wilkos-show/episode-127-season-10/horrific-child-abuse-caught-on-video/290120/
  29. Metrick, Becky (May 24, 2017). "Update: Charges filed in Waynesboro child abuse case featured on Steve Wilkos Show". Public Opinion. Chambersburg, PA. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  30. Metrick, Becky (April 19, 2018). "Family's plea stops agreement in child abuse case featured on Steve Wilkos Show". Public Opinion. Chambersburg, PA. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
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