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The Jerry Springer Movie Is Sleazy and Free

Jerry Springer skyrocketed to fame in the ’90s thanks to his scandalous daytime talk show, The Jerry Springer Show, which featured eccentric guests often hiding secrets from their loved ones that led to scuffles. His meteoric rise in popularity inevitably led Hollywood to tap into that shock factor and make a movie around the show, hoping to replicate the success of his TV antics on the big screen; thus, Ringmaster was born.

The result was a doubling down on sensational drama attached to a plot about the perceived fame of appearing on the show. As one can expect, things certainly get sleazy in Ringmaster. Yet, the feature may still feel nostalgic for those who grew up with Jerry’s unapologetic brand of shock entertainment, the staple of any kid’s sick day home. With Ringmaster now available for free on streaming, is it worth revisiting the much-maligned film?

Jerry Springer Took His Controversial Show to the Screen in ‘Ringmaster’

Ringmaster

Release Date

November 25, 1998

Director

Neil Abramson

Ringmaster (1998) follows talk show host Jerry Farrelly (essentially Jerry Springer) and the events around two sets of guests going through relationship conflicts around cheating and looking to appear on their favorite show to air their dirty laundry. This includes the outspoken Angel (Jaime Pressly) and her mother, Connie (Molly Hagan), fighting over the same man; and Ebony (Tangie Ambrose), who is accusing her boyfriend Willie of cheating. The feature touches on the lead-up to the guests appearing and explores Springer’s struggles behind the scenes running a show full of outlandish personalities and blood-hungry producers.

Ringmaster would exist alongside other sensational and ill-thought-out comedy movies of the 1990s, like Chairman of the Board, based on the stylings of Carrot Top, or Howard Stern’s recollection of his early career in Private Parts. Springer has never spoken at length about what he thought of the movie, but given the production stayed on brand with his style of entertainment, there is no reason to believe he was upset by the outcome.

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Alongside Jerry Springer, the cast includes Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl, Joe Dirt) as Angel and Molly Hagan (Election, Sully) as Connie, the feuding mother-daughter duo. Tangie Ambrose, best known for her role as Delia, plays accusatory girlfriend Ebony. Ringmaster was directed by Neil Abramson, who is best known for his work on music videos but has also worked on other films, with his last project being 2008’s American Son.

Critics and Fans Reacted How You’d Expect They Would

Jerry Springer’s Ringmaster was released in theaters on November 25, 1998, to a hostile reception and financial floundering. It made just over $9 million at the domestic box office, off an estimated budget of around $20 million, making it one of the biggest flops of the decade. Whether the movie recouped its losses on the VHS market is unknown. Both critically and with fans, the movie was very ill-received; Rotten Tomatoes has a 21% critic rating and 18% Popcornmeter; IMDB has it at 3.3/10, Letterboxd at 2.1/5.

Despite its low rating, Roger Ebert did offer some defense of the movie in his review, writing, “You’d expect this material to be dealt with in a careless and seamy way, but “Ringmaster” is a better movie than I expected. The guests come across as pathetic but spirited, and are acted with some sympathy.” Still, many were harsher, with Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle giving the content a verbal beating for its content and substance, concluding, “It’s like watching the WWF and knowing for sure that it’s all rigged.”

Should You Watch ‘Ringmaster’ Now that It’s Streaming for Free?

Poster art featuring Jerry Springer for Ringmaster (1998)

Artisan Entertainment

While we have been pretty hard on Ringmaster throughout this piece, there is an undeniable nostalgia to the wild, anything-goes days of the 90s that allowed Springer to become a national phenomenon. Yes, the shock of daytime TV still exists, but it has become more niche, with cultural shifts tending to push away from outrageous content on TV; the ‘man or woman’ segments, in particular, have aged like sour milk. Still, there was nothing quite like The Jerry Springer Show despite the countless others that tried their hand at the same formula, and celebrating that area of dominance has its charms.

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Some viewers weren’t as harsh on the film. They credit it with exploring the cult of personality surrounding appearing on the show and Springer’s role in organizing the chaos, offering some insight into the long-running program. The feature is also interesting when considering the recent Netflix docuseries on the infamous talk show that has shed additional light on the environment around the program. You can watch it for yourself and decide its merits, as Ringmaster is streaming for free on Tubi and Plex.



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