From the Jerry Springer Show to Judge Jerry, 77-year-old Jerry Springer has no plans to stop working. In fact, he’s very much enjoying his latest venture as a small claims court judge in Judge Jerry! The TV personality joined the HollywoodLife Podcast to discuss the third season of the nationally syndicated daytime show and revealed if he’s ever regretted one of his rulings. “I do admit, there are times that I give a decision, because I have to… I can’t say, ‘I don’t know, go to someone else!'” Jerry explained. “The dilemma for me is, there is the moral answer and there is the legal answer, and they’re not always the same. Because laws are not always passed based on moral reasons, but I realize I have to fit within the law.”
Jerry said that he often thinks of the parties like he is their dad or grandfather and asks, “What would I say to my own grandkid, if he came to me with a similar type problem?” “It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t discipline him, but it would always be done out of love. In other words, what is the right, fair thing to teach him? Then once I’ve got that in my mind, I try to find how can I fit that into the law if there’s a conflict. And that’s the tough part sometimes.”
Jerry admitted that this third season of Judge Jerry, which has a live audience unlike last season due to the pandemic, is a wild one. “The cases this season were often — almost, not quite — like my old show, the crazy show,” he said, referring to The Jerry Springer Show, which ran from 1991 to 2018. “But this time, the thing which makes it a little more serious is that they are really filing lawsuits, these are real cases. And whatever decision I make, they can’t then go to the court of Common Pleas and appeal it. So, I have to be serious at the end in terms of what decision I make.”
Of his controversial old show, which featured Jerry hosting wild guests that would almost always brawl, the former Cincinnati mayor said that “no station would touch it” in today’s day and age. “So much of what was said, particularly in the earlier shows, by some of the guests was really incorrect — politically and morally,” he explained. “Times have changed. I don’t think you could start my old show today.”
Be sure to tune in to Judge Jerry by checking local listings and watching daily, Monday through Friday!