As ‘Judge Jerry’ adjourns, what's Springer's next role?

Jerry Springer (Photo: NBCUniversal Syndication Studios)

The news that NBCUniversal Syndication Studios will cease production of Jerry Springer's daytime court show at the end of its third season has TV industry watchers wondering what the longtime host will do when he hangs up his robe for good.

Springer has been hosting "Judge Jerry" since 2019, adjudicating cases filed in small-claims courts around the country from a courtroom studio in Stamford, Connecticut.

Drawing on his 1968 Northwestern law degree, the series followed his 27-year run as ringmaster of "The Jerry Springer Show," the raucous daytime talk show that made him famous.

New episodes of "Judge Jerry" are expected to air through September, while reruns of "The Jerry Springer Show" (with more than 5,000 episodes in the can) may continue well beyond.

"This likely marks the end of 77-year-old Springer’s television career, started at WLWT Cincinnati as a news anchor in 1982, and becoming a talk show host in 1991," wrote Chicago's T Dog Media blogger Terence Henderson, reporting "Judge Jerry" as one of three syndicated shows whose cancellations were announced Wednesday. (The others were "The Nick Cannon Show" and "The Good Dish.")

Since the announcement, Springer has not commented publicly about his plans. But the thought of retirement can't be far from his mind.

"Honestly, at 75 I thought I’d be retiring," Springer told the New York Post's Michael Starr in 2019. "NBC had been talking to me for years about doing something else, and they thought the judge show was a natural fit because I started out as a lawyer and it’s a daytime audience — the same audience with me in a different role, but a role that I believe people can accept."

Added Springer: "I love doing ['Judge Jerry'] because it’s the first grownup job I’ve had in 30 years. I have to do research and I have to remember what I learned in law school and practicing law. I really do my homework."

If Springer's three decades in daytime syndication are coming to an end, there's talk the former Cincinnati mayor and progressive radio host could segue into some sort of commentary role, perhaps with a cable network or new digital platform.

The Jerry Springer Show

No matter what, Springer will always be remembered for his monumental role in Chicago TV history.

For 17 of its 27 years, "The Jerry Springer Show" originated from NBC Tower here before moving to Connecticut. Its outlandish and sensational topics combined with the mindless mayhem it unleashed epitomized the worst excesses of trash TV.

Although it actually surpassed hometown colossus "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in the ratings at one point, Springer's freak show was ranked as “the worst TV show of all time” by TV Guide — a designation the show’s producers took as a compliment.

In 1997, at the height of Springer's notoriety, he appeared as a news commentator on NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, prompting lead news anchors Carol Marin and Ron Magers to resign in protest. NBC 5's ratings plummeted and station management was replaced.

In Chicago "Judge Jerry" airs at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Weigel Broadcasting WCIU-Channel 26.

Friday’s comment of the day: Rich Koz: Such sad news. Bob [Ramsey] was a good man — a pleasure to know and to work with. Another loss of a fine person.