Geraldo (talk show)
Geraldo is an American first-run syndicated talk show hosted by journalist Geraldo Rivera. Taped in New York City, the show ran for eleven seasons from September 7, 1987 to June 12, 1998. The show's final two seasons aired under the title The Geraldo Rivera Show.
| Geraldo | |
|---|---|
| Also known as |
|
| Genre | Tabloid talk show |
| Created by | Geraldo Rivera[1] |
| Presented by | Geraldo Rivera |
| Theme music composer | Allan Schwartzberg |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| Production | |
| Production locations |
|
| Camera setup | Multiple |
| Running time | 40 minutes |
| Production companies | Investigative News Group Tribune Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndicated |
| Release | September 7, 1987 – June 12, 1998 |
The series was a production of Investigative News Group and distributed by Tribune Entertainment. For its first three seasons, Paramount Domestic Television served as co-distributor. For its final two seasons, King World Productions assisted Tribune as co-distributor.
Controversy edit
On November 3, 1988, an episode involving white supremacists, Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, black activists, and Jewish activists was aired. A confrontation between John Metzger (the son of Tom Metzger) and Roy Innis (in which Metzger goaded Innis by referring to him as "Uncle Tom") led to Innis walking over showing signs of aggression and forcefully grabbing Metzger by the neck after Metzger stood up, and subsequently, a full-scale brawl broke out. Audience members, several stage hands, and Rivera himself got involved. In the process, Rivera was struck in the face by a chair and wound up with a nasal fracture. He did not press charges, saying he did not wish to be "tied up with the roaches", and also claiming "if there ever was a case of deserved violence, this was it".[2] The ratings for this show increased as news of the fight attracted attention to the episode even before it aired.
In August 1992, Rivera scuffled with KKK members again at a Klan rally in Janesville, Wisconsin. Rivera suffered cuts and a bite to his left thumb.[3][4][5]
Parodies/In popular culture edit
- The animation studio Marvel Productions featured a character named Hector Ramirez throughout a number of their cartoons, including Inhumanoids, RoboCop, GI Joe, Jem and the Holograms and Transformers. Ramirez was the host of the fictional news show 20 Questions and was usually portrayed as publicity seeking and often antagonistic towards the main characters. Writer Buzz Dixon, the character's creator, has commented that he was intended to be a satire of Geraldo Rivera.
- The 1989 film UHF, starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, parodies Geraldo, including the infamous 1988 brawl.
- "What Comes Around", a song by the Beastie Boys from their 1989 album Paul's Boutique, features the lyric, "You're all mixed up like pasta primavera/Yo why'd you throw that chair at Geraldo Rivera?"
- The season 2 opener of Saved by the Bell features Kelly's dream sequence in which Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond) is now Geraldo Screech at Bayside, which takes place at The Max.
- The Family Guy episode "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", which featured the Griffins appearing on a talk show, parodied the infamous 1988 brawl by having Peter shout "Who are you calling 'Uncle Tom'?!" and throwing a chair.
- In a season five episode of Empty Nest titled "Dirty Harry", Rivera appears as himself and mocks the brawl. In the episode, Harry, Carol, and Charlie appear on the talk show; during their appearance, Harry inadvertently hits Geraldo in the nose with a coffee mug.
- In the Perfect Strangers Season 4 episode "The Gift of the Mypiot", when a character attempts to use a Christmas gift to hit another character, Balki intervenes, saying, "This is not Geraldo!"
- In the 1990 demonic horror movie The First Power, a Catholic priest says about the Satanic themed murders in their city (Los Angeles), "Next thing you know, we'll all be on Geraldo", in reference to his October, 1988 special on Satanism.
- In the 1991 film Thelma & Louise, the two title characters mention not wanting "to end up on the Geraldo Show" concerning their criminal exploits.
References edit
- ^ Rosenberg, Howard (December 1, 1993). "Doc Hollywood Takes a Scalpel to the Viewers Again Television: The 'first-ever televised sex-change operation in talk-show history as far as we know' on 'Geraldo' is oversold, overblown and overcooked". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
- ^ "Geraldo Rivera's Nose Broken In Scuffle on His Talk Show". The New York Times. November 4, 1988.
- ^ "TV Host Geraldo Rivera Fights With Klansman, Both Arrested - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. May 7, 2001. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- ^ When Geraldo comes to town: KKK fight put Janesville in national spotlight
- ^ Charges against Geraldo Rivera dropped
External links edit
- Episodes publicly available at Geraldo's website
- Geraldo at IMDb