The Classification Essay

Talks Shows have a negative and positive image they represent in the eyes of the public. The popular and highly rated talk shows have a vast range of topics, guest, and motive for their audience. The million of viewers who make

the choice to watch talk shows has a broad range of shows to choose from. They have the mature talk shows, those meaningful topics, expert guest, an inspiring host, and their motive is to inform their viewers. They have the standard talk show that has amusing topics, celebrity guest, an entertaining host, and their motive is to entertain their viewers.

Then, they have the contentious talk shows, that have controversial topics, dysfunctional guest, confrontational host,and their motive is to excite their viewers. In this essay I chose "The Oprah Winfrey Show" "The Ricki Lake Show",and "The Jerry Springer Show", to distinguish these boundaries of an talk show.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has set and maintained television's highest standards of quality for more than a decade, and she is continuing her success in the year 2003. "I am guided by the vision of what I believe this show can be", Explains Mrs. Winfrey (Winfrey). Oprah started her rise to fame on a local talk show in Baltimore, Maryland before moving to Chicago in 1984. After two months Oprah's show had a substantial rating lead on Phil Donahue, and her television talk show has been syndicated nationally since1986. Unchanging , "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is self-improving, has compassionate and educational topics that deal with real life issues. Her guest are professionals, that offers their philosophy or advice about the show's topics. Psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw has been an expert guest on the "Oprah Winfrey Show", and his own national syndicated talk show (McGraw). "The Oprah Winfrey Show" seeks to inspire her viewers to open to change, so that they can live their lives to the fullest, "Our goal was to uplift, encourage, and entertain through the medium of television" (Winfrey).

"The Ricki Lake Show" entered its tenth season this year making it the third longest running single-topic talk show on the television. Ricki's humor, sincerity, and compassion has made her a daytime favorite with viewers of all ages, "Over the past decade I've had the unique opportunity to grow with my audience and consistently take important topics affecting my generation", said Mrs. Lake (Lake). In 1993 when the fresh faced twenty four-year-old Ricki Lake ...