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Popular Culture Review
viewer, is not so much how talk shows have evolved but rather the extent to
which they have always been highly performative.
Another important dynamic that the chronology narrative doesn’t always
capture is that the cultural anxiety surrounding talk shows (especially newer
ones, but older ones as well), seems directly related to their overrepresentation
of the socially, economically, racially, sexually, and (trans)gendered margins of
society. With the exception of Joshua Gamson, most critics of the genre have
overlooked the importance of queer issues to talk shows and talk show criticism.
Concerns about sexual- and gender-nonconformity, particularly as they intersect
with economic and racial marginality, often lay just beneath the surface of both
popular and academic criticism of talk shows and their viewers, where to
varying degrees the assertion that contemporary talk shows are “trash” is
directly linked to their inclusion of the working-class and poor guests and
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audiences, particularly racial minorities. The chronology narrative isn’t always
particularly careful in teasing apart what might be “trashy” about the
exploitation of recent talk show styles versus the “trashiness” assigned by our
culture to the racially-, sexually-, economically-, and gender-marginalized
people who inhabit it. This shift in the demographics of those who participate in
talk shows on-stage, as well as a corresponding shift in the style of
representation, make the newer version of talk show seem an alien species from
the older one, when it’s more like a kissing cousin.
The following discussion of older talk shows on racism and lesbian and gay
issues is based on my viewing of 70 videotapes recorded between 1985 and
1995, which include several hundred episodes of U.S. daytime talk shows from
the critical period in which the genre drifted from an “old-style” to a “newstyle.” Old-style shows were based on current events, and tended to be more
information-oriented. Best exemplified by Donahue, under this style, topics
were culled from the news and then guests were sought afterward (Grindstaff
172). Most 1980s hosts used variations of this style, tended to be older, and had
backgrounds in journalism (Shattuc 25). New-style talk shows tend to be based
on personal conflicts between friends and family members, and are more
entertainment-oriented. Best exemplified by Jerry Springer, under this style,
shows are formed around colorful guests, not news events. Most of the hosts
from the mid-1990s to the present have used variations of this style, have tended
to be younger, and have had backgrounds in acting or stand-up comedy.
What I found was that discussions of racism and lesbian and gay issues on
old-style talk shows were structured around two forms of discourse—liberalism
and therapy—that were prohibitive to the kinds of understanding of inequality
required for social change. The examples that follow illustrate the contradictions
of the genre’s mixed format, as well as the difficulties faced by racial and sexual
minorities when taking part in the publ