I don't watch the Springer show, but I have seen a few shows. I mean, the entire half hour's worth, and not just a 30 second excerpt.
To my eyes, much of the criticism of the Springer show is totally misguided.
These shows do not "celebrate" sleaze. Just the opposite, in fact.
The audience (and Springer) are always the voices of, in one way or another, decency and fair treatment.
The audience always yells at guys who mis-treat their girl friends. And the audience always yells at girls who exploit or mis-treat their men.
It's true that the Springer show points a camera at many people the lamestream media would never photograph, but everyone HERE knows the lamestream media lives in denial and exists by projecting fake images of reality at America...
The Springer show isn't something I'd watch regularly. (It gets repetitive, and I just don't enjoy seeing a lot of those people, even if they are going to be getting their "just desserts" from the audience.) But to my eyes it is much more grounded in decency and REALITY than, say, soap operas or anything in prime time...
Mark W.