90s Talk Show — Society & Oddities

August 7th, 1980. Geraldo Rivera for 20/20 news takes a trip to that summertime American tradition, the carnival, an industry worth 10s of millions that has touched all of our lives.

"...these rides in fact, are just a lure. The real purpose of this place is gambling. Well that's not exactly accurate because when you legitimately gamble, you expect to have at least a chance of winning..."

In the language of the carnies a flat store is a store where the game is totally rigged with no chance of winning. Do carnival owners target ghetto neighborhoods with games that no one could possibly win?

We meet at the carnivals visitors and personnel, those whom were willing to talk, throughout this segment.

The continuing investigation into carnival activities looks at bribes to public officials, called 'the patch', interviews with police officers and investigators who have worked related cases and even speaks to safety inspectors about how things work.

This day, Geraldo's television history.

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1992. Geraldo Rivera on his namesake talk show hosts the 'Club Kids' of New York City, including a 'pied piper' of the group Michael Alig. We start the segment learning about ecstasy, a bedrock of the club kids party movement.

In the audience is Michael's mother Elke, who was given ecstasy by her son and swears it is a very effective headache pill. She speaks to his childhood and later ends the show with some words of wisdom for all parents.

In this segment we also hear about some of the reasons the Club Kids are who they are, and some of the 'outlaw parties' they throw -- a party thrown in a random spot to see how long it takes for the police to shut it down.

"...my entire childhood, while I was growing up, I felt really repressed and really bored, and just sick of everything. It was horrible to live every day thinking that I'm gonna live the rest of my life and try and fit in to the American dream..."

In 1996 Michael Alig was convicted of felony manslaughter in the death of another club kid, allegedly over drugs, and he served move than 15 years in prison. Years after his release, Michael passed away in 2020 from an accidental drug overdose. Films and books have been made about his life including "Party Monster: The Shockumentary" and "Glory Daze: The life and times of Michael Alig".

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June 12th, 1991. On his namesake talk show, Geraldo Rivera introduces us to 1/3rd of 1% of the population: Women over 6' tall. We begin with their relationships and partners, what drives short men to fall in love with the women that tower over them?

"I guess when you're sitting at a candle-lit dinner, you're eye to eye no matter how tall you are.."

The conversation moves to what it was like growing up and being different, before hearing from the audience.

"Do you ever notice a difference in dating tall guy, or a short guy?"

This day in Geraldo's show history.

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1992. Geraldo Rivera on his namesake talk show brings us Club Kids '92 with a line-up from New York City's club life. We see what a night out looks like with footage & music from location, where it's all let loose. Getting back into studio, what is the real situation today as far as sex at the club?

In the audience is recent owner of Webster Hall Steve Ballinger. Sex and drugs seem to be the norm -- are they a sanctioned activity at his venue? We also hear from audience members who live near Webster Hall and are not as pleased with the all night loud music which makes it impossible to sleep.

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This panel was more than blown away when they watched the Geraldo Show, and now our host puts together fans and former guests. October 10th, 1995.

"I was getting ready for work...she was on about 2 seconds, head to toe everything about her just flabbergasted me..."

Jason describes what came over him when he saw Tina on TV, and for the first time she is brought on stage. Jason is available, and owns his own painting company in Jackson Mississippi. But is Tina into him?

Marcus saw Ivan on the panel during a show about gang members, and Ivan, coming on stage, is flattered. His friends had joked that someone will see you on the show, sweep you away, but now it seems to be coming true...

Julie was watching 'Hunk-o-mania' when she spotted Dalton. Apparently men are intimidated by her style, and she hopes Dalton is not when he is brought on stage. She performs a special dance, just for him. The man is a performer and not surprised he has a secret admirer.

Paul was watching a show about dateless women and thought they were all good lookin'. He explains what prompted him to call and leave his name, number after the appeal popped up on hist screen. Cathy received mutliple offers after the show but unfortunately for Paul says she's just not really into dating.

Mike is a producer on The Geraldo Show for 9 years running and has struggled to have a date for New Year's for 8 of those years. Patti is brought on the set and can't quite pin it down but is really into him. Could be the charisma, or the pony tail, or....Patti is not worried that he seems to be a pretty shy guy.

Sherry and Sheila both saw women that checked their boxes when watching a show about lesbians. Frances Stevens is flattered and thinks the audience should give this woman a round of applause. Maggie is speechless when confronting her admirer, which is rare, seeing as how she is a lawyer and generally paid for whatever she says.

Sherry is on stage because she thinks Geraldo was too rough on serial killer Richard Ramirez. After watching the show she wrote him, in prison, and he wrote back. Sherry insists the Geraldo Show got it wrong and that the convicted rapist, murderer, did not deserve the treatment he got on TV. She keeps in touch with Richard through the mail and on the phone.

An audience compliment to Francis Stevens on her Deneuve magazine brings the show to a close -- it's the best lesbian publication out there. Marcus sings to the object of his admiration as closing credits roll.

This day, Geraldo's Television History.

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June 9th, 1997. Geraldo Rivera's namesake talk show asks if The Globe paid a woman $75,000 to sleep with Frank Gifford -- did they enable prostitution and break the law?

"...its well known that Globe pays sources good money for accurate information, and that's all we've said, everything else is speculation..."

This segment begins with the moral question of Frank Gifford's affair with woman named Suzen Johnson. Is it wrong for a husband to cheat sometimes and should a wife forgive? Cindy Adams weighs in with crucial advice.

On to the more serious questions, involving perhaps entrapment or enabling prostitution, we hear from the the Globe editor Tony Frost and reporter Candace Trunzo. They admit to paying sources but make no comment on whether this woman was directly paid by the tabloid to have sex with Mr. Gifford. Chiming in and on the in-studio panel are celebrity divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, Court TV commentator Nancy Grace, Dr Joyce Brothers and 'the only conservative here' Susan Carpenter-McMillan. Most consider the Globe 'slime' for such a salacious 2 page story that they set-up, but Susan defends their right to do so.

The Globe's setup and coverage of the Suzen Johnson affair became a news item all of it's own, and she later sued the publisher. Frank Gifford, legendary player and American broadcaster, passed away in 2015.

This day, Geraldo's television history.

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September 21st, 1987. Geraldo RIvera on his namesake talk show brings us 'Centerfolds', investigating the phenomenon of ordinary women being photographed in erotic settings.

"The fantasy is part of the country's latest fad...its newfound popularity fuels speculation that many millions of women dream of being centerfolds."

After an introduction to the segment we meet Sherry Arnett, Playboy's playmate of the month and video centerfold, who explains the reasons she chose her profession. While maybe not something dreamed of forever, Ms. Arnett always read Playboy and thought of how perfect the women were.

We hear about Sherry's beginnings before meeting Steve Palen, a professional boudoir photographer of amateur women. He explains that many men are paying for the shoot for their wives although there are other motivations.

The segment closes with some of the amateurs in the audience standing up -- women who decided in their ordinary lives to be photographed in an erotic setting.

This day, Geraldo's television history.

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The macho men of the 80's speak directly to the audience on a subject they should know well, the male ego.

Carl Weathers starts us off. How big is his ego, anyway? He doesn't think of himself as having a particularly big ego but his roles in Apollo Creed, Action Jackson tell a different story.

Gary Morris talks about his career as a singer and his trip to the Broadway stage. He didn't take the part because it was a macho part, he took it to grow as an actor. But also as a benefit he gets to be macho every night.

Chuck Norris talks about the real him, is it the super man who takes out half the Vietnamese army or is iit the quiet, introspective type? Mr. Norris says he aggressive side comes out inside the ring, especially.

The conversation is steered towards the industry, with such a supportive cast and crew the actor just plays a part. But isn't there more too it? Carl Weathers has been called a 'perfect physical specimen'. All on stage have mirrors in the bathroom and want to stay looking good, but it's about more than that.

Jean Carol speaks about the male ego. She went to New Guinea researching ancient man and speaks to the parallels between the ancient man and modern man. Barbara Creaturo from Cosmopolitan doesn't think the size of the male organ has much to do with it. She says the men on stage are charismatic and humble, top physical form doesn't not necessarily mean people have a big ego, whlie the state of the ego has more to do with the individual and less to do with the sex of the individual.

Donna Jackson of New Woman magazine says the charming actors very much have their egos in place. She understands men put their lives on the line for their stunts, or their jobs, but what's important to women is the ego in terms of emotions. Will they be kind with their spouses and partners?

Chuck Norris details why he does his own stunts, with Gary and Carl joining in the conversation. The battle between studios and actors over who does the stunts sometimes gets intense, because if the actors get injured the whole production will stop.

Carl talks about his evolution as a man, and how as a child he had to keep his hair short. The conversation changes, do women create the need for male ego? Relationships, the male relationship, pride, and how the 60s confused society a great deal. Who needs who more, the man or the woman? The audience joins in the grapple as this conversation gets defined. Do men and women end up looking like each other? And how do they handle arguments?

The episode closes with each describing how he'd like to be described.

This day, Geraldo's Television History.

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March 12th, 1996. The Geraldo Show talks to disruptive and sometimes criminal minors, while their parents are trying to find a way forward.

"Everytime I got to go out by myself, she's there with me....well I want to go and hang out with some friends, and females you know..."

We meet John Paul, Felicia, Mark, Kevin and the family members surrounding them as the issues in their lives come to light. The focus in this segment continues highlighting the problems faced by many sections of American youth.

The teenage years continue to be a formative time as humanity continues into 2026.

This day, Geraldo's television history.

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