Ricki Lake is a successful Daytime Talk Show Host. Her talk show, Ricki Lake ran a n 11 year stint and made Ricki a well known television personality. What is there not to like? She possesses a humble presence, she is attractive and relatable. Like most American women, she has struggled with her weight, experienced motherhood and worked hard to maintain a healthy relationship with her husband.
She recently made a comeback to daytime television with The Ricki Lake Show, which is getting canceled after just one season. One would think the show would have been an instant success. Lake is a pro; she hosted a show that lasted nearly a decade. Let's face it; this new show had the ability to make its viewers do two things, cry and sleep. Her topics were serious unlike her previous show which consisted of wacky guests that needed makeovers, drag queens or guests confronting their cheating lovers.
This new show discussed topics such as circumcision, child abductions and cults. It felt like she was trying to become the next Oprah Winfrey. The majority of long lasting daytime talk shows does not discuss serious topics because that is not what their viewers want to watch. The Maury Show and The Jerry Springer Show have both been airing since 1991, around the same time Ricki Lake show made its debut (1993).
The Maury Show and The Jerry Springer Show fall in to the category of "Trash TV". Let's face it their guests typically appear uneducated, low class and unapologetic for their classless behavior. Most of them are just searching for their 15 minutes of fame. Ricki Lake's original show often had the same type of guests but guess what it worked. It was entertaining and brought in ratings. It was also popular in other countries such as Australia, The Netherlands and South Africa.
Jeff Probst is another daytime talk show getting the boot. Jeff is a likable guy, he is charming, good looking and often boasted about his amazing marriage. Guess what? Viewers do not care about a wonderful marriage or his C list celebrities, which was one of the schticks to his show. People want to see big names. A brand new show needs A list names in order to garnish a following; it is a simple but an effective marketing strategy.
Kim Kardashian might be a no talented, annoying celebrity famous for being famous. Oh and how can anyone forget the infamous sex tape? What she does have is an enormous following due to her popular reality television show, successful clothing brand and makeup line. Someone like her could have easily brought in more viewership. Instead he had guests such as Ethan Zohn, Lisa Whelchel and Mariel Hemmingway. These people are on the C list and guess what; the C listers do not bring in ratings.
Ricki Lake and Jeff Probst tried to achieve ratings by bringing change to television and unfortunately it did not work. Sometimes people have to play it safe and stick with what is currently popular in order to gain viewership.
