Maury Povich has attributed the success of modern reality TV shows like The Kardashians and the Real Housewives franchises to his iconic talk show that rose to fame in the 1990s.
Nearly four years after the former TV host retired, 86-year-old Povich is returning to television with a new three-part ABC docuseries exploring how his iconic talk show affected the landscape of modern television — and according to him, the sensationalism of his eponymous daytime talk show sparked a whole new era for reality television.
Maury rose to popularity for its tabloid topics, often featuring paternity results and lie detector tests on the show that incited extreme drama from its guests. Povich, who started his career as a radio reporter, took a journalistic approach to his interviews, which regularly touched on topics including teen pregnancies, bizarre phobias, or infidelity.
During his Monday appearance on ABC’sThe View, the Emmy winner spoke about the influence of his show — which ran for 31 seasons from 1991 to 2022 — on modern entertainment.
“We were the precursors, we were the triggers for the Real Housewives genre, Jersey Shore, The Kardashians,” he said. “All the reality shows of today came about because of us. And on top of that, the biggest reality show right now is in my hometown of Washington D.C. That’s the biggest reality show.”
The TV personality also recalled how former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett advised Americans to turn off their TV sets to preserve their values. Povich said his response at the time was: “Those viewers will make the decision as to whether they want to go somewhere else or turn off the show. And until they do, I think I’m on the right track.”
Maury, along with shows like The Jerry Springer Show and the Phil Donahue Show, became popular for pushing the envelope on topics surrounding personal conflict and intense drama. After the talk shows blurred the lines between daytime TV and reality TV, their reality TV successors kept the formula of airing out dirty laundry on television.
Since then, reality series have veered from dating shows like The Bachelor franchise to almost invasive reality competitions like Big Brother. The Real Housewives of Orange County, the Bravo docuseries that started the Housewives franchise, premiered in March 2006. The lives of the Kardashian-Jenner family were televised for the first time on the E! channel with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiere in October 2007. Jersey Shore premiered on MTV in 2009.
Povich speaks more about the days of daytime television being “a little over the top” in his new three-part docuseries Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV, which is set to come to ABC January 14.
