Jerry Springer Netflix doc gets wrong what Quiet on Set got right

Ever since Quiet on Set, we’ve seen a wave of copycats piggybacking on the success of the true crime documentary series, and Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action is one of them. 

Don’t get me wrong, the two-part Netflix doc is an entertaining ride, and it does delve into the darker moments of what’s now considered to be the trashiest TV show of all time. 

Fights, Camera, Action also interviews Jerry Springer’s long-suffering producers and the head honcho who’s responsible for the show’s descent into degradation: Richard Dominick. (Seriously, his reaction to the banned ‘I Married a Horse’ episode was that it’s “exciting.”)

All this is to say, the new docu-series is well worth a watch, so long as you can set aside any expectations that you’ll find something new here. Sadly, I didn’t do this, and it felt like waiting for a big reveal… that never happened. 

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action falls into the true crime trap

Netflix

Granted, I sound a bit like a spoiled child right now. But there’s no denying the genre has undergone a massive shift in recent years. Now, any crime story is guaranteed to have at least three documentaries in development from the moment it hits the headlines (just look at the Diddy saga). 

Similarly, whenever there’s a successful release, we see multiple imitators. Quiet on Set is one of them. Investigation Discovery’s 2024 docu-series deep dove into the toxic BTS world of kids’ TV from the ‘90s and ‘00s, focusing on Dan Schneider’s Nickelodeon empire. 

The show tapped into viewers’ sense of nostalgia, but it came loaded with new revelations and a call to action to keep child stars protected. Quiet on Set wasn’t without its faults: it unabashedly leaned into sensationalism, and there were allegations that interviewees were misled. 

But due to its massive viewership, we’ve seen numerous titles try and replicate its success. Mr. McMahon, while insightful and not at all a puff piece about the disgraced WWE veteran, barely touched upon the allegations against Vince McMahon. 

For the majority of its six-episode run, it served more as an oral history of the WWE than an investigation into the most pressing matter at hand. 

Similarly, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter gave a platform to the alleged victims of the Backstreet Boys singer, but with no resolution due to active lawsuits and multiple interviews with the pop band’s superfans, its message and storytelling felt muddled at best. 

Netflix’s Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action doesn’t struggle with pacing. It’s a well-told story, but it also covers well-trodden territory. 

The doc rehashes old stories and revisits iconic moments from the show without digging deeper into the impact or providing new angles or revelations. It’s entertaining, sure, but just keep this warning in mind when you go to watch it. 

So, in my final thought, here’s a message to documentarians: please don’t drop new content if there’s no new information or insights to offer. 

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action is streaming on Netflix now. For more content, here’s how to watch the Brothers’ Home documentary for free, whether Cynthia and Antwon Mans ever went to jail, and the best true crime docs of 2024.