Jenny Jones (presenter)

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Jenny Jones (born Janina Stranski on June 7, 1946) is a Canadian-American talk show host who hosted The Jenny Jones Show from 1991 to 2002.

1 Early life
2 Talk show
3 Controversy
4 Parodies
5 Filmography and TV appearances
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Jones was born to Polish Roman Catholic parents in Bethlehem, British Mandate of Palestine. Her parents immigrated to London, Ontario, Canada shortly after her birth.

She appeared as a contestant on Press Your Luck and Match Game. In 1986, she was the first female comedian to win Star Search. Jones then became an opening performer for Sammy Davis Jr., Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, and Engelbert Humperdinck (singer).

She was also a former backup singer for Wayne Newton, plays the drums, and fluently speaks Polish, which was her first language.

[edit] Talk show

In 1991 she became the host of her own daily TV talk show, The Jenny Jones Show. The show had many elements that that are now considered daytime-talk cliches, such as paternity tests, sending out-of-control teens to bootcamp, and makeovers. Her show was noted for using rhyming show titles, such as "You May Shake it for Money, But Leave Those Sexy Clothes at the Club, Honey!" Jones rejected comparison to Jerry Springer, saying that her show was fun, and not exploitative.

During the show, Jones admitted she had breast implants and talked about how they created complications.

[edit] Controversy

On an episode called "Same-Sex Secret Crushes" taped on March 6, 1995, a gay man named Scott Amedure confessed his love for his car engineer, Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz reacted with laughter while on the show, but became disturbed by the incident later. He had a history of mental illness and alcohol/drug abuse. Three days after the show's taping, Schmitz killed Amedure. Schmitz was later convicted of second degree murder and received 25-50 years in prison. The episode was never aired.

Amedure's family then sued the producers of The Jenny Jones Show saying they should have known about Schmitz's mental illness history. In interviews, Jones said her producers told Schmitz that his admirer could be a male, but Schmitz maintained they misled him into thinking it would be a woman. While under oath, Jones admitted that the show didn't want Schmitz to know that his admirer was a man. Amedure's family won the initial ruling and the show was ordered to pay them $25 million. The verdict was later overturned by the Michigan appellate court. The case is now studied in law school tort classes because of the legal significance of saying the show's producers were not responsible for guests' safety after they had left the studio.

The show's ratings declined in the years after the case and was cancelled in 2002.

[edit] Parodies

On the comedy sketch show MADtv, past member Mo Collins would often do skits in which she acted as Jenny Jones; poking fun at her high voice and chuckle.