| Ricki Lake | |
|---|---|
| Format | Talk show |
| Created by | Garth Ancier; Gail Steinberg |
| Presented by | Ricki Lake |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 to 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | The Garth Ancier Company Columbia TriStar Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | First-run syndication |
| Original run | September 13, 1993 – May 25, 2004 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Ricki Lake (also known as The Ricki Lake Show) was the first daytime tabloid talk show hosted by American actress Ricki Lake.[1][2][3]
The show specialized in sensationalist topics involving invited guests and incorporated questions and comments from a studio audience. It was taped at the Chelsea Studios in New York City.[4]
The show debuted in syndication on September 13, 1993 and ended first-run episodes on May 25, 2004, though the series continued in reruns through the summer until August 27, 2004. The show was renewed for the 2004–2005 TV season, but Lake decided not to continue with the show, opting to spend more time with her family. Sony did not issue any comments when the show was cancelled.
In October 2005, Broadcasting & Cable magazine reported that Lake might return to do a "new" version of her show. A source said it would be a surprise if there was no deal struck by October 2005. If it were to have happened, it would have likely debuted in September 2006. Lake did not appear at the 2006 NATPE convention to pitch the proposed program to television stations in the United States in January, 2006, only furthering speculation that there would be no show. In a 2009 interview on CNN, she was asked about what was next for her. Lake noted that a follow-up documentary was coming out, and that she was in talks to do another talk show,[5] however this has yet to come to pass. In follow-up interviews since then such as Oprah in 2010, Lake has consistently said "never say never" about hosting a new show, but that she is happy working on other projects. However, in a February 2011 appearance on The View, when asked about doing another show, Ricki said that she "misses the platform" and that when it comes to hosting another show, "that's certainly a possibility."
In 1994, the show was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host, but The Oprah Winfrey Show won the award. Other awards the show has garnered includes the Gracie Allen Award, PRISM Certificates & Commendations, and many more.[6]
In March 2011 it was reported that three television studios, Twentieth Television, Universal Media Studios and CBS Television Distribution, were interested in bringing Lake back to talk television in 2012. This after Lake began appearing on various programs in which she expressed a desire to return to the genre.[7] On April 20, 2011, Lake signed with Twentieth, which will develop her new talk show, for a September 2012 launch. It will have more of an Oprah-like format than her previous series.[8]
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The methodology for securing guests on the show, common to many shows similar to it, was as such: Producers would brainstorm and come up with a show title or theme. During an aired episode of the program spots would run for shows in pre-production. The goal was to recruit persons who may have a situation in their life that fits with the proposed topic. Hotline messages would be screened and the most promising prospects would be contacted by a production assistant. The potential guest would be interviewed about their situation. Guests chosen to appear on the show were booked airfare to New York City. The guests were brought to the television studio and sent to specific "green rooms", inside which they were briefed in more detail on how the show would be taped. One of the producers then sat down with each guest to reiterate the story the guest would tell, including emphasis on various phrases or statements the guest might have made during pre-interviews. Guests were given an appearance and confidentiality contract to sign. Installments were recorded in real-time and took approximately 80 minutes to complete. Lake came into the audience for taped segments, and during the paused portion (where commercial breaks were inserted) she left the audience to consult with producers. The final show was aired approximately one month later.
All guests were warned that if they were discovered to be lying or to be impostors, then they would be sued for the full amount of the production of any one episode of the show. (Each cost about $80,000 to produce.) They were further warned that if they attempted to back out at any time, their plane ticket home would be revoked and they would have to get home on their own. Most of these incidents would result in the guest being escorted off stage, out of the studio, and their trip home cancelled by the production company.
One example of this incident happened in 2000, during the show's seventh season, when three guests were exposed on-air as phonies after the producers discovered that they fabricated their story and were escorted out by security. Director Bob McKinnon interrupted Lake during the moment that she was questioning the guests, informing her that there was something she needed to know. So one of the show's producers, Andrew Scher, walked out and showed Lake a note that the ticket agent had faxed to the show. The fax read, "When these people came to pick up their tickets, and I asked them what the show was going to be about, they said the story was about Aaron's boyfriend not having a job and being a bum, just so they can get a free trip to New York." Afterwards, Lake told them that they were busted and the show's security team, Sterling Protective Services, escorted them off the stage, as the audience hollered and chanted Lake's personal name. That installment aired in syndication as Lake warned viewers what would happen if they (the guests) lied to the producers just to get 15 minutes of fame. Ironically, the topic of the installment featuring the aforementioned incident was "Freeloaders".
Another example of guests being exposed as phonies happened in the 11th season during the show "Ricki's FPI: Disappearing Husbands", where a woman claimed she had substantial evidence that her "husband" was cheating and wanted the show's Foxy Private Investigators (FPI) to track him down and determine if this was true. It was during this segment that the show's producers found out they were making up the story for a free trip to New York, and got them to take lie detector tests, which they failed (though the staff already had a pretty good idea that the guests were trying to scam the show). They still insisted they were not lying and were escorted off the stage by Ricki's security team, Knight Security. Footage of them leaving the studio and walking with suitcases to go and get the bus, instead of being taken to the airport for the flight, was shown during the closing credits.
The show was also popular in other countries, especially in the United Kingdom where it aired on Channel 4, and was aired daily on ITV2, until 2009. as well as in Australia, where the show was screened on three channels: the Seven, Ten and pay TV-exclusive W Channel. The show was also successful in the Netherlands, where it aired on SBS6. Even though it has been out of production since 2004, the show is still screened in various places around the world such as Sweden (on TV3), South Africa and in the Middle East.
Garth Ancier and Gail Steinberg were the original executive producers. Michael Rourke moved into the executive producer role in 2002, during the 9th season, with Michelle Mazur, a former producer in the 1990s of the show, moved into the role of co-executive producer at the start of the 10th season.
The theme was written by Jellybean Benítez.
The show was produced by The Garth Ancier Company and was distributed by Columbia Pictures Television Distribution (1993–1996), then by Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (1996–2001), Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (2001–2002), and Sony Pictures Television (2002–2004).
Lake's talk show sometimes covered serious topics, including domestic violence ("Bad Men, Desperate Woman"), homeless people who live in the NYC subway system ("The Catacomb People") and "Teens on Death Row". Lake also took on shows that dealt with women who were members of the Ku Klux Klan, and during a show involving marijuana, she learned that three guests were using the substance just moments after they walked on to the set as she was about to interview them. One of Lake's most memorable and controversial confrontations would happen during the first season in 1993, when she found herself dealing with Reverend Fred Phelps in a show that involved targeting anyone who carries the AIDS virus and why they deserve to die. (Phelps and his followers from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas had been picketing at funerals for AIDS victims across the United States, leading to several states to enact laws prohibiting or restricting groups from coming within a certain distance of the funerals.) When Phelps and his son tried to take over the set, a furious and insulted Lake ordered the Phelps family to leave the studio. During the commercial break, the two were forced off the set by the producers and escorted out of the building by security midway during the show.[9]
Lake's talk show has often been the butt of satire. It was repeatedly parodied during the 1990s on Saturday Night Live, with male cast member Jay Mohr impersonating Lake in drag. In addition, it was mentioned in the chorus of the hit 1998 song "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by The Offspring: "So if you don't rate, just overcompensate, at least you'll know you can always go on Ricki Lake." It is also mentioned in the 2004 hit by Australian band Butterfingers, "I Love Work", as well as "Strong" by Robbie Williams, "Hole in the Head" by Sugababes and "Little White Lie" by Tanya Stephens. The female group Shooter also mentioned the show in their song, "Life's a Bitch" ("Everybody's tellin' all, baring their souls, just to go on The Ricki Lake Show"). It was also mentioned in an episode of the TV show Family Guy entitled "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater", in which Brian, attempting to rehabilitate Peter in the ways of a gentleman, electrically shocks Peter every time he looks at a television showing an episode of Ricki Lake. In the WB series Gilmore Girls, Rory mentions feeling like she is on The Ricki Lake Show, with Lorelai then replying, "Go, Rory! Go, Rory!" The music video for the song "Perfect Match" by the hip hop group Cella Dwellas is largely a satire of Lake's shows about cheating spouses.