Though he had a lot of high-profile jobs over his lifetime – including mayor of Cincinnati – Springer was best known as host of The Jerry Springer Show, a syndicated TV program which lasted for 27 years, featuring provocatively sensational topics and confrontations among the guests, sometimes degenerating into fistfights. The show's success became one of the pillars of the tabloid talk show movement which included hosts like Maury Povich, Sally Jessy Raphael, Jenny Jones, Montel Williams and Morton Downey Jr. Springer, a likable, charismatic guy with a conventional look and just-asking-questions manner, always came across as a more buttoned-down counterpoint to his outrageous guests.