Some day, when television programming is composed solely of reality TV, I will give my grandchildren one of those long-winded, elderly person lectures about what it was like back in my day. Before Hoarders, the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, and the internet, we only had one place to find our tawdry, manipulated-behind-the-scenes human dramas: daytime talk shows. Back then, spending an afternoon in the world of paternity tests, secret sex changes, and inevitable physical altercations was a special treat – something you got to enjoy on a snow day, or a sick day or whatever situation caused you to be at home on a weekday at 3pm. In honor of those halcyon days of television programming, we bring you a trip down memory lane: 5 outrageous moments in Latino talk show history. In no particular order:
1.Geraldo Rivera Gets His Nose Broken In A Televised Brawl
Half-Boricua Geraldo Rivera is one of the OGs of trashy daytime TV. His syndicated show, which started back in 1987, had its fair share of dramatic moments (satanic rituals! men in lace panties and the women who love them!). While it shocked the public at first – and sent his ratings skyrocketing – eventually people began to catch on to the fact that some of these scandalous stories were not quite authentic, and perhaps just short of scripted. Which is why the brawl that broke out between white supremacists, skinheads, black activists, and Jewish activists in a 1988 episode didn’t seem all that out of the ordinary at first. But when Geraldo jumped in to break it up, things got real. After throwing a few punches himself, he ended up with a broken nose. You’d think that mustache would cushion the blow…alas, no one was spared in the race war. Make sure to keep an eye on grandma in the blue sweatshirt on the left. She wants NO part of these fisticuffs.
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