ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the normative order on talk shows by examining the shows themselves. Talk shows provide us with public entertainment, a time to play with and then ultimately affirm moral boundaries, and the opportunity to listen to people tell their stories of despair and then redemption. A wide variety of people seem to think that talk shows have gone "too far", although not everyone agrees about what "too far" means. Save for relaxing with other family members, most of their leisure time would be spent in two activities: church and secular entertainment. Carnivals and circuses provided much of the secular entertainment, in town for a few days and then gone for another year; religious revivals likewise were an important activity. Circus performers played with moral boundaries, in reality or through illusion. Both critics and apologists of talk shows need to understand the historical roots of talk shows in order to comprehend their role in American society today.
