History Series / TheSteveWilkosShow

* TheUnfairSex: Wilkos used to be disturbingly biased towards women during the earlier seasons of his show. In one episode, a woman had taught her 2-year-old how to masturbate, then claimed her husband molested the child. Despite the fact that the husband's offenses paled in comparion, where he gave excuses for not being able to visit home often, Wilkos still gave him a TheReasonYouSuck speech and threw him off stage. These instances have since became few and far between with his wife now at the helm.
** To some extent, Wilkos does treat female guests who are abusive to their mates less harshly than men who treat their girlfriends/wives similarly. Whereas he will sometimes give a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech or throw abusive boyfriends/husbands off the stage, when the abusive mate is a woman or both partners are abusing each other, he merely opines to the guest(s) [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim? why they are even together]] and that neither partner in a relationship should abuse one another, regardless to whom the behavior is being directed towards.

** In almost every instance, if Wilkos reveals the results of each question on the lie detector test individually, the guest will have passed only a few or just one of the questions on the test and failed the rest. For instance, suppose Bob and Alice accused Tom of molesting their daughter, and the test questions asked if Tom abused the child and/or if he was grooming her for future abuse.[[note]]The act of gaining the trust of a person whom the sexual predator intends to abuse.[[/note] If you don't hear Wilkos read all of the questions at once before stating that "the results came out all the same, that you...," you can immediately conclude, that if Tom passed on the questions pertaining to the child's abuse, he likely failed on the grooming question.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Wilkos will occasionally laugh when some of his guests says and/or does something funny. Among the notable examples are Lamont (a guest appearing in a 2011 episode dealing with cheating accusations, who claimed he does a meditation exercise he invented called "Wu-Sai," which he says has kept him off of smoking marijuana and demonstrates much to Wilkos and the audience's amusement) and Kayla (a guest from an April 2016 episode of the same topical matter, whose eccentric and childish behavior – which was probably enhanced by her pregancy, in addition to her insecurity over Joe, her boyfriend of eight months at the time of taping, possibly cheating, [[spoiler:although his lie detector results were rendered moot since he confessed to most of the allegations to Kayla on-stage and before the show]] – left Steve in stitches at some points, even causing him to make a [[Creator/JohnnyCarson Carson]]-worthy quip when she laments about the "fat, ugly girls" that Joe talks to online before telling her that Kayla is one of the funniest guests ever to appear on the show, a compliment she embraces):

* DoWrongRight: In the October 2016 episode "You Caught an S.T.D., Just Confess," a guest named Sean makes a half-hearted chair "toss" after the lie detector test results conducted on his girlfriend Nicole (who accused him of giving her gonorrhea by cheating on her with other women) did not tell the truth about not having sexual contact/intercourse with women during their relationship[[note]]Nicole passed on the test question pertaining to whether she had intercourse/contact with men[[/note]]. Sean simply pushes the chair over, which Steve ridicules him for (leading Sean to return from backstage to defend the toss, weakly so), saying that his show probably wouldn't have lasted long if his chair throws were as unintimidating as Sean's.

'''''The Steve Wilkos Show''''' is a syndicated [[Main/TalkShow daytime talk show]] that debuted on September 10, 2007 and is distributed by [[Creator/{{NBC}} NBCUniversal Television Distribution]]. After serving as director of security on ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'', Steve Wilkos – a former U.S. Marine and Chicago police officer who, from 1993 to 2007, served as that program's director of security – was given a show of his own after subbing for [[Creator/JerrySpringer Springer]] himself on several occasions (such as during Springer's stint as a contestant on the third season of ''Series/DancingWithTheStars''), which led Wilkos to gain a fan following, particularly because of the special "Steve to the Rescue"-themed episodes.

Though it is part of the "tabloid/conflict talk" genre and Springer serves as one of its co-executive producers, to say that Steve's show is DarkerAndEdgier than ''Springer'' is just a bit of an understatement; in addition to polygraphing suspected cheaters, confronting controlling partners and running DNA tests that have become commonplace in the genre, Wilkos confronts and polygraphs accused rapists, pedophiles, and child abusers on his show. In addition to not letting an accused guest sit down – Wilkos quite often tosses that guest's chair aside or smashes it altogether – he will ''[[DrillSergeantNasty tear]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech into]]'' said guest upon his or her guilt being confirmed before instructing him or her to leave the stage or the studio.

** Many episodes deal with parents who have been accused of physical or sexual abuse against children, who deny committing the acts in question, even ''after'' their lie detector test proves otherwise. A few episodes have also dealt with accusations of parents murdering their own children or setting them up to be killed (one in particular, airing in March 2009, featured a guest named Ken, whose daughter, Letitia, was killed two years prior; the polygraph he took revealed that Ken had sexually molested his daughter and set her up to be killed,[[note]]The only question that Ken did pass was one in which he was asked whether he had killed Letitia himself[[/note]]).
** A notable episode dealing with the topic aired during the show's premiere week in September 2007, in which Steve conducts a jailhouse interview with a woman (who, in a rarity for the show, had her identity concealed to protect her children) who was sentenced to between nine and 20 years in prison on charges of involvement and distribution of child pornography[[note]]She had her daughter, who was 5-years-old at the time the crime was committed, involved in the filming of pornographic material (which the mother claimed to Steve was a simple photo shoot, despite the fact that she brought along bags of sex toys and provocative dresses for said "shoot")[[/note]]. Later in the interview, when she sticks to her story and fails to show any genuine remorse for hurting her children in such a way, Steve rebukes her for not protecting her daughters and putting them in such a situation, before ending the interview in disgust.
--->'''Steve:''' I hate you for what you did to your daughter! I can't even look at you anymore! I'm done talking to you!
** There has been at least one episode in which a guest came to seek help for their abusive behavior. In a February 2010 episode, a guest named Janelle admits physically abusing and neglecting her son (even having him sleep in a trash can, putting him in a closet and taping his mouth shut), claiming that she directed her abuse toward the child [[DisproportionateRetribution because she hated her then-husband for abusing her]]. She ultimately called her state's Department of Human Services to take her son away so she couldn't keep abusing her. Although Steve railed her for smirking (which Janelle cited was due to the awkwardness of revealing her story on national television) and for wanting help to get her son back, when Janelle shows genuine remorse for what she did and acknowledges she can't be a good parent as long as she views her son through the prism of her hatred of his father, he acknowledges that she does need help before she can get her son back.
--->'''Steve:''' I am mad at you, and I don't like what you did. But the one thing is, I do see somebody that, I think, wants to make a change in their life. I think it's somebody who realizes they're making bad mistakes. [...] I think you're making a powerful statement to everybody out there: "Yes, I abuse my son, I put a stop to it". I want to hear you say you're never going to do it again.

--->'''Steve:''' I believe you. I believe you, and I think you need help.

--->'''Steve:''' Are you ready to go get some help?

--->'''Steve:''' Let's go get you some help.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Steve sometimes can't help but laugh at the behavior of some of his quirkier guests. Among the notable examples are Lamont (a guest appearing in a 2011 episode dealing with cheating accusations, who claimed he does a meditation exercise he invented called "Wu-Sai," which he says has kept him off of smoking marijuana and demonstrates much to Steve and the audience's amusement) and Kayla (a guest from an April 2016 episode of the same topical matter, whose eccentric and childish behavior – which was probably enhanced by her pregancy, in addition to her insecurity over Joe, her boyfriend of eight months at the time of taping, possibly cheating, [[spoiler:although his lie detector results were rendered moot since he confessed to most of the allegations to Kayla on-stage and before the show]] – left Steve in stitches at some points, even causing him to make a [[Creator/JohnnyCarson Carson]]-worthy quip when she laments about the "fat, ugly girls" that Joe talks to online before telling her that Kayla is one of the funniest guests ever to appear on the show, a compliment she embraces):
--->'''Steve:''' ...and I assume you two [Kayla and Joe] had a lot of sex?

--->'''Steve''' (chuckling, struggling to straighten up his face): How fat are they? (Steve chuckles and palms his face, as the audience chants "STEEEEEEEEEVE"; Kayla also wipes away her tears and laughs)
* AllAbusersAreMale: While many episodes dealing with abuse involve men as the accused perpetrators, the show manages to avert this by sometimes featuring women that have been accused of or have admitted to sexually or physically abusing children (especially if they are the parent, other acts of abuse or neglect) or mentally/physically abusing their significant others. In the latter case, Steve acknowledges that the female guest should not mentally/physically abuse their mate, though does not rake them over the coals for it as much as he does the male guests who do it or the female guests revealed to be child abusers.
* AllCrimesAreEqual: Steve never lets the accused sit down unless they have a medical condition or, irrespective of any heinous behavior they may have committed, are a minor. The nature of what the guest is accused of doing doesn't matter.[[note]]Unless they are accused of cheating, and even then, there are some exceptions to this if the accused cheater is also accused of physically abusing their partner.[[/note]] Essentially treating being allowed to sit on his chairs a privilege, he requires guests to remain standing once they have arrived on-stage or get out of the chair if they're already sitting down when he references the crime/abuse alleged at the segment's start to keep them uncomfortable because the accused didn't allow others to feel comfortable when they victimized them. If they happen to be exonerated by the lie detector test, they will be allowed to sit[[note]]Though since the polygraph results are usually disclosed toward the end of a segment/episode and the chairs are oftentimes moved aside or off the stage entirely, situations in which an accused guest is exonerated actually gets to sit down are ''very'' rare[[/note]]. If the test determines that they lied, they will suffer the additional humiliation of being told to [[CatchPhrase "Get the hell off my stage!"]]

* BaldOfAwesome: Steve. Everyone loves his baldness (except for the scumbags getting chewed out and/or restrained by him).

** For Steve, it's bad parents and criminals. He won't allow them to sit down and will ''remove their chairs'' after they admit as much. You gotta feel sorry for the chairs after awhile. Steve has also been known to throw chairs at the really disgusting ones, albeit as they are exiting the main stage to the backstage area (he boasts in one video segment featured in a 2016 ClipShow of some of the show's "epic chair throws" that he has smashed over ''60 chairs'' on his stage, the remnants of some of which are behind him in the shot). In one episode, he threw a chair at a wall at a force hard enough to lodge it into the set and said he wanted to do the very same to the guest. It turned out that said guest [[spoiler:actually told the truth, but because his chair had been disposed of, he had nowhere to sit]].

* [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Better to Lie Than Be Truthful]]: Some guests will either not submit to lie detector tests, always lie on them (sometimes by using ineffective methods intended for the person being tested to attempt to beat the exam by changing their breathing while the test is being administered), or ignore instructions not to take narcotics or certain types of medication that would make them ineligible to be tested. If the latter occurs, the viewer basically can see coming that guest is guilty, especially if they agree to be re-tested while sober and become eligible for testing and fail it on the retake or intentionally fail to heed the instructions not to self-medicate. Even if they fail their test, the guest will still try to lie after their misdeeds are uncovered.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Steve is very helpful to the people that come to him for help, but he has zero respect for the {{Jerkass}} guests and will make them cower in fear when he confronts them.
* BlackComedyRape: In earlier seasons, Steve would often make jokes about people being raped in prison, often to try and unnerve accused sexual abusers who failed their lie detector tests. He seems to have completely stopped doing that in recent years, probably because of the number of actual rape victims appearing on the show increasing tenfold. During a particularly uncomfortable moment in an episode titled "Abuser's Plan Backfires", a victim of incest in the audience tells her story courageously. A few minutes later, Steve goes into vivid and almost disgusting detail about prison rape, all while the victim is still in the audience watching.
* BlatantLies: Many, many of the guests, sometimes even ''after'' Steve reads their failed lie detector test results to them. Even when Steve gives the guest a chance to be honest before reading their results, they will keep insisting they're innocent.
* BreakTheHaughty: Steve has no problem putting people in their place to the point where they're in tears. See TheReasonYouSuckSpeech below.
* BreakingSpeech: Steve is extremely good at these. He sure knows how to break assholes into crying messes. Guess twelve years as a police officer and being a Marine gives you knowledge on how these people think and how you can take advantage of it.

** "STEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!" is the equivalent to "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" frequently heard on ''Springer'', to the point that some of the asshole guests mock it. Steve's audience does the "STEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!" chant to indicate that they agree with either his point or that of someone making their case against whichever scumbag is on stage. Particularly deep-voiced audience members can end up sounding like a mooing cow if they attempt this. Upset, courageous or angry victims and accusers will sometimes beat the audience to the punch on yelling the chant, but usually they say the word as any normal person would.

** Then there's Steve's aforementioned "Get (the hell, your ass, [[PrecisionFStrike the f&$#]]) off my stage!"
** "Scumbag", Steve's term for any of the asshole/rapist/pedophile/lying etc. guests.

* CloudCuckooLander: Several episodes in which the topic deals with accusations of infidelity have featured some unintentional – and arguably, much needed – lighter moments, due to guests who are quirky, to say the least, and particularly those whose excuses of denial for cheating are incredibly flimsy and implausible. A ClipShow from 2014, titled "The Lighter Side of Steve," featured a compilation of various wacky guests who have appeared on the show, mainly in the cheating-focused episodes.
* DaddyDNATest: Some of the stories featured in episodes dealing with infidelity involve paternity tests conducted to reveal whether the male partner of a female guest accused of cheating had their child conceived by another man. Occasionally, the show also features paternity tests to determine whether a man believed to be their [[DisappearedDad long-lost father]] is the father of a teen or adult guest.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Steve Wilkos Show'' is this for ''Jerry Springer''. While Jerry deals with cases of strange sexual fetishes, cheating spouses and general weirdness, Steve deals with cases of rape, incest, child molestation, and murder. Steve's show also has a much more angry, harsh, and depressing tone to it than Jerry's does. However, in a bit of inversion, Jerry's set is dark and industrial looking while Steve's is bright and somewhat more contemporary[[note]]The show, however, did employ an industrial-style set for its first two seasons at [[UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Chicago]]'s NBC Tower; the loft-style currently used was introduced after the show's move to the Stamford Media Center in Stamford, Connecticut for Season 3.[[/note]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Steve.
-->'''Steve''': "...you think that I'm gonna say, [lighter, mock sympathetic voice] 'Oh [[AbusiveParent Jessica]], everything is gonna be all right. I gonna make all your problems go away.' [normal voice] Well guess what. I'm not your [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} fairy godmother]], I'm Steve, Steve Wilkos".
* DirtyCoward: All of the [[{{Jerkass}} scumbags]] when they are confronted by Steve count as this. They act tough, but cower when Steve gets close.

** In several episodes in which a guest accused their ex-husband/ex-boyfriend of molesting/raping their child, the lie detector test has revealed that the female accuser fabricated their claims, even coaching their child to say or brainwashing them into believing that the child's father violated them, as a means to get revenge for leaving the accuser (their dislike of the new girlfriend/wife of the child's father is also often cited as a factor). Steve often chews out the mother in these situations, noting that not only is she railroading the child's father for a crime he did not commit, but is effectively abusing the child by using them to help her exact revenge by making such claims.
** In a 2014 episode, Steve told the brother of a guest to "get off [his] stage," not for having been uncovered for molesting the child that she's accused her ex-husband of harming[[note]]The woman's brother wasn't tested, and the ex-husband passed his lie detector exam[[/note]], but simply "for wasting [Steve's] time" by not being able to provide a valid explanation to back up his sister's claims. The man hung around backstage for several minutes afterward, and was kicked out of the Stamford Media Center studios entirely once Steve saw him on one of the studio monitors. This is quite possibly the only instance to date in which a guest was ejected for reasons other than having failed lie detector exam questions pertaining to the discussed crime(s) with or without acknowledging guilt or for admissions of abuse/neglect without remorse.

* DontCelebrateJustYet: Some male and female guests will celebrate or say to their accuser(s) something to the effect of "I told you so" when they pass the first question(s) of their lie detector test, only to fail key questions asked later on when the test was administered. Steve will sometimes call out the accused on the selectiveness of their reaction if the guest disagrees with the results of a particular question after they are read, but is receptive to the questions they passed.

** Occurs when a guest accused on rape, molestation or sexual assault against another guest or their children is revealed to have committed the act, leading to HeroicBSOD moments with family members or friends of the accused appearing on-stage. The only consolation is that the perpetrators are tried and sentenced for their crimes after appearing on the show, preventing someone else from becoming their next victim – not to mention Steve ripping the accused a new one when they do fail the test.
** Also happens when both a man and a woman, or a man and a teen/adult guest who brought said person to the show to find out if they are related, are hoping that the man is the father and the DNA test proves that he isn't.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Steve IS this trope. Quite often {{The Reason You Suck Speech}}es are dished out two inches from the accused's face. The worst ejections will be punctuated by Steve hurling a chair directly behind them once they have turned the corner.

** In almost every instance, if Steve reveals the results of each question on the lie detector test individually, the guest will have passed only a few or just one of the questions on the test and failed the rest. For instance, suppose Bob and Alice accused Tom of molesting their daughter, and the test questions asked if Tom abused the child and – if he didn't – if he was grooming her[[note]]The act of gaining the trust of a person whom the sexual predator intends to abuse[[/note]] for future abuse; if you don't hear Steve read all of the questions at once before stating that "the results came out all the same, that you...," you can immediately conclude, that if Tom passed on the questions pertaining to the child's abuse, he likely failed on the grooming question.
** If Steve reads the lie detector results that asked if the cheater has had sexual intercourse or sexual contact[[note]]"Sexual contact" constitutes sexually stimulating acts ranging from kissing to oral sex, but is usually separate from intercourse[[/note]] outside of the relationship, more likely than not, they flunked the test. Many times, if they're asked one or more questions inquiring whether they had sexual contact/intercouse with two or more partners during their relationship with their current significant other and deny doing so, they failed those questions as well.
* GentleGiant: Steve has a HairTriggerTemper when he deals with what he has to on the show, as he did when he was working security or guest hosting on ''Springer''. However, he means well and tries his best to help those that deserve it or want to seek help to turn their life around. He can tower over most of the bad guys on either show.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: Unless he's really, REALLY angry, Steve usually substitutes 'fuck' (as an intensifier) for 'hell' or 'heck'.

** Even Steve himself is guilty of being one in a few episodes. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTDPHDURBs this clip]], for example, a man accused of abusing a child ([[spoiler: who later was cleared of all wrongdoing]]) is busy hamming it up on stage, when his wife charges onto the set, ''rugby tackles him to the ground'' and starts beating the shit out of him. While the man is trying to push his wife off, the security guards come in and start roughly manhandling him. Steve then accuses the man of being violent, when he quite clearly saw the woman launch an unprovoked assault on her husband. The man asking sarcastically [[DeadpanSnarker "Who's being violent?"]] after he finally gets to his feet shows just how hypocritical Steve was being.

** Episodes dealing with controlling mates, and sometimes, cheating accusations will often have guests talk about how they love their significant others despite the fact that they cheat on or abuse them (including if they engage in name calling – such as "whore," "slut" or "bitch" – towards the mate who brought them on the show). Steve usually calls them out on this, recognizing that their behavior contradicts their claims and that the relationship is, in fact, highly dysfunctional.
* LargeHam: Steve is a highly expressive man and especially when he's confronting an antagonistic guest.
* LieDetector: Which are always deemed highly accurate, even if the accusations levied are implausible. Episodes in which guests come on to clear up accusations of infidelity often ask those being administered the test how many times a guest has cheated and with how many partners. Because of the explicit nature of the questions, in episodes dealing with accusations of sexual abuse, Steve is either given watered down versions of specific questions asked to the recipient pertaining to the acts the guest has been accused of committing/may have committed or the moderately explicit portions that are read to the guests and studio audience are censored on-air to comply with FCC broadcast standards.
* MamaBear / PapaBear: These usually show up in episodes about the death, abuse or sexual assault of a minor. In earlier seasons, Steve seemed to be heavily biased towards the former, but in recent seasons more and more Papa Bears have appeared on the show. Steve regularly commends the parent(s), or even a relative/friend, for seeking justice for the child, and often reminds them to involve the police to file criminal charges against the perpetrator rather than take matters into their own hands through violent actions.
** During a segment where a mother finds out her husband had molested and set up her daughter to be killed, it took three men – including Steve – to hold her back from attacking him and she still managed to get her hands on him, practically holding both the abuser and the three security guards against the floor until Steve had to wrench her away.
* NeverMyFault: Almost everybody that appears to clear their name of criminal accusations or infidelity denies fault. Even when their guilt is uncovered and Steve begins ripping them to shreds, most of the guests revealed to have committed the specified crime(s) or of cheating will continue to deny that they did anything wrong. Sometimes, the defendants were WronglyAccused either because the other person lied on them or had genuine suspicions of the defendant's guilt that were proven false by the lie detector exam; some instances in which this was the case have had the exonerated guests express gratitude to Steve and the show for being able to vindicate themselves.

** Daniel Ribacoff (of International Investigative Group, the provider of the show's polygraph exams) appearing on stage to explain the results of his lie detector methods. Sometimes, he appears on cue; other times he appears to reassure concerned and innocent guests.

* ParentalIncest: Besides the episodes dealing with accusations of sexual abuse and molestation, one instance that stands out was featured in a May 2011 episode titled "Father and Daughter Having Sex". In the episode, an 18-year-old woman named Kelly (who took a lie detector test to confirm the story was true before taping the show) reveals that she – since age 16 – has been engaged in a sexual relationship with her father, Morgan, whom she first met at age 7. Adding to the already disturbing nature of the story, Kelly reveals that she wants to have a baby with Morgan (although she states he wanted to use a sperm donor or surrogate), whom also [[{{Squick}} makes out with her when he comes on-stage!]] Although Morgan admits he felt weird about the relationship at first, he also admits that he became comfortable with the situation as time went on. Steve notes that this the most disturbing story he's had to tackle since the show debuted.

* SoundEffectBleep: The show is randomly sprinkled with bleeps caused by guests or audience members cursing, Steve or a guest describing a sexually explicit situation (either in relation to a cheating accusation between guests or an accusation of sexual abuse), or the show having to redact a name to protect the identity of a victim described in a story pertaining to abuse. This sometimes occurs even during brief moments when everyone is basically silent. In the cheating episodes, this sometimes falls under CensoredForComedy, if a guest makes a raucous accusation found amusing by the audience or even Steve that can't be heard on-air.
* TalkShowWithFists: Downplayed for justified reasons. While the fights on ''Jerry Springer'' were broken up to prevent them from becoming too violent, Steve discourages guests from getting into altercations altogether, even if knocking around the accused person that fails a lie detector test for abuse is an understandable visceral reaction; hence why the show's security guards usually arrive on-stage once the confrontation portion of a given segment commences, ready to restrain/pull back guests to stop or break up fights. In several episodes dealing with child sexual/physical abuse, Steve has reminded the parent(s) whose family member or friend failed key or all questions on the polygraph test that getting vigilante justice on the perpetrator will only get them in legal trouble for assaulting the perp, leaving the child without someone there to defend them, and that they should focus their efforts on having that person prosecuted for their crimes.
** There have also been a few instances in which guests have attempted to use the chairs on-stage as weapons against other guests, only to be immediately stopped by Steve and his security team. One such example occurred in the April 2016 episode mentioned under ActuallyPrettyFunny, in which pregnant guest Kayla attempted to smash her chair onto her boyfriend Joe, with Steve reacting with a BigNO! and one of the guards rushing the stage to inform her that the stress incurred by lifting the chair would be unhealthy for her unborn child, at which point Kayla drops her chair.
** One subversion occurred in a February 2013 episode, in which one of the security guards attempted to restrain a guest named Thomasina from fighting her daughter, Destiny, after the polygraph revealed the latter had lied about not having an affair with her mother's now-deceased boyfriend and poisoning her. Steve gets hit in the head – though is, luckily, uninjured – by a metal bowl placed on the set window, which she presumably tried to aim at Destiny. About a minute later (after Thomasina apologized for the accidental hit), Steve, without missing a beat, then quips about the irony of the situation, given his previous gig:
--->'''Steve:''' Fourteen years on ''Jerry Springer'', and I never got hit by anything.
Producer Greg White said in a 10th anniversary clip piece that aired in September 2016, that he worried that the bowl-tossing incident would cost him his job, given that he gave the go-ahead to book Thomasina as a guest (White was not fired and remains with the show as of 2016).
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Steve has it to an art form.

** In episodes dealing with accusations of child abuse, if both accusing parties point the finger at one another for physically or sexually abusing the child of the parents, the less likely that the party whose results are read second is innocent. This is sometimes subverted, as the lie detector has sometimes determined that none of the guests who have accused each other of child abuse have committed the crime; in such cases, Steve advises the parents to seek further investigation into who did hurt their child.

* ThisIsMyChair: Steve will allow you to sit down on his chairs while you're on the show, just as long as you're not being accused of a heinous crime.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Some of the clips shown during the teasers aired at the start of the show of before and after certain commercial breaks (mostly excerpts occurring after the results of a lie detector/DNA test are revealed) often spoil the outcome if the teaser shows the guests' reaction to the results without actually showing the viewer. This is particularly egregious in episodes focusing on accusations of physical abuse/sexual abuse/murder, where the accusers are seen either crying/running backstage or attempting to attack the accused perpetrator of the crime. However, some episodes subvert this during the pre- and post-break teasers (usually during infidelity-focused episodes), when the clip ends before Steve actually reads the result of one of the questions featured on the guest's test.
* TranquilFury: When Steve yells at you during the first instance, he's mad. When he starts off against a guy with a smile on his face, pray to every god of every religion.
* TheUnfairSex: Steve used to be disturbingly biased towards women during the earlier seasons of his show. In one episode, a woman had taught her 2-year-old how to masturbate, then claimed her husband molested the child. Despite the fact that the husband's offences (giving excuses for not being able to visit home often) paled in comparison, Steve still gave him a TheReasonYouSuck speech and threw him off stage. These instances have since became few and far between with his wife now at the helm.
** To some extent, Steve does treat female guests who are abusive to their mates less harshly than men who treat their girlfriends/wives similarly. Whereas he will sometimes give a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech or throw abusive boyfriends/husbands off the stage, when the abusive mate is a woman or both partners are abusing each other, he merely opines to the guest(s) [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim? why they are even together]] and that neither partner in a relationship should abuse one another, regardless to whom the behavior is being directed towards.

* VillainousBreakdown: Much of Steve's lie detector tests and door choosings often end this way with the bad party breaking down.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Several episodes feature couples whose relationships are incredibly dysfunctional, because of their differing personalities or because one or both mates abuse one another, often leading Steve to ask this question to the guests.
** One such example is in the 2016 episode "You ''Can'' Live Without Him," which has its first story dealing with a 21-year-old couple named Autumn and Jordan, the former of whom accuses her fiancee of cheating on her with other women after catching him messaging other females on Facebook. The disparity of their temperaments is made obvious when the lie detector reveals that he did cheat, to the point where you actually feel sorry for Jordan. Autumn exhibits the emotional maturity of a teenager in how she deals with the revelation, recoiling into a ball of tears, and even threatens to seek sole custody of their daughter if he breaks up with her; it doesn't help that, according to Jordan, Autumn repeatedly shuts down whenever he tries to tell her that he's not happy in the relationship. Jordan comes off as more mature, explaining to her that he's not happy, even moreso when you find out he's enlisted in the Air Force to make something of himself and is adamant about staying in his daughter's life (citing his own father abandoning him as a child as a motivator). Despite the fact that they're obviously shouldn't be together, it's revealed in a voicemail sent a week after the episode was taped that, after discussing matters, they decide to stay together (with Autumn and their daughter moving with him on-base when he begins his tour of duty).

** One subversion occurred in a February 2013 episode, in which one of the security guards attempted to restrain a guest named Thomasina from fighting her daughter, Destiny, after the polygraph revealed the latter had lied about not having an affair with her mother's now-deceased boyfriend and poisoning her. Steve gets hit in the head – though is, luckily, uninjured – by one of Thomasina's shoes, which she presumably tried to aim at Destiny. About a minute later (after Thomasina apologized for the accidental hit), Steve, without missing a beat, then quips about the irony of the situation, given his previous gig:
--->'''Steve:''' Fourteen years on ''Jerry Springer'', and I didn't get hit by anything.

** Several episodes have focused on guests (both teenagers and adults) who are struggling with drug addiction. The stories of how they [[DrugsAreBad became an addict, what the person's addiction has done to them and the lengths to which they have resorted to fuel their addiction (prostituting themselves to pay for drugs, involving children to fuel their habit, etc.)]] are very sobering to hear (no pun intended). Once the guests have been sent to Park Bench Group Counseling[[note]]A facility which partners with ''The Steve Wilkos Show to provide addiction rehabilitation services to guests appearing in such episodes[[/note]], the show sends a camera crew to follow their progress; if they have completed their treatment, the guest is invited back on the show to discuss how they are doing post-rehab.

* BlackComedyRape: In earlier seasons, Steve would often make jokes about people being raped in prison, often to try and unnerve accused sexual abusers who failed their lie detector tests. He seems to have completely stopped doing that in recent years, probably because of the number of actual rape victims appearing on the show increasing tenfold. During a particularly uncomfortable moment in ''Abuser's Plan Backfires'', a victim of incest in the audience tells her story courageously. A few minutes later, Steve goes into vivid and almost disgusting detail about prison rape, all while the victim is still in the audience watching.

** The first segment of a 2013 episode dealt with a 16-year-old girl who was cyberbullied a cheerleading photo that was Photoshopped by another student to display her in a sexually compromising position was circulated among her schoolmates, which resulted in her dropping out of school. Atypical of the show, this episode had Steve field comments from members of the studio audience (most of whom were of high school to college age), to recount their experiences with bullying; most of the commenters also commended the girl for coming forward with her story, noting that it would be of help to those dealing with a similar bullying situation.

** For Steve, it's bad parents and criminals. He won't allow them to sit down and will ''remove their chairs'' after they admit as much. You gonna feel sorry for the chairs after awhile. Steve has also been known to throw chairs at the really disgusting ones, albeit as they are exiting the main stage to the backstage area (he boasts in one video segment featured in a 2016 ClipShow of some of the show's "epic chair throws" that he has smashed over ''60 chairs'' on his stage, the remnants of some of which are behind him in the shot). In one episode, he threw a chair at a wall hard enough to lodge it into the set and said he wanted to do the very same to the guest. It turned out that said guest [[spoiler:actually told the truth, but because his chair had been disposed of, he had nowhere to sit]].

'''''The Steve Wilkos Show''''' is a syndicated [[Main/TalkShow daytime talk show]] that debuted on September 10, 2007 and is distributed by [[Creator/NBC NBCUniversal Television Distribution]]. After serving as director of security on ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'', Steve Wilkos – a former U.S. Marine and Chicago police officer who, from 1993 to 2007, served as that program's director of security – was given a show of his own after subbing for [[Creator/JerrySpringer Springer]] himself on several occasions (such as during Springer's stint as a contestant on the third season of ''Series/DancingWithTheStars''), which led Wilkos to gain a fan following, particularly because of the special "Steve to the Rescue"-themed episodes.

After serving as director of security on ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'', Steve Wilkos, a former U.S. Marine and Chicago police officer, was given a show of his own in 2007 after subbing for Springer himself on several occasions. To say that his show is DarkerAndEdgier than ''Springer'' is just a bit of an understatement; in addition to polygraphing suspected cheaters and running DNA tests that have become commonplace in the genre, Wilkos confronts and polygraphs accused rapists, pedophiles, and child abusers on his show. In addition to not letting an accused guest sit down - Wilkos quite often tosses that guest's chair aside or smashes it altogether - he will ''[[DrillSergeantNasty tear]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech into]]'' said guest upon his or her guilt being confirmed before instructing him or her to leave the stage or the studio.

* AllCrimesAreEqual: Steve never lets the accused sit down unless they have a medical condition. The nature of what the guest is accused of doing doesn't matter.[[note]]Unless they are accused of cheating.[[/note]] He does it to keep them uncomfortable because the accused doesn't allow others to feel comfortable. If they happen to be exonerated by the lie detector test, they will be allowed to sit. If the test determines that they lied, they will suffer the additional humiliation of being told to [[CatchPhrase "Get the hell off my stage!"]]
* ArgumentOfContradictions: As with ''Springer'', get your popcorn. "Yes, you did cheat on me, nine times!" "No, I din't." "Yes, you did!" "No, I din'!" "And the lie detector said... that was a lie!" "'What?!!!! #@#$# (bleep bleep)"

** For Steve, it's bad parents and criminals. He won't allow them to sit down and will ''remove their chairs'' after they admit as much. You gonna feel sorry for the chairs after a while. Steve has also been known to throw chairs at the really disgusting ones (he boasts in one video segment that he has smashed over ''60 chairs'' on his stage, the remnants of some of which are behind him in the shot). In one episode, he threw a chair at a wall hard enough to lodge it into the set and said he wanted to do the very same to the guest. It turned out that said guest [[spoiler:actually told the truth, but because his chair had been disposed of, he had nowhere to sit]].
** A few guests have attempted to attack the defendant when their test came back negative.

* BlackComedyRape: In earlier seasons, Steve would often make jokes about people being raped in prison. He seems to have completely removed that in recent years, probably because of the number of actual rape victims appearing on the show increasing tenfold. During a particularly uncomfortable moment in ''Abuser's Plan Backfires'', a victim of incest in the audience tells her story courageously. A few minutes later, Steve goes into vivid and almost disgusting detail about prison rape, all while the victim is still in the audience watching.
* BlatantLies: Many, many of the guests, sometimes even ''after'' Steve reads their failed lie detector test results to them.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Steve Wilkos Show'' is this for ''Jerry Springer''. While Jerry deals with cases of strange sexual fetishes, cheating spouses and general weirdness, Steve deals with cases of rape, incest, child molestation, and murder. Steve's show also has a much more angry, harsh, and depressing tone to it than Jerry's does. However, in a bit of inversion, Jerry's set is dark and industrial looking while Steve's is bright and somewhat more contemporary.

* DirtyCoward: All of the [[{{Jerkass}} scumbags]] on ''The Steve Wilkos Show'' when they are confronted by Steve count as this. They act tough, but cower when Steve gets close.

* GentleGiant: Steve has a HairTriggerTemper when he deals with what he has to, be it on his own show or working security. However, he means well and tries his best to help those that deserve it. He can tower over most of the bad guys on either show.

* HeroicBSOD: Because of the seriousness of the topics, it's more likely to happen here than on ''Springer''. Often, parents who had no idea their child was being abused or wives who weren't aware their husbands were cheating on them suffer from this.

* MamaBear / PapaBear: These usually show up in episodes about the death, abuse or sexual assault of a minor. In earlier seasons, Steve seemed to be heavily biased towards the former, but in recent seasons more and more Papa Bears have appeared on the show.
** During a segment where a mother finds out her husband had molested and set up her daughter to be killed, it took 3 men including Steve to hold her back from attacking him and she still managed to get her hands on him, practically holding both the abuser and the three security guards against the floor until Steve had to wrench her away.

** The audience bursting into laughter at inopportune times. Usually, they'll laugh like hyenas after the results are read, no matter how horrifying or disgusting they are.
** Daniel Ribacoff appearing on stage to explain the results of his lie detector methods. Sometimes, he appears on cue, other times he appears to reassure concerned and innocent guests.

* TheUnfairSex: Steve used to be disturbingly biased towards women during the earlier seasons of his show. In one episode, a woman had taught her 2 year old how to masturbate, then claimed her husband molested the child. Despite the fact that the husband's offences (giving excuses for not being able to visit home often), Steve still gave him a TheReasonYouSuck speech and threw him off stage. These instances have since became few and far between with his wife now at the helm.

----

* MamaBear / PapaBear: These usually show up in episodes about the death, abuse or sexual assault of a minor. In earlier seasons, Steve seemed to be heavily biased towards the former, but in recent seasons more and more PapaBears have appeared on the show.

* GoshDarnItToHeck: Unless he's [[Angrish really, REALLY angry]], Steve usually substitutes 'fuck' (as an intensifier) for 'hell' or 'heck'.

* MamaBear: During a segment where a mother finds out her husband had molested and set up her daughter to be killed, it took 3 men including Steve to hold her back from attacking him and she still managed to get her hands on him, practically holding both the abuser and the three security guards against the floor until Steve had to wrench her away.

** For Steve, it's bad parents and criminals. He won't allow them to sit down and will ''remove their chairs'' after they admit as much. You gonna feel sorry for the chairs after a while. Steve has also been known to throw chairs at the really disgusting ones (he boasts in one video segment that he has smashed over ''60 chairs'' on his stage, the remnants of some of which are behind him in the shot). In one episode, he threw a chair at a wall hard enough to lodge it into the set and said he wanted to do the very same to the guest.

** Then there's Steve's aforementioned "Get (the hell, [[PrecisionFStrike the f&$#]]) off my stage!"

After serving as director of security on ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'', Steve Wilkos, a former U.S. Marine and Chicago police officer, was given a show of his own in 2007 after subbing for Springer himself on several occasions. To say that his show is DarkerAndEdgier than ''Springer'' is just a bit of an understatement; in addition to polygraphing suspected cheaters and running DNA tests that have become commonplace in the genre, Wilkos confronts and polygraphs rapists, pedophiles, and child abusers on his show. In addition to not letting an accused guest sit down - Wilkos quite often tosses that guest's chair aside or smashes it altogether - he will ''[[DrillSergeantNasty tear]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech into]]'' said guest upon his or her guilt being confirmed before instructing him or her to leave the stage or the studio.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Steve IS this trope. Quite often [[The Reason You Suck Speech]]es are dished out two inches from the accused's face. The worst ejections will be punctuated by Steve hurling a chair directly behind them once they have turned the corner.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Steve IS this trope. Quite often [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech]]es are dished out two inches from the accused's face. The worst ejections will be punctuated by Steve hurling a chair directly behind them once they have turned the corner.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Steve IS this trope. Quite often [{TheReasonYouSuckSpeech]]es are dished out two inches from the accused's face. The worst ejections will be punctuated by Steve hurling a chair directly behind them once they have turned the corner.

** "STEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!" is the equivalent to "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" frequently heard on ''Springer'', to the point that some of the asshole guests mock it. Upset, courageous or angry victims and accusers will sometimes beat the audience to the punch on yelling the chant, but usually they say the word as any normal person would.

** Steve's audience does the "Steeeeeeeve!" chant to indicate that they agree with either his point or that of someone making their case against whichever scumbag is on stage. Particularly deep-voiced audience members can end up sounding like a mooing cow if they attempt this.

* CatchPhrase: "STEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!" is the equivalent to "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" frequently heard on ''Springer'', to the point that some of the asshole guests mock it. Then there's Steve's aforementioned "Get the hell off my stage!" Upset, courageous or angry victims and accusers will sometimes beat the audience to the punch on yelling the chant, but usually they say the word as any normal person would.

->[[AC:Get off my stage!!]]

After serving as director of security on ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'', Steve Wilkos, a former U.S. Marine and Chicago police officer, was given a show of his own in 2007 after subbing for Springer himself on several occasions. To say that his show is DarkerAndEdgier than ''Springer'' is just a bit of an understatement; in addition to polygraphing suspected cheaters and running DNA tests that have become commonplace in the genre, Wilkos confronts and polygraphs rapists, pedophiles, and child abusers on his show. In addition to not letting an accused guest sit down - Wilkos quite often tosses that guest's chair aside - he will ''tear into'' said guest upon his or her guilt being confirmed before instructing him or her to leave the stage or the studio.

** For Steve, it's bad parents and criminals. He won't allow them to sit down and will ''remove their chairs'' after they admit as much. You gonna feel sorry for the chairs after a while. Steve has also been known to throw chairs at the really disgusting ones. In one episode, he threw a chair at a wall hard enough to lodge it into the set and said he wanted to do the very same to the guest.