History Series / TheSteveWilkosShow

---> '''Wilkos:''' ''[to Christina, who confessed to the lie detector examiner that she knew her fiancé had raped her daughter, while she continued to deny it during her interview]'' You didn't do anything! You knew your daughter was having sex with this guy. You didn't protect her, you didn't protect your youngest one being exposed, you didn't protect her from being grabbed by this guy, you didn't show up in court to make sure he'd get proper sentencing, you have done ''nothing''. You are one of the biggest piece of sh*t mothers I've ever had on this stage. ''[audience applause]'' You should- you should never, ever, get your daughters back, and I hope your sister gets to keep them forever. ... And you know what, when this guy gets out, you deserve him. And now I see tears and I don't know why. Who are they for? For yourself? 'Cause they're not for your daughters. 'Cause if you actually had tears for your daughters, you would have called the police, you would have showed up in court, which you did ''neither'' of. You are a horrible, horrible human being and a terrible mother, and I hope you rot in hell and someday jail. GET THE HELL OFF, MY, STAGE!!! ''[throws chair as Christina leaves stage and audience cheers]''

* BaldOfAwesome: Wilkos. Almost everyone loves his baldness except for the scumbags getting chewed out and/or restrained by him. Some guests have enough bravado to get in jabs at his bald head while they're being berated.

** Wilkos' aforementioned "Get (the hell, your ass, [[PrecisionFStrike the fuck]]) off my stage!" Often preceded by "I hope you ROT IN HELL!," if the accused's crime is particularly heinous.

** "Take a look." - said by Wilkos at the beginning of each story before previously recorded comments introduce the guests to the viewers.

** One guest, Desiree, realizing her children would probably be taken away after she and her boyfriend Angel both failed lie detector tests for fracturing their two-month-old's skull, openly blamed ''Wilkos'' for it.

** Think you're safe just because your polygraph results are "inconclusive?" Or for one reason or another you can't take one anyway? Dan has other tests he can use to see if you're lying. Even before the actual test itself, he can find out if you're being deceptive. Not to mention, conclusive LDT results given to other guests can help to expose you as a liar (for example, if it's revealed that another guest told the truth about seeing you molest your niece).

** This has happened virtually as well, during the 2020-21 season in which some guests participated via teleconference due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. One guest named Amanda, who had previously failed a lie detector test for allowing her ex to sexually abuse her son and even watching while the abuse occurred, participated in a follow-up via teleconference, and continued to protest her innocence and blamed the whole thing on her sister, who had adopted the boy. When Wilkos called her out for it, she [[RudelyHangingUp disconnected the call]].

*** On the other hand, Wilkos is typically good at determining whether guests who come to him asking for help are sincere, and if he feels they aren't (making excuses to rationalize bad behavior is a dead giveaway a guest isn't sincere), he will throw them off his stage and send them packing.

** A guest named Annie in the episode "Mothers Accused of Life Threatening Abuse" failed her lie detector test for feeding her one-year-old son baby oil, which put the boy in the hospital with a breathing tube inserted into his throat. Annie spent the remainder of the segment spewing InsaneTrollLogic, accusing the show of faking the lie detector results and asking, "Why would I harm one child out of four?" In reality, it's common for AbusiveParents to single one child out for abuse and continue to treat the rest well. Wilkos also pointed out that maybe Annie ''had'' abused her other three kids and just hadn't been caught.

* SoundEffectBleep: The show is randomly sprinkled with bleeps caused by guests or audience members cursing, Wilkos or a guest describing a sexually explicit situation, or the show having to redact a name to protect the identity of a victim described in a story pertaining to abuse. Often, the near-constant swearing among the audience members can lead to moments where information is inadvertently censored out with the swearing. 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 Wilkos that can't be heard on-air.

* RaisedByGrandparents: Often the case in child abuse or neglect cases, if the child's parents have lost custody.

* NotHelpingYourCase: At times, guests who are accused of a particular crime act in such a manner that contradicts their innocence. An example of this is in "I didn't hurt my boys" where the mother claims she didn't abuse her boys but the first thing she does when she comes on stage is to immediately shove and physically accost them the second they come face-to-face.

** This has happened virtually as well, during the 2020-21 season in which some guests participated via teleconference due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. One guest named Amanda, who had previously failed a lie detector test for allowing her ex to sexually abuse her son and even watching while the abuse occurred, participated in a follow-up via teleconference, and continued to protest her innocence and blamed the whole thing on her sister, who had adopted the boy. When Wilkos called her out for it, she disconnected the call.

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

* WhamLine: Many a time has Wilkos been floored by an allegation or accusation from a guest, and equally vice versa, but a particularly powerful one came from the mouth of a child, no less. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZk9NAwTqNk "Mommy, Go to Jail for Me"]], a very brave young girl named Makayla delivered an incredibly [[TranquilFury calm yet direct line]] to her absentee mother when the latter took the stage:
-->'''Makayla's mother:''' H-hey, baby...
--->'''Makayla:''' ''Don't call me that.''

--->'''Makayla's mother:''' H-hey, baby...

* WhamLine: Many a time has Wilkos been floored by an allegation or accusation from a guest, and equally vice versa, but a particularly powerful one comes from the mouth of a child, no less. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZk9NAwTqNk "Mommy, Go to Jail for Me"]], a very brave young girl called Makayla delivers an incredibly [[TranquilFury calm, yet direct line]] to her absentee mother when the latter takes the stage:
--->'''Makayla's mother:''' "H-hey baby..."
--->'''Makayla:''' ''"Don't call me that."''

** In the first segment of the episode "Did You Lie About Being Raped?", a woman admits that she lied to her boyfriend about getting assaulted. She also admits that she filed a false police report. She claims she did this because he kept accusing her of being a cheater and was calling her a whore. Both took a lie detector test to determine if they had cheated. Both passed, which caused the studio audience to cheer for them. Afterward, Wilkos calls the girlfriend out for needlessly wasting her local law enforcement's time. He then calls out the boyfriend, saying that that he is just as responsible as she is because of his verbal abuse, even though filing a false report is a crime and being a distrustful boyfriend is not.

!!This show provides examples of:

* WouldHitAGirl: Several episodes deal with women who have been subjected to domestic abuse, emotional, mental and psychological abuse, rape, sex trafficking and of course murder.

** On at least one occasion during the 2020-21 season, in which some guests participated via teleconference due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, a guest who didn't like Steve's line of questioning (regarding letting her ex sexually abuse her son and watching while the abuse happened, for which she had previously failed a lie detector test) disconnected the call.

* UngratefulBastard: An episode involving a young woman who brought her boyfriend on the show accusing him of emotional and physical abuse. Wilkos believed he had gotten through to the boyfriend... until he learned that after the show, the boyfriend had posted a video on social media in which he tried to get his infant son to say "F**k Steve Wilkos." Wilkos brought both guests back on the show and railed against the boyfriend for wasting the show's time. He became equally angry with the girlfriend for making excuses for her boyfriend's behavior and threw them both off the stage.

** Even after they pass all the questions asked, Wilkos will occasionally point out to the accused that they are still a horrible person due their actions unrelated to the test. Even before he get to the results, he'll state to the accused that they're horrible regardless. He'll even, on occasion, rip up the paper with the LDT results and say, "Who gives a damn?" At least once, he had to stop the audience from applauding a person for passing, stating that they shouldn't applaud that given what the accused has already done.

** Even after they pass all the questions asked, Wilkos will occasionally point out to the accused that they are still a horrible person due their actions unrelated to the test. He'll even, on occasion, rip up the paper with the LDT results and say, "Who gives a damn?" At least once, he had to stop the audience from applauding a person for passing, stating that they shouldn't applaud that given what the accused has already done.