History Series / TheSteveWilkosShow

* AccompliceByInaction: Wilkos feels ''very'' strongly that people who fail to intervene when they're aware of some wrongdoing are just as culpable as if they've committed the deed themselves, and will roast these guests as badly as - or sometimes even worse than - those who committed the act in question. For example, he's had several cases involving mothers who were indicated by lie detector tests to have known that their romantic partners were abusing or molesting their children, even if they denied that they knew.
** One of the most tragic examples is the story of three-year-old Arabella Parker, who was beaten repeatedly by her mother's boyfriend and whose mother, Samantha, did nothing to intervene because she was afraid of the boyfriend. The final beating left Arabella in a coma with a 10% chance of survival. Samantha's lie detector test revealed she did not cause any of her daughter's injuries, but Wilkos chastised her fiercely anyway, ordering the audience not to applaud her for passing the test and pointing out that she was a coward and that her inaction made her equally culpable. After the show, the three-year-old sadly passed away, and her mother and stepfather were both charged with homicide.

** One of the most tragic examples is the story of three-year-old Arabella Parker, who was beaten repeatedly by her mother's boyfriend and whose mother, Samantha, did nothing to intervene because she was afraid of the boyfriend. The final beating left Arabella in a coma with a 10% chance of survival. Samantha's lie detector test revealed she did not cause any of her daughter's injuries, but Wilkos chastised her fiercely anyway, pointing out that she was a coward and that her inaction made her equally culpable. After the show, the three-year-old sadly passed away, and her mother and stepfather were both charged with homicide.

** "Scumbag" is Wilkos's term for any of the asshole/rapist/pedophile/lying etc. guests. He'll also sometimes use the term "goofball" for guests accused of less serious misdeeds.

** One episode dealt with the disappearance of Relisha Rudd, an 8-year-old from Washington, D.C., who vanished in 2014. Relisha's stepfather and grandmother passed their lie-detector tests, but her mother, Shamika, did not take a lie detector test, and Wilkos made no secret of the fact that he thought Shamika was involved in the girl's disappearance. Relisha is still missing as of January 2021, and authorities believe that, if she is still alive, she may have become a victim of sex trafficking.

** During the show's first couple of seasons, a recurring closing segment had Wilkos read viewer e-mails, both positive and negative, which he would preface by saying, "If I read your letter, and if you're not a knucklehead, moron, or belly-rubber, I'll send you a free T-shirt" and that those who sent him negative e-mails were "not allowed to watch". The segment appeared less frequently from the second through fourth seasons before being discontinued outright, with Wilkos dropping the "knucklehead," "moron" or "belly-rubber" references or his label for the show as "Moron-Free TV",[[note]]Most likely to avoid offending viewers and/or any legal issues.[[/note]] with all viewers that had their e-mail read on-air receiving a T-shirt. However, he has continued to refer to his most odious guests as "knuckleheads."

** During the show's first couple of seasons, a recurring closing segment had Wilkos read viewer e-mails, both positive and negative, which he would preface by saying, "If I read your letter, and if you're not a knucklehead, moron, or belly-rubber, I'll send you a free T-shirt" and that those who sent him negative e-mails were "not allowed to watch". The segment appeared less frequently from the second through fourth seasons before being discontinued outright, with Wilkos dropping the "knucklehead," "moron" or "belly-rubber" references or his label for the show as "Moron-Free TV",[[note]]Most likely to avoid offending viewers and/or any legal issues.[[/note]] with all viewers that had their e-mail read on-air receiving a T-shirt.

* DomesticAbuser: Many guests deal with [[BastardBoyfriend abusive lovers]] and/or [[AbusiveParents bad parents]].

** The audience bursting into laughter at inopportune times. They'll jeer and sometimes even laugh like hyenas while Wilkos interviews guests and/or after the results are read, no matter how horrifying or disgusting they are. Some audience members, however, have been shown crying after a particularly horrifying result comes to light.

* 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'!" "The questions all came back the same, and they came back that you... did not tell the truth!" "'What?!!!! #@#$# (bleep bleep)"

--->'''Wilkos:''' ...and I assume you two [Kayla and Joe] had a lot of sex?
--->'''Kayla:''' Yeah, we did at the beginning of the relationship before he started cheating with the fat, ugly girls he talks to. They're all ugly and fat!
--->'''Wilkos:''' (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)

** "STEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!" is the equivalent to the "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" frequently heard on ''Springer'', to the point that some of the asshole guests mock it. Wilkos's audience does the 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.
** "We gotta do this standing up" or some minor variant thereof, when a guest accused of abuse or murder that is already sitting down is asked to get out of the chair, before telling their side of the story.

** "How many times did we test you?" - when a guest who has failed a lie detector test yells that they want to retake it.

-->'''Desiree:''' I love my baby! She's going to get taken away because of you people!\\

Though it is part of the "tabloid/conflict talk" genre, and Springer serves as one of its co-executive producers, to say that Wilkos' 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, child abusers, and even ''murderers'' 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 and 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.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: Although most episodes deal with accusations of abuse or infidelity, some deviate from the usual "conflict" format:
** Several episodes have focused on guests, both teenagers and adults, who are struggling with drug addiction. The stories of how [[DrugsAreBad they 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.
*** This was more common in the earlier seasons of the show, when Wilkos' show at times seemed like a more hostile and animated version of Series/DrPhil. Some episodes even featured Wilkos traveling to drug addicts' homes (invited by their children) to confront them personally.
** The first segment of a 2013 episode dealt with a 16-year-old girl who was cyberbullied after a cheerleading photo 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 Wilkos 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.
** The 2018 episode "Racial Violence: They Tried to Hang My 15-Year-Old Son" told the story of a 15-year-old African American boy named Jason who miraculously survived an attempted lynching in his small Indiana town and was likely targeted not only because he is Black but because he is being raised by a lesbian couple. Local law enforcement was not much of a help, as Indiana has no hate crime laws and one of the perpetrators got only 30 days in jail. Wilkos and his show gave Jason's family $5,000 to aid with moving expenses.

** In a 2014 episode, Wilkos 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 [Wilkos'] 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 Wilkos 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.

** Guests who run backstage after they're revealed to have failed a lie detector test, or to escape Wilkos' wrath if his line of questioning gets too uncomfortable. He will invariably follow them backstage and berate them for their cowardice, and then order them to "get [their] asses back onstage."

** "STEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!" is the equivalent to the "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" frequently heard on ''Springer'', to the point that some of the asshole guests mock it. Wilkos' audience does the 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.

** "Scumbag" is Wilkos' term for any of the asshole/rapist/pedophile/lying etc. guests. He'll also sometimes use the term "goofball" for guests accused of less serious misdeeds.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Steve Wilkos Show'' is this for ''Jerry Springer''. While Springer deals with cases of strange sexual fetishes, cheating spouses, and general weirdness, Wilkos deals with cases of rape, incest, child molestation, and murder. Wilkos' show also has a much more angry, harsh, and depressing tone to it than Springer's does. However, in a bit of inversion, Springer's set is dark and industrial looking, while Wilkos' is bright and somewhat more contemporary.[[note]]The show, however, did employ an industrial-style set for its first two seasons at UsefulNotes/{{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]]

* KarmaHoudini: Guests revealed to have committed some crime for which they already did jail time but got a light sentence - for example, Monique in "Could a Mother Kill Her Own Child?", who served 16 months for the murder of her two-month-old daughter but claimed she was innocent and took a plea deal so she could get back to her family. Her lie-detector test, however, suggested she was guilty, and Wilkos thundered that she should be serving ''decades'' in prison, not ''months''. Monique was, on the other hand, also experiencing a form of LaserGuidedKarma, since the stigma will follow her for the rest of her life, and she was already being called a baby-killer and even attacked by strangers.

** Some mothers of accused guests will continue to act as Mama Bears for their children to protect them from Wilkos' wrath, even after their children are revealed to have failed their lie detector tests.

** On an early episode titled "Steve Cleans House", a guest named Jennifer continually blamed her "dumbass ex-husband" for the fact that her children were taken away. Wilkos noted that her three-month-old son weighed only six pounds, nine ounces - ''half'' of what a three-month-old boy should weigh - when he was removed from Jennifer's custody. Jennifer's story that the boy had weighed 15 pounds and allegedly [[BlatantLies lost nine pounds in the space of ten days while staying with his father]] was dismissed as implausible. To make matters worse, Jennifer had left her kids in the care of a man she ''knew'' to be a sex offender while she ran errands, and ''still'' insisted that she bore no responsibility at all for having her kids taken away. Wilkos roasted her so badly that she ran backstage in tears sobbing that she wanted to go home.

** One early episode, titled "I Killed My Baby," dealt with a young woman named Jennifer who had brought her boyfriend, Tim, on the show to confess to him that she had intentionally made herself miscarry by taking drugs. She claimed she was sorry for what she'd done and wanted help to get herself off drugs, but was smug and sarcastic while Wilkos was questioning her, and Wilkos ultimately called her a pig and threw her out of the studio, chasing her backstage while he did so. He was no easier on Tim, whom he accused of knowingly making a baby with a "crack whore."

* {{Plaguemaster}}: One of Wilkos's most shocking stories was an early episode called "The Kiss of Death," which featured an HIV-positive guest named James who openly admitted to purposely having unprotected sex with other men and spreading the virus to them without their knowledge. James, who claimed he had contracted HIV in exactly that fashion, showed no remorse about giving other people a disease that could kill them and destroy their families, and even claimed that he believed he would go to heaven and that he could get anyone in the studio audience to sleep with him. Wilkos couldn't believe what he was hearing and convinced once of James' exes, also on the show as a guest, to go to the police once he returned home. James' current boyfriend fared no better, as he unconvincingly made excuses for his boyfriend's behavior and refused to kiss James when Wilkos ordered him to, which got him thrown off the stage.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Wilkos loves to give these to guests who truly deserve them. One of the worst examples was a guest named Christina, who, when she found out that her fiancee had been repeatedly sexually assaulting her daughter, not only blamed her ''daughter'' for it but allowed the pedophile to continue living with her, even watching as he fondled her daughter's breasts. Subsequently, the pedophile went to prison and Christina lost custody of her daughters to her sister, Jennifer. She insisted she hadn't known the sex wasn't consensual, but confessed during the lie detector exam that she ''had'' known and had done nothing, even as she continued to deny it onstage. Wilkos ripped her a new one.

** 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 [[NeverMyFault blamed the whole thing on her sister, Rose]], who had adopted the boy. When Wilkos called her out for it, she [[RudelyHangingUp disconnected the call]].

** Downplayed for justified reasons. While the fights on ''Jerry Springer'' were broken up to prevent them from becoming too violent, Wilkos 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 onstage 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, Wilkos 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.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Like many other shows of this type, Wilkos' show has had its share of episodes dealing with out-of-control teenagers who drink, use drugs, disrespect authority, have underage sex, belong to gangs, etc. and are sent to prison or some other intervention for a reality check of where their lives will be headed if they don't change their ways.
** A startling departure came in one early episode in which a young woman named Keisha, whose ex-fiancee Donald had been accused of molesting her 16-year-old sister Jessica, brought her sister on the show to determine whether she was telling the truth. The ex-fiancee claimed the 16-year-old had come on to ''him'' first, and that he had been supplying the girl with alcohol to boot. Shockingly, Jessica failed her lie detector test, suggesting that the ex-boyfriend's story was in fact true. Wilkos nevertheless rightly pointed out that even if Jessica had tried to seduce Donald, she was still a child, and Donald should have had enough self control to resist her. Adding to the shock was that Jessica looked considerably younger than her 16 years.

* WouldHitAGirl: Several episodes deal with women who have been subjected to domestic abuse, emotional, mental and psychological abuse, rape, sex trafficking, attempted murder and sadly in some cases murder.

** One of Wilkos' most shocking early shows was one in which an elderly lady named Jeanne came on to confess that she had murdered a former friend's infant boy sixteen years earlier by forcing alcohol and pills down his throat to stop him from crying. She was terminally ill, and Wilkos realized the real reason she'd come on the show was to clear her conscience before she died, not out of any sense of obligation to the boy's mother. Jeanne's ObfuscatingStupidity didn't sit well with Wilkos either, as she claimed she wanted to be retried for the crime, but she had already served time in prison after taking a plea deal and couldn't be retried. The boy's mother, Kayla, calmly but fiercely confronted Jeanne at the end of the show and refused to give Jeanne the forgiveness or peace she had come for.

--->'''Wilkos:''' All kidding aside, I'm not joking- that's gonna be the title of the show: "...But I Love Him". "...But I Love Him". He can do whatever he wants. He could abuse my younger sister, he could lie about it, he could spin himself to be a victim, he has no conscience- "...But I Love Him." He knows he got away with this with you, and you stand by your man? You stay with him? Over this? What will he ''not'' do?

* TitleDrop: In the episode titled "...But I Love Him", the girlfriend of the man who molested her underage sister repeats this whenever anyone confronts her with his crimes, so much so that an exasperated Wilkos decides to name the episode after it:
--->'''Wilkos:''' All kidding aside, I'm not joking- that's gonna be the title of the show: "...But I Love Him".

--->'''Wilkos:''' All kidding aside, no joking- that's gonna be the title of the show: "...But I Love Him".

--->'''Wilkos:''' All kidding aide, no joking- that's gonna be the title of the show: "...But I Love Him".

* ParentalNeglect: A common factor in many of the stories featured, often involving parents who fail to provide their child with the necessities of life or who let their children get away with TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior. One 2022 episode involved a mother who openly admitted she let her children - and, even more distressingly, her children's ''friends'' - drink and smoke weed in her home. She explained that she would rather have the children party in her house so she could keep an eye on them, but admitted to participating in the smoking and drinking, suggesting she wasn't keeping an eye on much of anything. Her one clean and sober daughter brought her mother on the show to try to show her the error of her ways, but to no avail, and Wilkos gave the daughter credit for at least ''trying'' to protect her siblings who were still living at home.

** The 2018 episode "Racial Violence: They Tried to Hang My 15-Year-Old Son" told the story of a 15-year-old African American boy named Jason who miraculously survived an attempted lynching in his small Indiana town and was likely targeted not only because of his race but because he is being raised by a lesbian couple. Local law enforcement was not much of a help, as Indiana has no hate crime laws and one of the perpetrators got only 30 days in jail. Wilkos and his show gave Jason's family $5,000 to aid with moving expenses.

* ParentalNeglect: A common factor in many of the stories featured, often involving parents who fail to provide their child with the necessities of life or who let their children get away with TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior. One 2022 episode involved a mother who openly admitted she let her children - and, even more distressingly, her children's ''friends'' - drink and smoke weed in her home. She explained that she would rather have the children party in her house so she could keep an eye on them, but admitted to participating in the smoking and drinking, suggesting she wasn't keeping an eye on much of anything. Her one clean and sober daughter brought her mother on the show to try to show her the error of her ways, but to no avail, and Wilkos gave the daughter credit for at least ''trying''.

** 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, Rose, who had adopted the boy. When Wilkos called her out for it, she [[RudelyHangingUp disconnected the call]].

*** Wilkos faced DUI charges in February 2018 after it was revealed that he'd been under the influence of alcohol in a one-car rollover collision a month earlier which sent him to the hospital and put the taping of his show on hiatus. Given that not only did he drive drunk but also afterward claimed he'd crashed because he was distracted while reaching for his glasses, acts he likely would have lambasted one of his guests for committing, this seems a particularly egregious level of hypocrisy. Even worse, in the moments before the crash, Wilkos was reported by other drivers to be forcing cars to run off the road to avoid him, an act of aggressive driving that he'd probably chew guests out for doing as well. It hasn't seemed to hurt his popularity, however.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Wilkos loves to give these to guests who truly deserve them. One of the worst examples was a guest named Christina, who, when she found out that her fiancee had been repeatedly sexually assaulting her daughter, not only [[VictimBlaming blamed her ''daughter'' for it]] but allowed the pedophile to continue living with her, even watching as he fondled her daughter's breasts. Subsequently, the pedophile went to prison and Christina lost custody of her daughters to her sister, Jennifer. She insisted she hadn't known the sex wasn't consensual, but confessed during the lie detector exam that she ''had'' known and had done nothing, even as she continued to deny it onstage. Wilkos ripped her a new one.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Wilkos loves to give these to guests who truly deserve them:
---> '''Wilkos:''' ''[to Christina, who confessed to the lie detector examiner that she knew her fiancé had raped her daughter and allowed it to happen, 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]'' [[note]] Christina's sister, who was raising her nieces, revealed in a follow-up interview that she had begun legal proceedings to adopt the girls and that she and Christina were still estranged.[[/note]]