Jerry Springer — the heavyweight champion of daytime talk-show brawls — is getting into a new kind of drama this month: His new Investigation Discovery series, “Tabloid,” airs Thursday nights and looks at the juiciest, most scandalous stories to hit newsprint.
From affairs gone wrong to mob murders, Springer says tabloid fodder has always been appealing.
“These stories really are evidence that what really happens in life is far more incredible than what we can make up and imagine in fiction,” Springer says. “This has always gone on. Henry VIII was cutting off heads. Imagine the tabloid coverage of those stories!”
Some of the most salacious stories Springer profiles have landed on the cover of New York’s own papers — including The Post.
Here are five he profiles on his show. This is his tabloid New York.
Linda Riss’ apartment, 1124 Grant Ave., at 166th Street, The Bronx
“I remember growing up and hearing about this story. In 1959, Burt Pugach hired three men to throw lye on Linda Riss, a woman with whom he’d been having an affair. Riss broke it off with Pugach after he refused to leave his wife. The guy went to jail for 14 years. He got out of prison — and they got back together! They were married for 36 years. She must’ve loved him. Their marriage lasted longer than a lot of others.”
Herbie’s Bar, 182-41 Jamaica Ave., at 183rd Street, Hollis
“I was anchoring the news in 1983, so I remember covering this grisly story. A headless man was found in a strip club, resulting in an iconic Post headline. That may be one of the greatest headlines of all time.”
NYPD crime lab, 150-14 Jamaica Ave., at 151st Street, Jamaica
“Michelle Lee, a 24-year-old criminalist in the NYPD crime lab, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Gary McGurk, in 2009. McGurk admitted during his trial that he first wrapped Lee’s head in Saran wrap before striking her with a hammer to minimize blood splatter.
“In hindsight, we can’t help but say, ‘How could she not know? Weren’t there signs?’ Most of us can’t conceive that a person could be so evil. Even if there are clues to a dark side, romance is sure to blind us to them.”
“The meat rack,” East 53rd Street
“A Florida instructor named Howard Appledorf — nicknamed ‘the Junk Food Professor’ for advocating fast-food chains in class — was killed in 1982 by a group of male prostitutes. According to People magazine, Appledorf had three prostitutes spend two days with him at his home in Gainesville. He pressed charges when they forged his signature on checks. Later that week, the young men reportedly attacked him at his home — he was found suffocated, with fast food around his apartment. They fled to New York, where cops picked them up at the meat rack, a two-block area frequented by male prostitutes.”
Morley’s, 123 Lake Ave., at Morningside Place
“At this bar in 1994, cop Vinny Davis inadvertently thwarted an FBI investigation by revealing to a mobster that Richie Sabol was a government informant who infiltrated the mob. (Sabol once dated Davis’ wife and was stalking the couple.) The mob wanted to kill Sabol, but it was too late — the FBI had enough evidence to convict eight mobsters.
“This case was called ‘Law & Order’ meets ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘NYPD Blue.’ Davis may have done the wrong thing — and even went to jail for conspiracy to obstruct justice — but he did it all for love.”