Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV

In the 90s, talk TV takes over daytime, but what starts as an earnest forum quickly devolves into a cutthroat ratings war to out-shock the competition with increasingly salacious topics.

By the mid-'90s, daytime talk shows had earned the name "Trash TV," with many guests willing to air their dirty laundry on national TV; with ratings spiking, the shows began pushing the envelope -- and its guests -- to extremes.

By the late '90s, talk TV had not only survived a murder trial but was now reaching new levels of sensationalism; driven by viewers' insatiable appetite for sex, violence and conflict, many shows lowered the bar.