June 3, 2011 | 4:10 pm

Jerry Springer is Rocking at 67 and Helping Open Some “Baggage”

Posted by Ilana Angel

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I love Jerry Springer.  While not always a fan of his talk show, I dig him and when he danced with his daughter on Dancing With the Stars I officially fell in love with him.  At 67, he could be my dad, and sadly he is also the age of the men who write me online to ask me out on a date.

Springer has had an interesting life.  He was born in London, in a subway station that was being used as a shelter during World War II.  His parents were Jewish refugees that escaped from Germany, and he and his family immigrated to the States and settled in Queens, New York.

He graduated from Tulane and got his law degree at Northwestern.  He was elected to the Cincinnati city council and eventually quit when he admitted he hired a hooker.  He came clean, was honest, and won back his seat a year later with his honesty, and two years later he was the Mayor.

He eventually left politics and became a reporter, then a news anchor where he started his now famous closing line, “Take care of yourself, and each other”.  He went on to host the Jerry Springer Talk Show, which was honestly more reality show train wreck than talk show.

He then hosted America’s Got Talent, and is now hosting a new show on the Game Show Network called “Baggage”.  This show is sad, pathetic, scary, and could possibly become of the summer’s guiltiest pleasures.  Jerry Springer has a cult following and I’m guessing it will be a hit.

Baggage is a dating show where there is a contestant and 3 daters.  The daters each have suitcases, which include silly and/or shocking things are considered relationship “baggage”.  The contestant let’s them go if they have too much baggage, on their road to finding a date.

The contestants look like they could have been on the Jerry Springer Show back in the day.  You know the type, the ones who sleep with their sister’s husband, or get pregnant by their mom’s boyfriend.  This show is screaming train wreck and I am going to be checking it out.

It airs on GSN weekdays at 7:30/6:30 central.  I am happy to have Jerry back on my television everyday.  He is a cool guy and his honesty and charm are sexy.  Perhaps he’ll be a roll model to Anthony Weiner that Jewish fallen politicians can recover, if they just keep it real.

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