Side-By-Side Pics Of Talk Show Hosts From The '80s And '90s Who Are Still Successful Today

One of the best things about staying home from school as a kid in the 1980s and 90s was getting the chance to see the wild world of daytime TV. The soap operas were filled with lavish locations and over the top drama. The reruns of "Charlie's Angels" and "CHiPs" gave a look at a strange past where hair was feathered, and the action fit neatly into commercial breaks. But the best part was watching daytime talk shows. While mid-day talk shows weren't new in the '80s and '90s, they became much more sensational in those decades. Where hosts and guests once sat and debated the issues of the day or discussed a feel-good topic, the airwaves became filled with wild fights between mothers and daughters who loved the same man or interviews with men who married horses. Decades later, the people who grew up with these shows still think about the hosts and wonder what they're up to now.

These shows were windows into a world not usually seen, with fighting families and strange people who seemed unreal. As the world left the 20th century and entered the 21st, these types of exploitive shows started to fall away. Onstage brawls were replaced by dancing along with the audience. Shocking revelations gave way to quick and easy recipes for the family, and the hosts of these outlandish daytime talk shows headed off to other opportunities. Some have quietly left the business entirely, while others, like the iconic Jerry Springer — who became the face of the more outrageous aspects of these shows — have sadly passed on. But some of the most beloved daytime talk show hosts of the '80s and '90s are still out there and doing better than ever.

Maury Povich first became famous as the host of the tabloid news show "A Current Affair" in 1986. In 1990, he left the program, but didn't stay off TV for long; "The Maury Povich Show" premiered in 1991 and ran for more than 5,000 episodes, coming to an end in 2022. No matter how outlandish or strange the subject of an episode was, viewers knew they could count on Povich to stay professional. His style, not unlike that of a news anchor, was part of what made Povich's most famous phrase — "You are NOT the father!" — stand out. While the guests would certainly freak out as their lives were forever changed by the news, Povich kept calm, which somehow made the spectacle feel even more surreal.

Born in 1939, Povich has not yet retired. The one-time talk show host has moved to a more relaxed format: podcasting. Now, instead of revealing who is or isn't the daddy, he hosts "On Par with Maury Povich," where he sits with other celebrities for in-depth conversations. When asked if he had any regrets about how his daytime talk show is remembered by Page Six, Povich made it clear that he didn't, saying, "I think we basically helped a lot of kids end up with two-parent homes instead of one... So that's what I hung my hat on. That's what I was trying to do."

While many of her peers were known for their overly dramatic episodes, Oprah Winfrey preferred to host a more refined daytime show. From 1986 to 2011, Winfrey was welcomed into homes across America as she interviewed celebrities, but she had to work her way up to the top talent. Recording the show in Chicago, Oprah and her producers wanted to hit the ground running and tried to get "Miami Vice" star Don Johnson to be the guest for her first episode, even sending him a fancy pair of rhinestone sunglasses. When Johnson fell through, the first episode ended up being "How to Marry the Man of Your Choice." But the lack of a big name didn't keep Oprah from becoming the queen of daytime TV. And a quarter-century later, Johnson showed up for the premiere of Oprah's final season to return the glasses.

While Oprah walked away from hosting her talk show, she is just as popular today. The Oscar-nominated actor has starred in a dozen movies and, behind the scenes, she has produced a number of films and TV shows. Oprah's Book Club, which she started on her show, is still going strong and turning writers into bestselling authors. Meanwhile, she has written or co-written a number of books herself. Oprah also has her own cable channel, OWN, which is also available as part of HBO Max. Keeping up with all of Oprah's endeavors can be tough, but luckily she has oprah.com to keep her fans up to date.

A naval officer turned public speaker, Montel Williams started his show in limited markets with a 13-week run in 1991. The show proved popular and went nationwide, turning Williams into a household name. Williams stuck to the basics of daytime TV, with episodes like "Psycho Girlfriends & Fatal Attractions" and focusing on whichever panic word, like "goth," would worry parents and grandparents at the time. But what "The Montel Williams Show" became famous for were the episodes that featured "psychic" Sylvia Browne. For a time, Browne was a weekly guest on the show, giving quick readings to audience members in a shockingly blunt fashion, often claiming missing loved ones were dead or sold into slavery. 

In a 2003 episode, Browne famously told Louwana Miller, the mother of Amanda Berry, who had been missing for 19 months, that her daughter was dead. Miller ultimately died in 2006, but in 2013, Berry was found alive after she escaped her captor, Ariel Castro, and called the police. In 2015, Williams took to Facebook to apologize to Berry for "anything said on my show caused her pain." In 2026, Williams appeared in the documentary series "Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV," and said his show "made a difference in people's lives and I don't feel bad about that" (via People).

"The Montel Williams Show" ran for 17 years, during which time Williams won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host and dated future Vice President Kamala Harris. Since the end of his show, WIlliams has continued to work as a TV host, appearing on the home improvement series "Military Makeover with Montel" on Lifetime and hosting his own podcast, "Freethinking with Montel." Williams also owns Inspire, a cannabis company that sells vape cartridges. 

Ricki Lake shot to stardom when she played Tracy Turnblad in John Waters' 1988 cult classic "Hairspray." Then, in 1993, at just 25 years old, Lake became the youngest daytime talk show host in history. "The Ricki Lake Show" was an instant success, becoming the second biggest show just behind Oprah. Years later, fellow former talk show host Maury Povich admitted to Lake, "You scared the s*** out of the rest of us" on his podcast. 

While other talk shows catered to older audiences, Lake used her youth to pull in younger viewers. Her success led to a deluge of new talk shows featuring young hosts, including "Carnie!" with Carnie Wilson, and "The Tempestt Bledsoe Show." Neither show made it past the first season. Neither did attempts to take Lake's style and transfer it over to a male host, with "Danny," hosted by Danny Bonaduce, and "The Mark Walberg Show," hosted by Mark L. Walberg of "Temptation Island" fame. No one could capture that Ricki Lake magic. 

"The Ricki Lake Show" ended in 2004 when Lake was 33 and decided to walk away from her hit show to return to her first love; acting. While Lake has appeared in a few movies and shows since ending her talk show, her next big moment came when she was a contestant on the 13th season of "Dancing with the Stars" in 2011. Lake finished third in the competition. A year later she returned to daytime TV with a new version of "The Ricki Lake Show." Unfortunately, it was cancelled after one season. In 2022, Lake hosted her own podcast, "Raised by Ricki," which was later renamed "The High Life with Ricki Lake." 

A man Barack Obama reportedly dislikes a whole lot, Geraldo Rivera first came to prominence for his work on the 1972 report "Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace," which went inside the Willowbrook State School for people with intellectual disabilities, showing the horrific conditions residents were forced to live in. In 1983, Rivera did the first report on the AIDS crisis to air on national TV for "20/20." In 1986, Rivera hosted "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults," a two-hour special that promised to reveal secrets about the infamous gangster, but when the vault opened, all the world saw was an empty space. Seemingly embarrassed, Rivera ended the special by singing and walking off camera. 

A year later, Rivera came back strong with his own daytime talk show, "Geraldo." The series made TV history in 1988 when the episode "Teen Hatemongers" ended with a brawl between white supremacists and the show's audience, leaving Rivera with a broken nose. Rivera got into another fight with white supremacists in 1992 when he showed up at a KKK rally to record it for his show. 

"Geraldo" ended in 1998, but his career continued with "Rivera Live" on CNBC until 2001. After the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, Rivera joined Fox News to report on the war in Afghanistan. Rivera worked for Fox News until 2023 when, as he explained on X, he quit after being fired from "The Five." Rivera joined NewsNation in 2024 as a "correspondent-at-large." On April 20, 2026, Rivera celebrated the 40th anniversary of opening Al Capone's vault, writing, "My gravestone will say something like, 'Here Lies the Man Who Opened Al Capone's Empty Vault on Live Television.'"