A tabloid talk show is a subgenre of the talk show genre. The subgenre achieved peak viewership during the late 20th century. Airing mostly during the day and distributed mostly through broadcast syndication, tabloid talk shows originated with The Phil Donahue Show and was popularized by the personal confession-filled The Oprah Winfrey Show. Tabloid talk shows have sometimes been described as the "freak shows" of the late 20th century since most of their guests were outside the mainstream. The host invites a group of guests to discuss an emotional or provocative topic – ranging from marital infidelity to more outlandish topics – and the guests are encouraged to make public confessions and resolve their problems with on-camera "group therapy". Similar shows are popular throughout Europe.

Tabloid talk shows are sometimes described using the pejorative slang term "Trash TV", particularly when producers appear to purposely design their shows to create controversy or confrontation, as in the case of Geraldo (such as when a 1988 show featuring Ku Klux Klan members, anti-racist skinheads, and Jewish activists led to an on-camera brawl) and The Jerry Springer Show, which focused on lurid trysts – often between family members. While sociologist Vicki Abt criticized tabloid TV shows, claiming that they are blurred the lines between normal and deviant behavior, Yale sociology professor Joshua Gamson argues that the genre's focus on sexual orientation provided a great deal of media visibility for LGBT people. The genre experienced a particular spike during the 1990s, when a large number of such shows were on the air but which gradually gave way during the 2000s (decade) to a more universally appealing form of talk show.