Editing Ricki Lake (1993 talk show) (section)

===Topic selection===
The show's premiere featured the topic "I'm Getting Married But I Haven't Met My Husband Yet".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1993/voices/columns/chevy-gets-into-the-latenite-chase-1117862259/ |title=Chevy gets into the latenite chase |last=Archerd |first=Army |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=September 13, 1993 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250205232526/https://variety.com/1993/voices/columns/chevy-gets-into-the-latenite-chase-1117862259/ |archive-date=February 5, 2025}}</ref>

During the series' run, its primary focus was on dealing with personal subjects like parenting skills (including single mothers who are accused of having the lack of experience of taking care of children), romantic relationships (both marital and non-marital), LGBT issues (like discrimination, same-sex couples who want to have children or straight people attracted to a person who is LGBT or the other way around), racism and prejudice (even within their own race and gender), interracial relationships, family discord, revealing secrets, and social topics of the day (like money, looking for work or being on welfare).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Local psychologist gets to ply trade in 'Ricki Lake' TV episode on teens |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2000/10/18/local-psychologist-gets-to-ply-trade-in-ricki-lake-tv-episode-on-teens/ |access-date=2012-04-11}}</ref> At times she had lighter shows, ranging from contests (including female impersonators, beauticians, or those who want to prove to others that they do have talent), celebrity guests, and reunions, to granting viewers' personal wishes.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The low road to talk TV |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1994/11/29/the-low-road-to-talk-tv/ |access-date=2012-04-11}}</ref>

Lake's talk show sometimes covered serious topics, including domestic violence ("Bad Men, Desperate Woman"), homeless people who live in the NYC subway system ("The Catacomb People") and "Teens on Death Row". Lake also took on shows that dealt with women who were members of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], and during a show involving [[marijuana]], she learned that three guests were using the substance just moments before they walked on to the set to be interviewed by her.

One of Lake's most memorable and controversial confrontations happened during the first season, when she found herself dealing with Reverend [[Fred Phelps]] in a show that involved targeting anyone who carries the AIDS virus and why they deserve to die. (Phelps and his followers from [[Westboro Baptist Church]] in [[Topeka, Kansas]] had been picketing at funerals for AIDS victims across the United States, leading to several states to enact laws prohibiting or restricting groups from coming within a certain distance of the funerals.) When Phelps and his son-in-law tried to take over the set, a furious and insulted Lake ordered the Phelps family to leave the studio. During the commercial break, the two were forced off the set by the producers and escorted out of the building by security.<ref>[https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/12/06/respect-earns-ricki-lake-success-on-tv/ "Respect earns Ricki Lake success on TV"] from ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' (December 6, 1993)</ref> After Phelps died on March 19, 2014, Lake tweeted on her [[Twitter]] page that when he was on the show he told her that she worshipped her rectum on camera, which led to Lake taking action off-stage to force Phelps off the show after that remark.<ref>[https://twitter.com/RickiLake/status/446772962150989824 Twitter message] from Lake (March 20, 2014)</ref> The series also experienced controversy after an episode titled "I'm Angry Because People Think I'm Gay" was taped, in which the audience became "increasingly hostile" and made many "inappropriate remarks."<ref name="eweekly">{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/04/08/ricki-lake-criticized-gay-attack/|title=Ricki Lake criticized for gay attack|last=Gerosa|first=Melina|date=April 8, 1994|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|language=en-US|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524163704/https://ew.com/article/1994/04/08/ricki-lake-criticized-gay-attack/|archive-date=May 24, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> The media monitoring organization [[GLAAD]] attempted to prevent the episode from airing.<ref name="eweekly"/>