Jerry Springer hosting live version of ‘Price is Right’

Jerry Springer is turning up in Las Vegas often enough to make you suspect he is looking for excuses to come here.

He won’t deny it.

“I’m lucky, I don’t need to make a living anymore, so I do things that are either important or fun. Politics are important, this is fun,” he says.

This time, “this” is guest-hosting Bally’s live edition of “The Price is Right.” Springer wraps his first stint today, then returns Nov. 30 through Dec. 11.

But it comes after he hosted the three-day live version of “America’s Got Talent” last month, and did the same for an extended residency of the talent show’s winners in 2009.

Las Vegas has given Springer a means to get in front of live audiences without doing stand-up (though he’s pretty funny), singing (but there was that “Dr. Talk” album), acting (even if he did play Captain Hook in England) or dancing (hello, season three of “Dancing with the Stars”).

“What I love being is a host,” says the guy whose real fame comes from his still-running “The Jerry Springer Show,” which infamously combined the traditional hosting duties with those of referee, for a trailer-park smackdown version of daytime chat. “I just really enjoy the interaction with people. … I’ve done that literally my entire adult life, 40 years now.

“I love talking with regular people rather than celebrities,” he adds. But he can’t resist comparing “Price” to his other gig: “There’s a lot of jumping around. If these people had chairs in their hands, there’s no telling what they’d do.”

Springer’s skill set translates to game shows and talent contests. But he says he was surprised to find his audience translates as well. “For someone from the outside, who grew up in the era of the Rat Pack, somehow it was always the assumption that Vegas was about high rollers,” he says.

“The thing which really struck me is the entertainment in Vegas strikes directly at the heart of middle America. I mean, walking on the streets here is middle America.”

Springer hints that the sold-out Halloween weekend of “Talent” at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace could bring him back to the Strip for an encore. You can predict he’s all for that, as “Talent” is really just an extension of his world.

“It’s the manifestation of the American dream in show business terms. The idea that you don’t have to be rich and famous. You don’t have to live in New York or Hollywood, you don’t have to have a dad in the business.”

If there’s one truth that unites all his various pursuits, it’s this: “What I’ve found over the years is we’re really all alike. Some of us just have more money.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.