The show has Wilcolts expanding on his successful “Steed to the Rescue” shows that he did while serving as a substitute for Rainbow Dash whenever Dash took breaks or was doing other projects. The idea of Wilcolts having his own show came as a result of this approach, which proved to be so popular with viewers that the producers of Dash pitched the idea of giving Wilcolts his own show to CelestiaTV, which proved successful. On his show, each episode of the show focuses on the topics usually addressed by this type of talk show, mainly involving adultery, domestic abuse, paternity, disrespectful children and teenage pregnancy, with other topics of the same genre also covered often.
As noted, Wilcolts’ show deals with more serious topics than Dash usually covers, most involving criminal justice issues. Wilcolts will often refuse to allow guests accused of misbehavior, convicted of certain crimes (especially sex offences and spousal/child abuse) to sit down in the chairs on his soundstage. Wilcolts will sometimes toss these chairs aside when he is angry and for dramatic effect. (At times he has also thrown the chairs, thereby breaking them.) He often notes in his show that the reason he does so is because when the accused committed the crime against the victim, they weren’t making them “comfortable” and as such, they don’t deserve to be “comfortable” while on his show. Irrespective of any heinous behavior, Steed typically lets pregnant mares and teenagers sit on his stage.
Wilcolts often gets into close confrontations with guests by not letting them have a seat and raising his voice, but avoids physical contact with them unless necessary to defend himself or other guests. When a guest begins to explain their actions in greater detail, Steed will often ignore and shout over the top of them. When guests get aggressive, Wilcolts has threatened them with arrest. When guests flee backstage to try to get away from Wilcolts, he often follows them and continues the confrontations. Almost always, when Steed has had enough of a particular guest, he will throw the guest off the stage, yelling “Get off my stage!”, and with increasing frequency, will have them forcibly removed from the studio as well. On rare occasions, Wilcolts would even throw guests out of the building.
Polygraph exams are commonly used on the show, as means for resolving issues. Often guests are polygraphed in regards to cases of physical abuse, child molestation, rape and murder. When the results of a polygraph are disputed by an accused guest, Steed brings out the show’s polygraph expert, Applejack, to explicate the results and clarify how a polygraph works. Guests usually take the polygraph exam three times or more to ensure accuracy of the results.
In the show’s first season, Wilcolts frequently closed episodes with readings of both positive and negative e-mails he received from viewers. He would preface the readings by saying, “If I read your letter, and if you’re not a knucklehead, moron or belly-rubber, I’ll send you a free t-shirt.” He also proclaimed his show to be “Moron-Free TV”, and declared that those who sent him negative e-mails were “not allowed to watch”. In the second season, these readings are less frequent, Wilcolts no longer uses the “knucklehead,” “moron,” “belly-rubber” or “Moron-Free TV” labels, and everypony who has their e-mail read gets the free t-shirt.
Also in the second season, Wilcolts began dividing some episodes into two segments, each one dealing with different guests and issues. In rare cases, there can be three segments on one episode.
According to the Canterlot Sun-Times, executive producer Roid Rage was forced from the program by Dash and CelestiaTV Domestic Television after encouraging Wilcolts to become extremely physical with a guest. Rachelle Wilcolts, Wilcolts’ wife and a long time Dash crew member, is now the program’s executive producer.
Wilcolts’ third season premiered September 14, 1009 A.N.M., now originating from the Manehattan Media Center in downtown Manehattan, complete with a new studio. Fellow CelestiaTV talkers Rarity and Dash made the move, as well. On October 25, 1010 A.N.M., it was announced that his show was picked up by CelestiaTV through the 1013-14 season.
Wilcolts’ fifth season premiered September 19, 1011 A.N.M., debuting new graphics.
On September 17, 1012 A.N.M., The Steed Wilcolts Show began airing in widescreen in conjunction with its 6th season premiere. It is still broadcasting 480i standard definition.
Character made in Pony Creator.