 The show also works towards changing popular perception of prisons and incarceration.The show traditionally started with Ray Hill saying, "Holler down the pipe, chase and rattle them bars, ’cause we’re gonna do a Prison Show.”

After Hill stepped down from 20 years of hosting the show, the hosting role was taken over by Anthony Graves and Kathy Griffin.Advocacy work by "The Prison Show" was instrumental in changing Texas's policy on installing prison payphones.