Dr. Phil-ed Up
Television - Remember the good old days when Oprah and Dr. Phil chatted cozily about the normal problems of marital relations and familial dustups? Dr. Phil McGraw was Oprah Winfrey's designated Dr. Feelgood. He dispensed a few bromides and everything seemed copecetic. Not anymore as "Dr. Phil" has become TV's Dr. Phrankenstein. The psychological talk show spun off from those cozy chats on Oprah's couch has taken a monstrous turn.
Dr. Phil now seems to be trying to live up to the legend of Jerry Springer by featuring freaky, genuinely disturbed guests. And the reasonable people who appear on “Dr. Phil,” such as an assistant principal slandered by her students on the Internet, come away badgered to tears by the host. In this case, Dr. Phil seemed obsessed by the lawsuit the assistant principal filed against the students and their families. He hounded her, asking repeatedly how much money was she seeking in damages. She and her lawyer refused to say.
Dr. Phil should be the last person to bang on about money. He recklessly trades on his name, trying to pump up his family’s net worth. Hello, worthless and litigious Dr. Phil diet book and paraphernalia. Hello, ripoff Phil pontificating about dating on Match.com. Hello Dr. Phil’s son, Jay McGraw, and his own diet book and makeover show. Hello Dr. Phil wife, Robin McGraw and her limpid “be your best self” book. Who knew Robin could do more than stand beside Dr. Phil with a desperate grin on her plasticized face?
Actually, the only time Robin has stepped out from the “Stepford” role is when she gave viewers an energetic tour of the ill-starred “Dr. Phil House,” a den of detox-ing druggies who fly to L.A. for personalized Phil counseling. Robin eagerly crowed about the sponsors outfitting the Dr. Phil house – as if JC Penney sheets and Lowe's gadgets will make a heroin addict go straight.
The Phil House of Horrors has not won any awards for decorating but the neighbors have raised a stink, complaining about noise and unsightliness. They managed to close it last fall. The show must have made nice with the abutters because Dr. Phil’s Website has a plug asking people to write in about why they want to stay in Robin’s pleasure palace.
Be advised, however, that any sojourn in the Dr. Phil House requires sleeping with the ghosts of the heroin twins, Sarah and Tecoa. These twisted sisters whose family problems seemed beyond quickie TV repair, kicked the habit at the Dr. Phil House and were sent off to rehab. Who knows whether they will ever recover? Certainly watching “Dr. Phil,” a viewer had no assurances Sarah and Tecoa weren’t used and abused during TV's ratings sweeps.
Word is that Winfrey has distanced herself from McGraw, although her company, Harpo Productions, continues to produce “Dr. Phil.” And, in Hollywood where the show originates, “Dr. Phil” is the devil and the deep blue sea. Producers who work on the show earn piles of money but they sell their souls for the privilege. The personnel churn rate is said to be astounding with staffers fleeing “Phil” all the time.
Currently, Dr. Phil and the synthetic Robin are eBay-ing NASCAR suits to earn money for “Toys For Tots.” A nice gesture, but weird too – like everything connected to “Dr. Phil.”
