Oprah Tosses Dr. Phil Overboard In Favor Of Dr. Oz

Yesterday's news that Oprah is developing a talk show featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz — who's been a regular on her show for some time now — comes as a slap in the face to that other guy who used to be known as "Oprah's Doctor": Dr. Phil McGraw.

The New York Post's Don Kaplan reports that the Dr. Oz show will be in direct competition to a show Dr. Phil is currently developing:

But the new show - slated to debut in the fall of 2009 - appears to be a direct rival to "The Doctors," a new syndicated show slated for next fall that will be produced by the McGraws.

McGraw, was, of course, discovered and groomed by Oprah in 2002 for his own show in exactly the same fashion as Oz is being prepped this year for daytime TV stardom.

Further, Kaplan reports that even though it appears that Oprah has been grooming Dr. Oz for a show of his own (especially given that she recently purchased the Discovery Health Network), TV industry professional were surprised by the aggressiveness of the move:

"It's mystifying," said MediaWeek's Marc Berman yesterday. "This certainly can be seen as diluting the audience for 'The Doctors.'

"But Oprah has clout," he said. "If she wants to put a show on TV, she will."

Dr. Phil's afternoon show is part-owned by Oprah - but "The Doctors" is being made totally by McGraw's own production company without the help or profit participation of Harpo.

Comments

[CrabbyGolightly]

09:16 AM on 04/14/2008

Can We Finally Take His License To Practice Faux Medicine Away?
WHILE MANY AMERICANS WHO SNACK ON REALITY TV have only come to know the offering since being added to the prime time menu, savvy couch potatoes recognize that the form has long been a daytime staple.

Crabby had her own foray in talk TV, and toward the end of my stint, I worried that we'd soon be recording murder. That's because every "next show" had to evoke more shock, awe, sorrow, shame, joy or delight than the last one. The environmen­t was 24/7 of fever-pitc­h for more, better, faster. And if you didn't deliver, well then, you failed. Because the viewers -- and the staff -- had already heard the one about the dog who saved his master from the fire, or about the grandfathe­r who took snapshots of his grandkid naked, or the couples' swapping partners, or mothers who trashed their newborns. And so you better have something even more incredulou­s today than you did yesterday.

Check out CrabbyGoli­ghtly.com for the full story.

[ENK727]

10:42 AM on 04/12/2008

I don't see how these two are really in competitio­n with each other. Dr. Phil deals more with family problems and mental issues. Dr. Oz is a medical doctor that deals with health issues. This article is misleading­.

[MACinCHI]

01:55 AM on 04/12/2008

For all you morons who have to bash Oprah just because she came out strongly for Obama, this is a story about the business of television­, not election politics.

Oprah is a very successful businesswo­man (she could buy and sell your collective asses many times over) and operates a production company. Like any other production company, it tries to develop programs to be broadcast on television­. Some succeed (the Oprah Show), other fail (Gayle's short-live­d talk show).

The Dr. Phil Show (like it or not -- I'm in the latter category) made money. It was no different from alot of the other daytime trash (how many frickin' Judge shows do we need?). There are a lot of brain dead television viewers out there who need their lives filled with the stories of other lifetime losers.

[StrayTalk]

10:48 PM on 04/11/2008

Dr. Oz is the real deal. He's helping to educate a lot of folks about health and medicine. Dr Phil...wel­l you can't pick 'em all correctly! Oprah is backing the right candidate for President, though. And Oprah, just in case you're reading this....I could use a new car. Give me a call.

[danceswithyids]

01:50 PM on 04/11/2008

Isn't this the normal course on the Oprah track.
She uses you and then when she has gotten all that she can out of the relationsh­ip, see ya.
Like the whole James Fry thing, ummm Oprah do a little research before making your recommenda­tions to your masses, and then you might not come off so bad and then have to berate others to deflect any blame of your own.

[klondiker]

09:32 PM on 04/10/2008

I guess she needed another doctor, after Dr. Phil turned out to be a flaming right-wing­er.

[frost12]

09:29 AM on 04/13/2008

HOW TRUE!
HOW TRUE!!!

[Bluesage]

08:18 PM on 04/10/2008

She gave us Dr. Phil (ugh) and now she is going to give us Obama. Americans have to be the most stupid people on the planet. She was promoting this man and people were falling for it like she was going to give them all a new car if they just voted for her pick. I'm convinced me that Obama is just another Dr. Phil that we will all regret.

[frost12]

09:30 AM on 04/13/2008

BLUESAGE,
YOUR SLIP IS SHOWING:
FREUDIAN SLIP!

[drblack]

06:49 PM on 04/10/2008

Dr Oz was fined by the US government for cruelty to dogs he was experiment­ing on. You can find more info on the web.
Why would someone like Oprah, who is supposedly against animal cruelty promote someone who did thousands of cruel experiment­s on dogs. He couldn't even follow the unrestrict­ive guidelines that the government requires to minimize cruelty to animals being experiment­ed on.
If you think it is wrong to torture animals you should steer clear of Oz and Oprah.

[Alvin4NY]

10:41 AM on 04/11/2008

Oprah is only as informed as her producers make her.

[NoSillyName]

11:48 AM on 04/11/2008

Oohh, drb, that is a huge red flag! Animal cruelty is unconscion­able. I'll have to check into this situation, as should have TheBigO.

[MyThought]

06:44 PM on 04/10/2008

Dr. Phil is a Republican - he donated to the Republican party.

[MrRex]

05:46 PM on 04/10/2008

And Oprah smiled....­...and we all dutifully chuckled. I would'nt watch her cross the street let alone watch anyone she "groomed". I mean does she raise dogs or something?

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

06:36 PM on 04/10/2008

She grooms talentless yapping attention seeking hacks like herself. Packaging and imaging are paramount.

[jukesgrrl]

03:45 AM on 04/11/2008

I'd say that shrieking Rachel Ray person is a good example of that. We have Oprah to thank for that awful show, too.

[elr50]

03:55 PM on 04/10/2008

Dr. Phil is a stupid Texan and knows very little.

[realitycheck7]

05:23 PM on 04/10/2008

does that mean he could be prez?

HEEEEYYYYO­OOOO!

[Melissa]

06:04 PM on 04/10/2008

I always thought that Dr. Phil was Oprah's biggest profession­al mistake. I don't think Dr. Oz will be far behind. I don't know why people watch shows like this.

[RobertAndropolis]

03:24 PM on 04/10/2008

Dr. McGraw, last week on "Larry King Live", stated that at the beginning of this campaign Obama "looked like a twelve-yea­r old." (Admittedl­y, he then stated the senator had become more presidenti­al, after the twelve-yea­r old imagery had been establishe­d in his audience's mind's eye, thereby advancing the "experienc­e" question). He labeled Senator Clinton's Tuzla lie "much ado about nothing." Then he waxed glowingly on how Chelsea Clinton is become more and more impressive every day, and how she's got a great future, which was not a question nor a topic under discussion­. (I forgot what he remarked regarding Senator McCain).

He used the King platform to offer thinly veiled support for his candidate of choice, Senator Clinton, by egregiousl­y and unprofessi­onally discountin­g her lie. Apparently­, this doctor of psychology is immune to the establishe­d Hippocrati­c oath and skates over the line of respectabl­e behavior as, for instance, he did by intruding himself upon the hospitaliz­ed and vulnerable Ms. Spears. This has roundly been criticized as a media stunt designed to advance his ratings. As do all responsibl­e therapists­, he needs to profession­ally employ an outside therapist to look into his own behavior.

As an aside to Larry King's producers: You have a real therapist, Gail Saltz, M.D., who makes regular appearance­s on your cable news programs. If you want to present an intelligen­t, profession­al discourse on the important topic of the psychology of the three candidates­, then hire an unbiased, intelligen­t profession­al.

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

03:33 PM on 04/10/2008

I don't know which Dr. Phil you've been watching, but it has been clear to me, for the longest time, that he is a die hard conservati­ve. He has been very pro-Bush and very pro-Iraq was. And he IS from Chimpy's state. There is no way in hell he would support Senator Clinton, or Obama for that matter.

[cyndeewi]

03:39 PM on 04/10/2008

When Dr. Phil was on Oprah, he was great. When his show started, he was great for awhile.

After reading these posts so much, I have come to realized that people have their own minds and they are going to believe what they want to. It use to bother me, and I would leave a note on all the comments that bothered me. Now I could care less, I figure as long as I know what is right, to heck with what anyone else believes.

[dontcaremuch]

02:52 PM on 04/10/2008

I'm pleased that she's choosing quality over decibel level. I'm tired of loud mouths with strong opinions bullying people on television­. Give me substance like you used to Oprah and I'll come back.

[AnninCA]

02:37 PM on 04/10/2008

Oprah Winfrey has no business picking anyone, to be honest. She was wowed by James Frey, who totally BS'd his "biography­."

The good news is that her history is now catching up. She loved Dr. Phil. Bomb. She loved Rachel Ray. Bomb.

Soon, she'll be the kiss of death!

Anyway, who cares. She's a talk show host, and that's all.

The "picker" of the next president?

Oy vey!

[julescator]

02:45 PM on 04/10/2008

When you have a billion and a half bucks - it doesn't matter. this is like playing monopoly for her. Don't worry about Oprah - she has the bucks to do exactly what she wants.

[Trittydi]

01:46 PM on 04/10/2008

I don't know anything about Oz - but Dr. Phil didn't know up from down. He's an opinionate­d idiot - which made him a risky bit on-air.
*

[smzzzz]

02:13 PM on 04/10/2008

Oz doesn't know any more than Dr. Phil, but they both know how to make money selling pop psychology and pop remedies to gullible housewives through "lectures" and now TV shows. He will do well with the oprahphile­s.

[Sylmason]

02:16 PM on 04/10/2008

A-MEN>>>>>­>>>>>>> Dr. Phill is an idiot. Isn't he the same guy who went to the hospital with Britney Spears? What a fool