Dr. Phil (talk show)

The Dr. Phil show premiered on September 16, 2002.[5] Prior to starting the show, McGraw had made regular appearances as a guest expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[6][7]

Since September 2008, Dr. Phil has been broadcast in HDTV with a revamped look and a new theme written and performed by McGraw's son, Jordan. Its tenth season premiered on September 12, 2011. Reruns of earlier episodes of the series began broadcasting on the Oprah Winfrey Network in January 2011.

Since 2011, Dr. Phil has ranked as the top syndicated talk show, prior to that it was the second highest rated talk show after The Oprah Winfrey Show.[8] In October 2015, it was reported that Dr. Phil had been renewed through 2020.[9]

McGraw's advice and methods have drawn criticism from psychotherapists as well as from laypersons. McGraw said in a 2001 South Florida newspaper interview that he never liked traditional one-on-one counseling, and that "I'm not the Hush-Puppies, pipe and 'Let's talk about your mother' kind of psychologist."[10] In 2004, the National Alliance on Mental Illness called McGraw's conduct in one episode of his television show "unethical" and "incredibly irresponsible".[11] McGraw's critics regard advice given by him to be at best simplistic, and at worst, ineffective.[12]

On April 13, 2008, an unnamed staffer for Dr. Phil put up 10%, or a total of $3,300 towards the $33,000 bail for 17 year old Mercades Nichols, one of a group of eight teenage girls who beat another girl and videotaped the attack. Someone not affiliated with the show put up the remaining 90% of the bail for Nichols, who had been booked at the Polk County, Florida jail.[13] Theresa Corigliano, spokesperson for the Dr. Phil show said that "In this case certain staffers went beyond our guidelines," and that the producers had "decided not to go forward with the story as our guidelines have been compromised."[14][15]

Shelley Duvall, who was reportedly suffering from mental illness,[16] appeared on a segment on the show in 2016.[17] It drew significant criticism from the public, with many suggesting that Duvall's mental illness was being exploited.[17] In the segment, she refused the offered treatment.[17]

On October 25, 2018, it was announced that Dr. Phil had been renewed for four additional seasons, for a total of 21 seasons, ending in May 2023.[4]

In February 2022, around a dozen current and former employees of Dr. Phil alleged that they experienced "verbal abuse in a workplace that fosters fear, intimidation, and racism."[18][19] Seven current employees also claimed that the show's guests are often manipulated and treated unethically.[18] Attorneys for McGraw and his co-producer, Carla Pennington, categorically denied every allegation made.[18][20]

The show covers a wide variety of topics including weight loss, financial planning, grief, dysfunctional families, marriage counselling, rebellious teenagers, child stars, and support for charitable causes.[21][22][23]

Guests on the show sometimes undergo polygraph tests. These tests were usually administered by retired FBI agent Jack Trimarco,[24] who was a frequent guest on the show until his death in 2018. After Trimarco's death, he was replaced by polygraph examiner John Leo Grogan.[25] The show is generally serious in tone, leavened with humor from time to time. McGraw is noted for often bringing families back on multiple shows for follow-up "therapy" sessions in his segment called "Dr. Phil Family."[26]

Episodes under the Dr. Phil Now banner usually feature current events in the news with McGraw's viewpoint, often with an interview with the subject involved, which may include a suspect in a true crime case, the parents in a contentious child custody battle, or a celebrity subject. These episodes often feature more urgent music, and often feature McGraw originating the segment from the master control room of KCBS-TV with a bank of monitors tuned to various news networks and local news stations to give a more news-like feel to the episode.

Sophia Dembling, Lisa Gutierrez (2005). The Making of Dr. Phil: The Straight-Talking True Story of Everyone's Favorite Therapist. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-69659-5.

• Official website