Commentary

End Of An Era In Daytime Talk As Dr. Phil Ends Show

We have had our Phil, and it was great.

Dr. Phil McGraw announced on Tuesday that he has decided to move on from his syndicated talk show, ending a 21-season run that was one of the most storied in the history of daytime syndication.

Plans call for Dr. Phil to continue to produce original episodes of his show, “Dr. Phil,” through the end of the current season this spring.

The show will then live on for an indefinite period. After production ceases on the show, the show’s distributor, Paramount Global-owned CBS Media Ventures, plans to then license episodes from the show’s formidable library of past episodes for airing on local stations starting with the 2023-24 season “and beyond,” said the announcement released jointly by Dr. Phil and the distributor.

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Continuing to sell the old episodes is the same strategy the company adopted for “Judge Judy” after that show ended its run in first-run syndication in 2021.

Dr. Phil, 72, will even continue to be involved in the “vintage” episode sales effort by taping wraparounds and intros for them. In addition, the vintage shows will include “where are they now” updates on the guests.

The “Dr. Phil” show was essentially a spin-off from the old “Oprah Winfrey Show,” where appearances Dr. Phil made on the show became a popular recurring feature starting in the late 1990s.

Winfrey had a hand in developing the show. “Dr. Phil” wound up with the same distributor as her show, CBS Television Distribution, now known as CBS Media Ventures.

Practically from the get-go, the “Dr. Phil” show established itself as a daytime juggernaut, ranking high in the daytime syndication ratings for its entire run.

Daytime audiences today are not what they once were, of course, and the headwinds faced by legacy media such as broadcast syndication may have informed his thinking about ending the show now, in addition to being 72 years old.

With its origins dating back to the old “Oprah Winfrey” show, the “Dr. Phil” show was a throwback to the old heyday of syndicated daytime talk shows, and the only one of its kind still standing from that bygone era.

And yet, despite all of the changes in the television business in the last two decades, “Dr. Phil” survived and thrived for 21 seasons.

The show even became famous for occasional exclusive interviews that scooped all other media.

One example was the well-remembered interview he conducted in 2014 with then-reality stars Mama June and daughter Honey Boo Boo (above photo).

Another one was his 2016 interview with notorious teen Danielle Bregoli, who became known as the “cash me outside” girl from her appearance on “Dr. Phil” in an episode titled “ I Want To Give Up My Car-Stealing, Knife-Wielding, Twerking 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Tried To Frame Me For A Crime.”

Those were the days, right? Oh, well, like all good things, “Dr. Phil” is coming to an end, and so is the daytime talk-show era from which he sprang.

1 comment about "End Of An Era In Daytime Talk As Dr. Phil Ends Show".
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  1. Ben B from Retired, February 2, 2023 at 9:38 p.m.

    I wasn't a fan of Dr. Phil I'm happy that his talker is ending finally even know it will live on in repeats for years to come like Judge Judy, The Jerry Springer Show, Maury you aren't The Babies Daddy, etc.

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