Doctor Phil

""What gives you the right to imprison your wife in the basement?!""

- Dr. Phil, addressing a typical guest about his wife-abusing problems

From That Other Wiki:

Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002. On both shows McGraw offers advice in the form of "life strategies" from his life experience as a clinical psychologist.

The show is in syndication throughout the United States and a number of other countries. The show's syndication contracts specifically state that if Dr. Phil is on another station, it cannot air at the same time as Oprah. Its eighth season premiered on September 14, 2009. The show is to be renewed through 2014, or twelve seasons. Occasional prime time specials have aired on CBS. The program has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award every year since 2004.

Since September 8, 2008, Dr. Phil has been broadcast in HDTV with a revamped look and a new theme written and performed by McGraw's son, Jordan.

Now has a YMMV page.


 * Berserk Button: Dr. Phil once brought in the creator of the infamous Bumfights movies. Halfway during the intro package, he cut it off in disgust and threw the guy out of his studio.
 * Do not insult his staff.
 * Bigot vs. Bigot: "The Dr. Phil House." A pretty girl who hates fat people living with a morbidly obese man who hates skinny people! A black racist living with a white racist! A redneck homophobe living with a butch heterophobe!
 * For the most part it was successful, except for the fat guy.
 * Captain Obvious: At times. It should be obvious to anyone that it's not okay to beat your children daily.
 * Colbert Bump: Dr. Phil became famous as a result of his appearances on Oprah.
 * Confession Cam
 * I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One on TV: Dr. Phil's license to practice expired in 2006.
 * Happily Married: Subverted in one episode where Dr. Phil spent an episode talking to a couple who have been together for years but don't want to get married, citing this trope as reason that they have a problem. Even when they said they are perfectly happy just being together, Dr. Phil would just keep asking "Well then why aren't you married?". It turns out not everyone feels the need to get married.
 * New Media Are Evil/Old Media Playing Catch Up: Breaking news from Dr. Phil! There are creeps on the Internet! Who knew? It's only the hundredth time he's had a show on it!
 * Then again, since we still live in a time when some teens are still being seduced online and then raped/kidnapped (one girl in Florida tried to fly to the Middle East to get married despite never seeing the guy in person) parents might need to be reminded of this.
 * No Woman's Land
 * Point and Laugh Show: Has generally turned into a Jerry Springer "for moms" format.
 * Reality Show Genre Blindness: The guests often don't seem to grasp the fact that their private problems are being broadcast to millions of people; you'd think all the cameras and the giant studio audience would give them a hint.
 * There have been some rare examples where the guests points out that they are being humiliated to "boost ratings". An example of it being a 2006 episode where a father fails a lie detector test after being accused of molesting his daughter. The father only brings it up because he is caught in his lie. Dr. Phil promptly tells him to "get off his high horse."
 * Spin-Off: From The Oprah Winfrey Show.
 * Straw Misogynist: One episode focusing on sexist husbands featured a man who, while on camera, goes on long tirades to his guest's face about how she as a woman is just not as good at anything as men are. But then subverted with the other husband. He's described as being sexist and mean to his wife, but in all fairness his wife's complaints just make it sound like he came home tired from work a lot and just wanted to watch tv to unwind now and then with their rat terrier on his lap.
 * Talk Show
 * What Were You Thinking?: Pretty much one of his catchphrases.