Dr Phil: Why do people like him?

[imenja]

Can someone explain to me the appeal of Dr. Phil? Does he really help anyone? I can't stand him. I don't see that he offers solutions to anyone's problems. And why did Kerry and Bush feel a need to appear on his show? I really don't get the Dr. Phil phenomenon.

[kick-ass-bob]

1. Because you just want to go have a beer with him.

He's like everyone else.

Fat, bald, and rich.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. Really? Everyone else is rich?

Did I miss the sign-up or something?? :shrug:

[kick-ass-bob]

8. Well, thats why they like Rush!

[RagingInMiami]

2. Is he even a real medical doctor?

[imenja]

5. no

I think he has a PhD in education or something similarly useless.

[Beaverhausen]

11. I think he is a psychiatrist so he has an MD- I do like him.

His book "Relationship Rescue" helped me a lot in the past year.

It helped me salvage a relationship that for all intents and purposes was over.

So I am a Dr. Phil success story.


I don't agree with all of what he says but he has a lot of really good points.

[Left Is Write]

32. He's a psychologist, not a psychiatrist.

[Beaverhausen]

34. well excuse me for living

I said "I think..."

Get over it.

:hi:

[Left Is Write]

38. Get over what? You said you think he has an MD.

He doesn't. My saying so is not an attack on you, just a correction of misinformation.

Pardon me. I'll be sure not to make that mistake again.

[Beaverhausen]

39. I said " I think he does" not " I know he does"

there is a difference.

[newsguyatl]

41. lighten up eh

little defensive are we?

[Beaverhausen]

43. Yes I am being defensive.

I just hate people being so critical of someone who in fact really helped me thru a tough situation last year. It feels like they are criticizing me.

I will stop posting in this thread now, I promise.

[Left Is Write]

46. I'm sorry, where was I critical of Dr. Phil?

My only contribution to the thread was pointing out that he is a psychologist rather than a psychiatrist. If you have an issue with people who dislike Dr. Phil, take it up with them.

[Left Is Write]

44. Good grief. I have no idea why you're taking such offense.

If I said "I think such and such" and was wrong, I would appreciate being given the correct information. Why are you taking it so personally?

[Cocoa]

7. he's an escaped mental patient

with delusions about being a doctor, and a fixation on spanking.

[MemphisTiger]

9. Physiologist PhD

I like the guy. He doesn't give people on his show a bunch of Freudian crap nobody understands. His advice is common sense, which is something that is in short supply lately. Especially the people on his show.

[Orangepeel]

17. PhD in psychology

(I looked it up). At least that's better than "Dr." Laura's degree in kinesiology or some such.

[imenja]

30. from the University of North Texas

http://www.biography.com/search/article.jsp?aid=9542524

[Orangepeel]

54. well, it ain't Harvard, but it is a real school

it's not like he got it from an address on a matchbook cover

That's not to say that the 10 minute "life changing" shtick he does is actually helpful, but I'm sure there are psych phds from the University of North Texas that are qualified therapists.

[StopTheMorans]

3. they don't like to think for themselves, and want other people to

evaluate their situation in 5 minutes and give them an answer to their problems. hey idiots, i'll save you the embarassment of going on national television, here's the answer to all of your problems: stop drinking, stop cheating, stop inbreeding, and stop listening to country music. end transmission.

[trotsky]

4. All he basically says is, "Wake the fuck up."

People don't want that advice from their friends or family, but they'll willingly take it from a stranger who doesn't really know them.

That's the key to Dr. Phil's success.

[notadmblnd]

21. The key to Dr Phil's success....

is Oprah Winfry.

[trotsky]

23. Ding ding ding ding!

We have a winner! :)

[imenja]

27. Gail's show

She launched a show for her friend Gail and that never worked out.

[Politicub]

36. WTF is Gail?

LOL - Gail sure didn't work out. I'm a TV junkie, and I can't place her.

She must have been really bad if Oprah's gold touch couldn't save her.

[imenja]

42. Oprah's best friend

It wasn't bad, it just didn't offer anything new.

[Politicub]

45. I just don't remember her

When did her show go on the air?

[imenja]

52. years ago

Maybe 6-8 years ago? I'm not sure.

[KurtNYC]

10. People who's problems can be solved by common sense

can be helped by his plain talk. I think that is what works for the show. Here is an oversimplification:

Guest: My husband has been standing on my foot for 3 years.
DP: How's that workin' for ya?
Guest: It hurts.
DP: Well tell him to get off your foot.

Problem solved.

[northzax]

19. that sums it up

"how's that workin for ya?" is the best tag line of any 'help' reality talk show. Good simple advice. I can't believe it takes an hour a day, five days a week to get that message out.

I find it entertaining because everyone thinks their problems are uniquel,and he basically slaps them upside the head and says, "yeah, everyone has that problem, deal."

[fluffernutter]

57. snort! that's it in a nutshell.

[candy]

12. I can't stand him. n/t

[IrateCitizen]

13. Because he's Oprah's boy, that's why!

Seriously, though... I think people like Dr. Phil because they see him as providing real answers to their problems. And in some instances, I have to say that he does do just that.

I'm not a big fan of his, because I think he reduces everything to "pop psychology" in which people can instantly change their own behaviors by simply turning their attitude 180 degrees in the opposite direction. However, I did happen to watch his prime-time special on families, and I thought that it was very good. He consistently came back to the theme of families spending time together as the answer to their problems. He wasn't afraid to openly confront materialism and consumerism as obstacles to this, and challenged several of the families to do whatever it took -- moving into a smaller house, taking a less demanding job, etc. -- in order to spend the time together that they needed to.

He's a mixed bag. I'd certainly give him more credibility than Dr. Joyce Brothers as a psycholgist, but I'd also place him nowhere near Dr. Albert Ellis, either. ;-)

[kostya]

14. I don't think it's really any more complicated than that people

just like to watch other people's problems and fuck-ups so they don't have to think about their own. It's really not the Dr. Phil side of the show that attracts people as much as the voyeurism of seeing into other folks' lives. Well, OK, there is probably the father figure aspect to it, seeing Dr. Phil lambaste these idiots with his shape-up-or-ship-out, simplistic, one size fits all counseling. He does provide a good reflection to people's behaviors, but his solutions are shallow and not likely to do any of his guests any good in even the short run. Trying to change well-conditioned behaviors takes months or years, not 10 minutes on national TV. - K

[MadHound]

15. In many ways Dr. Phil reminds me of a secular televagelist

His pacing, his rhythm, his enunciation, his speaking style in general is quite similar to that of a successful televangelist. His subject matter though is quite secular, mostly common sense solutions to lifes' troubles and trevails. I think that it is this combination that appeals to so many.

[bushisanidiot]

16. It's the southern accent and his folksy straight talk.

He's a younger, taller, balder, fake tanned Ross Perot who's getting rich from solving america's relationship problems.

Like Suzi Orman, I hated him at first but have kind of warmed up to him. He makes some good points but I can only take him in small doses.

[Medium Baby Jesus]

18. Same reason people voted for bush

STUPIDITY

[notadmblnd]

20. I don't either I think he is a charlatan

My sister is a devotee of this man and all I hear from her is Dr Phil this Dr Phil that. Any of us could do what he does if only we had rich benefactors.

[Dr.Phool]

22. I can't stand him!! I call him Dr. Phool

And just for the hell of it, I took that screen-name.

[Beaverhausen]

24. Have any of you ever read his books? How are you so sure he

is wrong?

I said above that one of them really helped me out. But it may not work for everyone.

I don't watch his show much but when I do I usually applaud the fact that he doesn't coddle his guests, he tells them to get a grip and get themselves together, stop blaming other people and fix yourself.

I do like his phrase "how that working for you" because if you look at a lot of people and their complaints about their lives and troubles, you could probably objectively say to them "If you are so unhappy with things the way they are yet you keep doing the same thing over and over and not getting the result you want, why don't you wake the f*$k up and fix things. Change your own behavior."

if his methods don't work for you, fine.

[imenja]

25. What bothers me

is that the show is a vehicle to sell his books. I once watched a show that related to self-esteem. He kept promising he would offer a solution. He proceeded to tell a variety of people they didn't have self-esteem, then said the answer was in his book. He offered no solution during the show. How, does he actually imagine people with esteem problems are somehow convinced they are walking through life feeling confident?
I'm glad his ideas worked for you. If he helps people, then it's worth it. I just find him very annoying and unhelpful.

[Beaverhausen]

28. But you can't fix someone's self esteem in an hour tv show

Yes, his shows are a vehicle to sell his books but I think many people might pick up some good ideas from the shows.

[imenja]

29. then he shouldn't promise to do so

Of course you can't fix someone's self esteem in an hour, but you can offer some suggestions. He did none of that. I haven't watched the show since.

[Beaverhausen]

31. well like I said I don't watch it much either

so I can't comment on that show.

But someone recommeded "Relationship Rescue" to me and I used it to help me repair a relationship that was dead. I was dumped but am now back with the guy due in large part to the tools I learned from that book. So I have to defend the guy.

Of course your mileage may vary.

[Deja Q]

26. Ask Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'reilly. He has the same fascist qualities:

* Sounds level-headed.
* Can pull his own in a debate.
* has charismatic qualities.
* is well prepared in his arguments.
* finds ways to keep opposite or objectionable viewpoints hushed. (the fact his show is 18 minutes of ads plus 42 minutes of "I want you to do this" is an easy way to do this.)

He could say that the grass is green because that's how the US Treasury wanted it to be and people would gleefully swallow it.

[Az]

33. Certainty again

This is a convoluted world we live in. Answers in real life are not easy. Life is nuanced.

TV as a medium offers us a world where there are concrete and real paths to walk along. The answers are clear and obvious. Indecision is only a problem for 30 minutes at a time. This is the audince the program from. People that want life to be simple.

Dr Phil packages pat simple answers in an authoratative presense. He has solid confidence in his delivery. The call them conartists because that is what they are selling. Confidence.

[Squatch]

35. Because he's a walking, talking phallus?

We're talking about GW, right?

[johnnie]

37. I thought I would read one of his books once

I read basically anything and there was so much hype over this guy I thought I would give him a shot. It was one of the worse books I ever read. First he is talking about his father wanting him to be a doctor like he was, then he is talking about how poor he was as a child. Was his father that shitty of a doctor?
His advice was silly. It was a horrible book. People like him for some reason, but I couldn't find anything he said in the book as helpful. It was just a load of trash. Oh well, I didn't pay for the book.

[peekaloo]

40. What part of "I like to be humiliated and browbeaten by an

overgrown chipmunk with a Texas accent" don't ya get?

[underpants]

47. He smells like potato chips

Or so I hear

[Ariana Celeste]

48. Honestly, I think what I don't like about him-

is just the fact that everything that spews forth from his mouth is common sense. He is getting all this credibility for things I could easily tell these people, being a high school drop out without any form of credentials.

It's more like, I hate the fact we need someone on tv to tell these people how it is, when there are plenty of us who could say the same things.

Oh and also- how the hell are you going to take diet advice from a fat guy? I'll take my advice from people who actually look like they have been successful with a diet~

[tjdee]

49. Because America loves the "Therapy Age", but with attitude!

He is not your typical touchy feely all-your-problems-come-from-your-parents therapist. He doesn't wear glasses, talk softly, or come from middle/northeast America. He's a huge, mannish, twang-talkin' Texan.

Men particularly may be convinced to hear him out.

That's why.

[sbj405]

50. I got a Dr Phil page-a-day calendar as a joke last year

The little quotes were sickening. I didn't make it past January before it became simply a pad of note paper. The opposite side is lined, so they must have know that's what most would become.

[Blue Gardener]

51. I like his show

Both him and his wife were very, very complimentary of the Kerry's when they were on.
If people like the show they can watch it, if not, then turn the channel.
I am curious though, have the people that say they hate the show actually watched it more than once or twice? Or, are they like the wingnuts that won't watch F-9/11? "I haven't seen it, but I know I don't like it"

[imenja]

53. I bet he voted for Bush

Did you see the show with the Bushes? My guess is he's a Republican, but of course I don't really know.
I've watched the show a few times but don't any more, because I don't like it.

[gollygee]

55. I don't know

He said at one point he was opposed to the war . . . but he also said he thought that people shouldn't protest the war. He's an odd duck, that's for sure.

He has a complimentary show with the Kerrys too.

I wonder how he *did* vote!

[Left Is Write]

56. I saw the Kerry show and was convinced he would vote for Kerry.

Until I saw the Bush show; then I was convinced he would vote for Bush.

Many of those "celebrity Republican" lists have him on it, but that's really not proof one way or the other. I wouldn't be surprised.

[personman]

58. I like doing bad impersonations of him

"now ya see, what you done here is...you stuffed 10 pounds of emotional lemmings into a 5 pound emotional lemming carryin' sack.."

[soothsayer]

59. because oprah said to. Now, why do people like oprah?

[imenja]

60. I like Oprah

I rarely watch her show but I like her. She can get sickening at times, but I admire where she has come in her life and how she tries to use her success to do good works.