"
He was saying this just as I flipped over to the show and I just got so pissed I went right back to whatever the hell else I was watching. You hit the nail on the head, Toasty. How low can someone get? I can't wait for Karma to catch up with Dr. Phil.

Last night's "special" was just an infomercial for Dr. Shill's new book. Is he going to have a book out every year or what?

The only good thing about that show was the potty-training segment. And Dr. Shill probably lifted that from a REAL child psychologist.

That advice he gave about increasing a child's IQ was baloney. First, did they actually give the kid an IQ test, or did they just observe him and guestimate? I missed that nuance. Then they suggested that the parents feed the kid decent meals and teach him relaxation techniques. That increases PERFORMANCE, Sherlock! You would get the same results if the kid were a athlete or a musician, not just a kid flunking a math test. Talk about snake oil!

That serial killer boy needs INTENSE psychological therapy (and maybe an brain scan), not "more male attention." Just a layperson's opinion. Did Dr. Shill not notice that mom came alone to the studio?

All of his advice to the families is as profound as his telling Judith in the weight-loss segments last year to stop eating Doritos! I wish I could get paid a million bucks to tell somebody to stop eating Doritos!

I can't wait until Jay McGraw gets busted for some hit-and-run DWI incident or the other "perfect" son ends up being a crackhead or Robin finally has a nervous breakdown.

Forget Swift Boat-gate and National Guard-gate, let's have 60 Minutes or somebody do an expose on Dr. Shill!

God yes. And didn't the dad seem strange? He looked kind of disconnected and disinterested to me. Or maybe he's just beaten down from dealing with that kid.

"Boys will be boys," riiiight dad.

Yesterday I saw a commercial for Shill's big "get" next week: He and KittySurprise ('cause it's very important for the little woman to tag along) interview the Kerry and Bush couples! This should be absolutely surreal. Get ready for glazed, uncomfortable grins on the faces of all four victims, er, interviewees. I'm so ready for Teresa to bitch-slap Shill or Robin. And what's Robin gonna do, ask JFK about his Botox injections?

I'm dying to know the backstory on how Shill landed those interviews. Think he'll say "family first" a lot, hmm? Naaaw.

nothing to see

Actually, he lifted the potting training thing from his own show---he did the exact same segment with non-celebs last year. One of his producers pretended to be Thomas the Tank. I remember because this producer later died and they had a tribute to him on the follow-up show where the family came back to update. Also now that I think about it, the tv mom and the buying things mom segements were very familiar. I am sure he has done these exact things on hos show before.

I have been working crazy hours so have not been back to this thread since the new season started, so may I just take this opportunity to say A TOWN? The guy is taking on an entire TOWN? Oh, the ego! The terrible, terrible ego!

The parents who couldn't say "no" to their kids? Grow up!!! You're not there to be their buddy, but their parents. I see this kind of behavior way too often with parents today and I don't know why they do this, but boy are they ever raising some screwed-up kids (if they continue this behavior). I have friends who have been teaching for 20-30 years and they say that kids today (including 4-5 year-olds) are the most spoiled and worst prepared kids they've ever taught. Kids from good families who don't know how to use utensils (seriously), can't share any toys (like the spoiled daughter last night), don't remotely know any manners (thank you, please), and are the biggest brats they've ever seen. All from good solid middle-class and upper-middle-class families. (That and the hyper-parenting going on with overscheduling kids -- a real mess and scary for our futures, IMO).

The woman who kept buying the daughter so many toys and stuff? She was "worried that in 20 years the daughter would be talking to Dr. Phil about her mom being too hard on her" -- honey, I think she'll be more likely to be talking to a therapist about not being able to cope in the real world since she won't be able to get her way everywhere; if that behavior continues, she'll be in therapy in a few years because she'll be so disruptive in school (this happened to a friend's child - the parents had so spoiled her and never said no, that by the time the girl was 4 and in pre-school, the school administrator told my friend that unless their child got therapy, she could not return to school, she was just that disruptive and could not handle being told 'no' at all).

And the mom with the couch potato kid? That was just ridiculous. That woman has no clue of parenting, IMO, if she thinks it's 'hard to say no'. Good god, as Dr. Phil said (and he was so right about this), when did folks think parenting was going to be easy?!!

Lord, if these women think it's hard to say no now, just wait until they get older. They'll have some real nightmares on their hands.

This was the best part of the show - and the type of thing I do think DP is best at, giving wake-up calls and practical advice.

My favorite of those 14 amazing serial killer traits?

Being Male.

Well, chalk MY son up as having at least one serial killer trait! Geesh... Oh, wait! He also got poop on the wall the other day when he did a nasty in his diaper that seeped up the back. I'm doomed, aren't I?

I also TiVO'd the Dr. Phil True Hollywood Story off of E!...I know it's made the rounds, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet. Coincidence that E! aired it the same day of the Dr. Phil Primetime spot? I think not.

The one person I DO think does his (or her) job DAMN well is the publicist that snowed CBS into giving up a 2 hour primetime slot for a complete and utter sales pitch. I think if you play the two hours backward, you hear Shill say, "Buy my book, buy my book...." over and over again. Oh, wait. I heard that when I played it forward.

ITA with all of the previous post about this self-serving infomercial of a show, and yet I watched most of it, sigh. Can I just complain about one admittedly small (but annoying) thing?

Dr. Shill's advice to do deep breathing to "get more oxygen to the brain" - ugghhhh! That just gets my ire up! Any healthy normal child (or adult for that matter) gets plenty of oxygen to their brain all of the time, whether deep breathing or shallow breathing. Think about it, if you didn't get enough oxygen to your brain just because you were shallow breathing during a test, or while sleeping or whatever, you would have hypoxic brain injuries happening all of the time - pretty much having strokes all of the time! You would have noticeable neurological deficits!

No, Dr. Shill, the deep breathing does not get more oxygen to the brain, but yes it does relax people and thus ultimately achieves the goal you were after, so you stumbled into an OK answer for these people. I know you are not an M.D. but you do have the title Dr. in front of your name, so at least look stuff up.

Must be the same person who gave him two hours live with Katie Couric last year on NBC to pitch the weight loss thing.
This guy has NO shame! LOL!!

I had a student who did a lot of these things (including setting fire to the house when his sister was in it). He got medical treatment--yes, it really was physical in his case. When he took the appropriate medicine, he was just a normal, nice, intelligent kid.

Was there any mention that serial killers are often abused as children? Any attempt by "Dr" Phil to get to the root of the problem and get some help in this difficult parenting situation?

Or is he just about hyping up fearing their son and looking at everything he does as "more evidence" he's a serial killer? (This is what the commercials did).

Dr. Phil is a huge asshat. And, imo, a very dangerous guy--casually dispensing very SERIOUS advice about things he's no expert in. Its not enough to get off the hook by saying you only do it "for entertainment". People (like that poor mother) take him seriously, and he can wreck lives (like her young son's).

Everytime I see his self-satisfied face, and hear him pumping himself up as the ultimate guru, I realize why. I. can't. stand. him.

I was majorly annoyed at that mom whose kid watched 9 hours of TV a day. That is crazy! If you want the kid out of your hair, put him in the backyard. Send him to Daycare. Ask someone else to watch him for you. I could go on! I hate lazy parents, I really do.

Word to that, and it really pissed me off. Way to label the kid on national TV, and way to sensationalize one family's serious problem to shill yourself and your stupid book. I'm so angry. I was hoping Shill would do something substantive (for once) to convince this particular set of parents that Yes, this one particular kid's on the serial killer track unless he gets help. But instead it was all shock marketing to hook in viewers; there's no evidence that this kid's serial killer material beyond that 9-traits thing, which Shill misrepresented as others have pointed out. Shill, his producers and CBS ought to be ashamed for the way they marketed this. The more I think about it the angrier I get.

I agree DP did a huge diservice to this family. The child clearly needs help. I think he needs alot more than being stigmatized on national TV. Why didn't DP trot out his Happy Hill Farm? This kid needs it as much, if not more than FUF2's kid.

I have or had 4 qualities of a serial killer.

1. Male (can't help it)
2. Likes to set fires (Used a match and nail polish remover to burn a dresser)
3. Cruel to animals (I removed the wings off a butterfly)
4. Intelligent (somewhat)

Should I be afraid?

Great, the Bushes can give parenting tips on how to raise to two partying, underage drinking hos.

Other than the tax advantages of employing your relatives (pay them a salary on the books instead of giving them an allowance), what's the point of having Robin in the audience of EVERY show? Ugh! I doubt there is any other woman in the world who goes to work with her husband and sits and watches him with a frozen grin on her face. Phil, please let this woman go shopping or something. No wonder she's pushing him to go play tennis or golf or anything to get him out of the house. I smell control freak...




WORD. When I saw the commercial for this fiasco, I thought to myself that this kid was probably abused and Dr. Shill was going to "expose" the abuse and "rescue" him. Geraldo, where are you when we need you? Still in Al Capone's vault or disclosing U.S. troop locations? OK, well, come home; all is forgiven.

Also, about the serial killer kid. I didn't see Dr. Shill or his staff observe this kid's behavior outside of the home. Some kids mishave at home and are angels at school, or vice versa. That would also be an indication of whether there's a behavioral problem vs a brain disorder problem. Or maybe the kid just needs meds.

Hey, Dr. Shill, serial killers are made, not born! And it ain't because Daddy didn't take them fishing...

Laura Bush?

I dunno I think most serial killers are made, but I firmly believe some are born. Eileen Wuornos was made IMO, but I think Daumer was born for the most part. From everything I've seen on him, he was raised in a loving home until the parents divorce when he was already 18. He was a sweet little boy until high school when he became a drunk and hid his homosexuality. The mind is very complicated. DP is still full of crap sometimes either way!

The mom who let her kid watch 9 hours of TV a day should be smacked. That's abuse! He looked like a freaking zombie watching it.

I hate Patricia Heaton. Alot. HATE. She's smug and so annoying. So is Kidman and all of the others. Regular parents feel guilty about working while their kids aren't with them too, you are not special. Shut up.

Why do these parents allow Phil and his company into their homes and spill their guts about intimate family problems before a national audience? What is the "pay-off?" And it isn't to get help, because the yellow pages in Anytown, USA contains myriad numbers for mental health and family counseling services. Most accept insurance and many are on a sliding-scale fee basis.

Phil tells the parents that fighting in front of their kids changes who they are. What, pray tell, does revealing deep secrets ABOUT THE KIDS in front of millions of people do?

I don't know about you, but if I were to sit in front of a mental health professional and tearfully relate stories of abuse, violence, threats, addiction and fear, and the first words out of his/her mouth was,"The price of poker has just gone up," I would feel as if I had made the grave mistake of pouring out my heart to a flippant, shallow dorkaramus.
In fact, insert any one of his silly Philism. He doesn't want to connect on a human level, he wants to be adorable.

I've thought the same things about his kids. I wish them well, but most parents can tell you that the parents who crow the loudest about their kids "perfection" usually get a bit of comeuppance before long. Most just don't have the money or power to keep it off the front page or keep the kid out of lock-up. I would not enjoy seeing the Lil McGraws fall flat, but I would LOVE to see Kitty pull a Mrs Joe Namath and abscond with her personal trainer. The price of poker.

Yikes! This means that every U.S. President has had at least two qualities of a serial killer! (And chopping down cherry trees for no good reason sounds a little psycho, too.)

Deep Red, I feel more angry about this, too. I've never written a station about a show before, but this one might be worth it. Shill shouldn't be given carte blanche to mess up people's lives like this. They should get some of the negative feedback that this crapfest so richly deserves.

No, but maybe Dr. Phil & Family should be.

ITA that the serial-killer kid's parents got very little help with their situation. This kid needs to be physically evaluated to eliminate any chemical imbalance or brain tumor or whatever. Then put him through the psych evaluation. That kind of behavior is beyond the "acting out for attention from Daddy" diagnosis that the good doctor spewed forth.

The mom who can't turn off the TV might need to get her kid evaluated professionally, too--he seemed almost catatonic and reminds me of a friend's child who is mildly autistic.

In short--two hours ain't nearly enough to solve all these folks' problems. I fear that viewers with issues of their own might not get the real help they need until they've bought the damn book and realized that it's not the Band-Aid™ they were hoping for.

Can anyone tell me what happened in the segment about the family that's always fighting? The daughter (Nicole) goes to my high school. I don't know her personally but she was in one my classes last year. I didn't know it was on or I would have watched it. From what I hear, they exaggerated a lot. People who know her said she isn't the wild party animal they made her out to be.

We had psychology together last year and she always seemed intelligent and was very well-spoken. I know she was in honors classes and maybe even A.P. classes.



She was talking to a teacher today and said that she didn't want to go on the show because she didn't need everyone knowing about her private life. Her mom said that she didn't know why she cared what people think.

Yes, and Phil certainly doesn't care about the kind of parents who would let him exploit their children's problems on national television.

If a kid had a problem, the least helpful thing would be to exaggerate and dramatize it to their classmates...neighbors....teachers....community.

I really despise this pompous egomaniac.

They already have:

The Smoking Gun

Oh my gosh. FUF3 Mom had given birth to three of her four children by the time she was seventeen. Who does she think she is, Loretta Lynn?

Maybe she didn't have cable.

Dr. Phil did not spend enough time exploring FUF3 Mom's "competing" with Rachel, IMO. I know kids push your buttons. I have a couple. I know stepkids push your buttons. I was one. Damn, I'm sounding like Judge Mathis. Anyway, the first time a stepmommy says "I'm gonna make Daddy choose between you and me" a lot of daddies would take their kid and get out of there. It totally seemed like they all just pushed and ganged up on Rachel until she had enough and then she blew up.

Oh, and Little Mr. Perceptive 8-year-old: "Rachel is more disrespectful to Mom than anyone in the house." OK, yeah, brat. Your mom is picking fights with her too and all of you are ganging up on her. Poor Rachel does not even know where her own mom is. But I will say, I think the boy does have more of an idea of what's up than Daddy does.

I didn't hear Phil mention this, but why in the hell were those two families even living together if the adults weren't even married yet? I'm all for people shacking up without being married if that's their choice, but not when you've got all those kids to think about. I suppose it's better to know you can't stand each other before the wedding, but it didn't seem quite right to me.

Rachel was right, the step mom IS a slut. Babies at 14, 15 and 17? Moron! No wonder they all fight with each other like that, they're practically all the same age!

I see that Dr Phil has come out with another book. Last year he wrote a weight loss book even though he could do to a lose a few pounds himself. He wrote a cookbook but I bet I am a better cook. (I at least know how to open a can of soup and nuke it!) Let me to predict the next book from Dr Phil..."How to Prevent Hair Loss". The man has no shame!

Gah! What a trainwreck. That family gave me the heeby-jeebies. She had her babies at age 14, 15 and 17? What the .......? One oops pregnancy I can understand, but 3 pregnancies before you are 18 sounds like some poor decision making skills to me. When you stop to think that mom/step-mom is only 14 years older than the two oldest girls, the fact that she stoops down to their level is not that surprising. Will anyone be surprised when mom ends up pregnant with a new baby sometime soon and before the wedding?

And why do I get the impression that the woman and her 4 kids are living there because they have no where else to go? And I'm pretty sure the man has them living there as built in babysitters since he works 18 hours a day and there is no way he could care for his daughter without help.

Yes, and we can hear more of Teresa Heinz Kerry's ideas of how you need to treat your stepchildren as "pets".

DesiChick88:Can you be more specific? I don't remember names, and Phil features a lot of families that are always fighting. Was it the family that was in the primetime special? If so, I can recap that one for you.

Tony Danza has weighed in on Dr. Phil's handling of the serial killer traits kid here. Basically he says Dr. Phil didn't help the kid out. Now he's been exposed as a poo-smearer on TV and has to go back to school with everyone knowing that. Which, IMO, could help him stop. Or it could make things even worse. EEk.

Actually, I thought she was non-slutty looking and conservatively dressed. The kids were actually well spoken (especailly the little boy) and seemed intelligent. Why am I saying this? I like to pigeonhole people, and for someone to have all those kids b4 17 and to be so young, you'd think she'd be skanky and white trash-like, bad grammer etc, and they didnt seem like that.

Sorry, I don't watch the show so I didn't know what kind of families he has on it. I'm pretty sure it was the family in the primetime special. If that family was the one with the father who hadn't talked to his son for over a year for not taking out the garbage or something stupid like that, then yeah, that's the one. Thanks a lot.

If anyone can decipher the purpose of the last 15 mins of today's "revisit" show, would you please let us all in on it? Not only were the revisits uninteresting (seemed like they already had at least one previous check-up) but then the last 15 mins or so was ALL ABOUT DrP!!

WHO cares that they redecorated the office?? WTF?! That's the kind of crap that offices show at their annual office party. It just reeked of plugs for various companys who paid for it all, again the word "cheesy" comes to mind because the McGraws could have easily afforded it out of their own pocket. Maybe DONATE such services and stuff to familys that truly need help? Hello??
Then the Meredith Brooks finale was completely "WTF?"! I thought I had tuned into the DrP Variety Hour with all the special guests on there anymore.

And of course, it wouldn't be a DrP show without wonderful, expensive prizes!! That's it McGraws, throw money at it! uuuggghhhh

OK, basically Phil wired up their house with hidden cameras and filmed them for awhile. Then he showed a *heavily edited* version of their family as a shrieking, fighting, chaotic mess. I work in editing, and I could see from the Avid timeline on the computer in the background when Phil was in the editing room that the hours of footage had been cut down only to include the most sensational fights and stuff. There could have been moments when the mother and daughter laughed and talked over a cup of tea, but, of course that gets no ratings.

The daughter you are talking about was shown as a sexually active teen who occasionally drinks at parties. Phil was more alarmist about this than probably necessary. She seemed no worse than the average suburban high schooler or sorority girl to me. The parents had this big disagreement about whether she should be able to have her boyfriend over in her room behind closed doors for hours at a time. The mom figured they were fooling around. The dad said "eh, whatever", basically.

Anyway, her shining moment was Phil airing the confessional interview soundbyte where she stated that she had had sex with her last serious boyfriend. That was an attempt to rock her parents out of complacency, but they both kinda shrugged and said they figured it was going on. Phil tore into them because neither of them would talk to her openly about sex. The dad said the mother should do it, and Phil said that the dad could do it too, since, y'know, a man is usually involved when heterosexual people have sex!

That's about it. The dad and son weren't speaking because of some argument they had had a year ago. Phil told him to apologize, and basically told the parents to stop fighting like demons in front of the kids.

I got a morose kick out of the weight-loss challenge kid who said that the reason he lost 60 lbs, gained confidence, and could "get chicks" was all because of Dr. Phil. All of it. Every little bit of it.

Except not. Maybe the Hilary Duff backstage pass but everything else? Not because of Phil. The Good Doctor's smug, shit-eating grin when they came back from the video was hilarious.

I also liked the update on the little punk that said he would be the first 12 year old drafted to the NBA. It was good to see him get a dose of humility.

Totally!! What the hell was the point of that song?! It didn't help that it was about the crappiest song I've ever heard in my life. I don't care about Robin decorating the office either, why should I care about that? I don't work there, thank Jeebus.

The updates were mildly amusing, but most of them I couldn't have given a flying sack of crap about. Though the letter from the Cuddler guy was funny, my brother couldn't stop laughing. It continues to anger me that these people who have fucked up their lives get prizes! Brandon gets a new freaking laptop. UGH!

Hillary Duff is so freaking fake, I got the biggest kick out of that.

Sweet zombie Jesus, does Meredith Brooks suck!

Tarheel, thanks again for the recap. I never knew Nicole had such a crappy family. She seems happy and well-adjusted in school but maybe she's good at hiding how she feels.


So she said it to get a rise out of her parents and they barely responded? That sucks.

No, no. Not like that. I think Phil interviewed them each individually, kind of like a "confessional" on reality TV shows. He asked her all kinds of questions, I'm sure, but the only ones he really aired were the things she told him when he asked her about about drinking and having sex with her boyfriend.
It was Dr. Phil who was trying to give the parents a wake up call by showing them what Nicole had to say about her sex life. I don't think she said it to get their attention at all. She was just answering the question.
Her whole family may not be half as bad as Shill made them out to be, but, yeah, he kind of played the American Beauty card with them, presenting them as a family that was putting up a good front, but falling apart behind closed doors.

[I work in editing, and I could see from the Avid timeline on the computer in the background when Phil was in the editing room that the hours of footage had been cut down only to include the most sensational fights and stuff. ]

Tarheel please tell us more about your fearless leader? You work for the show! Please dish out the dirt. I am dying to hear it.

The mother with the 4 children (three of which she had before she was 18) was well-dressed and classy looking on the show. But when you see the clips taken at her house she looked very young. I was wondering if she was an older sister or a very young aunt to the kids. They way she spoke to the kids came across as sounding low class. This was my impression before Dr Shill mentioned how young she was when she had the kids. I was shocked by that. Does anyone know if she was ever married? Did she marry at age 14 or did she just keep having kids almost every year as an unwed teenager? Where were her parents!

Is it just me, or did the future serial killer's dad resemble Jeffrey Daumer?

If the parents spent more time with the kids and gave them more attention, they wouldn't have these problems. Very kids need medication for behavior--we don't need anymore stoned and clueless Ozzy Osbournes or Keith Richards. Parenting is not a part-time job! These parents we are seeing on Dr.Phil are no doubt the same ones who do not discipline their screaming, whining, disruptive children in restaurants and other public places. Unfortunately, I've sat near parents like them a couple times and have had to tell them to "Shut Up!" Do not neglect your children. (Reminds me of why I will not have young children at my wedding.)

I also agree with the previous poster about kids and etiquette. Etiquette seems to have gone down the tubes. If kids are not practicing proper etiquette, they are going to look very low-class and will not last long, especially in anything above a blue-collar job.

Dr.Phil needs to recommend a new book: The Gift of Good Manners by Peggy Post.

Kat20, you forget that Dr Shill only recommends books by him or his immediate family. (The exception was the lady who gave financial advice). Don't give Dr Shill book writing ideas-his is apt to have his wife Robin write a book about manners. Any way that he can make more money for himself is what makes him tick.

I guess I should have clarified that a bit. I am a freelance editor. It's not my fulltime job, and I don't work for Shill! I'd so be fired in a second if I did!
I could just see the edit timeline on the computer screen in the background, and from that I could tell that large chunks of the hidden camera video had been manipulated and put together into an assembly, that's all.

Honey, that's just the Alexandra (FUF1) of Christmas Past. In a few years, we'll be able to compare the two.

I work as a teacher and usually catch at least the last half hour of the show each day. During the summer I can catch entire shows in rerun. I have a question for those of you who can watch pretty regularly.

While catching the tail end of the "update" show, I thought about the couple that was expecting a baby and Dr. Phil had them on several times last season. Robin decorated the nursery for them and I think they sent the husband to some kind of baby care class. What happened to these people? I think that baby was due last spring or possibly a little earlier. Have I missed a show updating them?

So I guess Ms. Robin is wearing out that new SAG card!! Is there some reason she plays more and more of a prominent role these days? Are we renaming the show "Dr. Phil & the Lil' Mrs"?

Anyone else get the list for next week's shows? What a bunch of crapola! Sorry, but I couldn't give a fat rat's ass about what he's talking about these days. It's all shallow, obnoxious families yelling at each other or some other scenario that puts kids in the middle of a suckey situation. I can't stand to see that. Something a little too voyeur about being "entertained" by others dysfunction and not doing anything to help.

Drumhouse, I could not agree with you more. It is a bunch of crapola. But unfortunately he must have these screwed up families on the show so he can help the children. He agreed to talk to the families only because of the children. The fact that he is in raking in millions of dollars by promoting his book, "Family First", at ever opportunity has nothing to do with it. No no no! Dr Shill wants to help overweight people lose weight, to rescue relationships, to teach us how to put our families first while at the same time making sure that we find our true self because self matters. Such a kind man! Such a wealthy man!