But...but...next week, we get CHER! And President & Mrs. Bush! And we get to find out if WLC winner Jim has made it in Hollywood!

In the "Be on the show" section of DP's web site, it says he's looking for "a divorcing couple currently in a custody battle over a family pet." So it's not enough to families that are screwing up the kids... now we get to see families that are screwing up the pets. At least it's a change of pace.

In my market they are also running local ads looking for Elgin couples who are fighting over money. You have that to look forward to as well. I'm sure that one will be a *huge* patriarch fest.

I have to catch up from last week before I comment on those shows but doesn't it seem like overkill for him to be pushing the book. I mean. c'mon, is their any doubt that that book will leap onto the New York Times and Online best-seller lists just on the strength of the past sales of his previous titles?

I'm so bummed that I have tons of hurricane debris to pick up in my yard. Seems I'll miss Cher and Kitty's plastic surgery roundtable. They may even discuss Coach purses and Jimmy Choo stilettos and I'm going to miss it.

I know Cher was a single mom, and like every other single mom, had to call directly from her jet when her Vegas show went over so the household staff would remember that Tuesday was show & tell for little Elijah Blue. And I know that, although she is most decidedly NOT a single mom, Kitty has had her hands full lining up designers to outfit BBJay's new mansion without making it look gaudy or feminine.

I feel their pain. Their relevent, approachable, identifiable, relatable pain.

Sorry to hear about the hurricane debris, Gemmadoll--hope you and yours are all right.

To make up for missing the show, check out the picture of the Botox Twins on the good doctor's website. Cher looks like an ad for the next new surgery series, "When Plastic Surgeons Attack".

Also, I've discovered that you can get a pretty thorough recap of the day's episode on the website in the event that you can't catch the actual broadcast. The slide shows give you more than the gist of the episode.

I think I'm liking FUF3.
1/ They're from the NE (my guess is just a few counties out of NYC, like in western connecticut or northern new jersey) and the edge'll be sharper.
2/ For the first time, there's no current or recent pregnancy.
3/ This family's really got problems.
4/ There's 7 of 'em, all of whom seem to be actively part of the family. Plus the abducted 8yo & who knows who else. You KNOW the grandparents of these kids have to be a PIECE of work...

The Elgin project squicks me out in ways I haven't quite figured out, so I'm relieved to be liking the FUF...

PS: So sorry about the recent visitors, Gemmadolll. Take good care...

Yeah, but remember that Stacey "surprised" us with her pregnancy midway through the season. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if Dina had a bun in the oven before their stint on Dr. Phil is over -- especially if she is worried that Lou might kick her & her brood out. (My hunch is that one of the reasons they moved in together is because it's hard for her to be self-supporting -- this way, she gets free lodging and Lou gets free child care so he can work those 18-hr days.) It would be a way for her to cement her relationship with Lou.

Pssst, is anybody good at Photoshop? because I'm not, and the current
Pixel Challenge is screaming for a Dr. Phil entry. (How about Oprah taking him out in Kill Phil: Vol 1?)

Today's show with Cher was completely stupid! I kept waiting for Kittie Surprise to pull down Cher's pants and plant one right on her plastic ass and keep it there the whole show. I hated Robin's comment about raising boys and not imagining herself raising a daughter. Yeah because we're all just little sluts waiting to ruin our parents lives. Moron.

I don't really post in this thread but I wanted to come and comment that I was completely bugged by Dr. Phil and Robin today. If I had to hear one more time how Cher was their best friend, I was going to puke. I think that they think they are part of Hollywood royalty now and I found that attitude so annoying.

The "My State Tried to Force Me to Medicate My Son" dad gave me the vapors. That story had more holes than a block of swiss. Where was the other side of the story? What really preceded the state getting involved in this child's life? I don't buy that troops swarmed in and tried to force pills on his kid. Nope. There are thousands of parents who do not medicate, vaccinate or medically test their kids for religious, ethical or medical reasons. NO WAY did the guys with sirens swoop in on Mr. Smug and threaten him with jail.

The backstory to this must be enormous. First, he tried to put the situation off on the teachers for trying to quell problem behavior they wouldn't be bothered with. He backpedaled a bit when he saw which way the wind was blowing. Then he seemed to make little of his ex-wife's passing as it affected the boy and you could tell that perhaps the marriage and divorce might have been acrimonious. (He stated his son was not socialized correctly by his ex-wife, you could see the insult forming in his eyes. Then he saved himself from criticizing a dead woman by saying that she and the son had lived in bad neighborhood. You wonder what financial settlement put her there).

I think he never wanted custody of the boy and was trying to enlist the teachers as sub moms so he wouldn't have to bother himself. No where did he tell of WORKING WITH the teachers, trying alternate methods or doing anything but acting like an irate citizen.

Look, I spent years in a classroom. As hard as public school teaching (in a depressed area) was, the worst for me was a year teaching private school kids from wealthy homes. It wasn't the kids, understand, as much as it was the parents. (Example:One little second grader had no interest in anything but horses. OK. Let's cater some to that;she may grow up to be a trainer/breeder/jockey/veterinarian. No, Mom & Dad want Tiffany to be happy, and happy is horses. All horses, all the time. Kids study seasons? Tiffany studies horses. Kids make pumpkins? Tiffany makes horses. Kids are reading a novel as a class? Yes, but not Tiffany. Tiffany only reads horse books. The school owner--loath to lose business- said yes to everything. So Tiffany neighed her way through second grade.Mare's eat oats and doe's eat oats and Tiffany drove me crazy. I threw in the towel after Tiffany's parents announced that Tiffany would now like to gallop and whinny around the room during reading groups. It was freeing, they said. Wish I was exaggerating, but suffice it to say if Tiffany had traded her My Little Pony lunchbox for a tie-on feed bag I wouldn't have been surprised at all).

If parents would get involved, stay involved and see teachers as allies, many problems in schools today would disappear. It isn't easy, but nothing about raising good kids really is.

That reminds me - Kitty Surprise's shirt at the Elgin stadium show - she stood up to wave hello and her shirt had "Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood" sprayed across it in glitter. That bugged me.

Which one of you wrote this?


Dr. Phil's opportunistic parental-advice franchise

Gotta love that Bush/Phil preview. Phil brings up Bush's daugher sticking her tongue out. Hello, what about when she was drunk all over the place. Let's bring up that parenting strategy.

I love how he's all, "did you talk to her about that?" Like, who cares!? She stuck her tongue out!

I wanted to watch the Cher/Phill epi so I could snark along with you folks. I tried really I did but it was way to awful to watch, I doubt it would have been any better if it had been Phulofhimself instead of Crazy Cat.

I didn't watch the hyper-kids episode, but I read the summaries on Dr. Phil's website.

Three observations :

#1 -> Dr. Phil was all about blame the parents, especially the mothers. Inconsistent discipline, poor diet, etc... I'm not pro-medication, but Dr. Phil is a throwback to the 60s. Remember when they said that autism was caused by emotionally cold mothering?

#2 -> That muscle kinesiology stuff that the other doctor was spewing is quackery. How ironic, Dr. Shill with a new book inviting Dr. Quack with a new book to be a guest on his show.

#3 -> That father who didn't want his kid on medication must have been something to watch live. First he gives this gestapo pounding on his door story, then he ships his kid to Las Vegas to live with his (the father's) grandparents! What's that about. Grandpa and Grandma must be at least in their 70s. What are they going to do with a hyper kid? I don't know what state this guy lives in, but he needs to get a lawyer, not dump his kid on some elderly relatives.

I watched the Cher ep. because I find her amusing; she can always be counted on to say at least one outrageous thing or other during an interview. But no, it was all about Robin either kissing Cher's ass, as katymo mentioned, or pushing paternalisitc Phil's book. Robin kept pressing Cher to admit that having to live with a single mom (divorce = bad!) messed up her kids, but at least Cher didn't fall for that.

Robin disgusted me with her thought that girls would be SO hard to raise, she just couldn't imagine herself doing it. Well, that may be true; imagine an independent-minded daughter who'd rebel against Kitty's training in how to be the perfect doormat, er, "helpmeet." She'd give mommy So. Much. Trouble!

Also, the whole format of the show was gross: Robin interviewed Cher, but Shill interviewed Robin in the studio and then cut to clips of the interview. So Robin's officially a big celeb herself now too, I guess. Sheesh.

Finally, Shill had to mention how GREAT Robin and Cher look for 50-y.o. women. Hey Shill, with all that money, leisure and plastic surgery available to them, there's no reason they wouldn't look that good; it's be surprising if they didn't. Moron! For being such a huge fan of Cher, Shill seems not to know that she's had a boatload of plastic surgery. No, that little fact passed him by.

Word philmphile.

Phil probably does believe the "refrigerator mother" theory. Works with the rest of his blather. I rolled my eyes at the expert who asked the kid to let his body know what it needed by holding food in his hand while his resistance was tested. That is right up there with iris reading and spittle analysis, both very big in my New Agey town. I read an article where a leading expert was caught offstride when his cans and bottles were mislabled and the experiment blew up in his face. Everyone knows whole foods and fruits and vegetables good, fried meat and salty & sugary snacks bad. Why the hype--oh yeah. Book deal.

RE: Cher

I soooo don't care what Cher has to say!

I agree that it was thoroughly annoying to hear DP say over and over again that Cher and Robin are BFF.

Also, I'm not sure if I heard this correctly b/c I was only half watching but was Cher serious about being all happy about her daughter going into rehab and calling up the relatives to let them know. I know it's better than the alternative and I'd be happy about it too, but is it really yay let's get the family together and have a party time?

JenD, Cher expressed herself very badly over that: evidently Chastity told Cher she had a drug problem just after Cher had gotten off the phone with her sister. Sis (and perhaps other family members too; I'm not sure) had criticized Cher for being hard on Chastity, for being suspicious that Chas. might have a drug problem and not giving Chas. the benefit of the doubt. Then hey presto, just a few minutes later here's Chas. telling Cher about a drug problem. Cher was so happy to be justified in her suspicions that she called her sister back to gloat about being right, it seems.

Yeah, her first reaction to her daughter's drug problem is to be happy that she can score off her sister. Kinda creepy.

Thanks DeepRed.

Not sure I like the true version better though. It is a bit creepy.

Robin wouldn't have a clue what to do if she had to raise her kids on her own. There are plenty of us doing it very well, thank you, Robin.


I don't understand it when people say this. I only have a daughter and she's wonderful. But I wouldn't put down boys just because I enjoy my girl so much.

Why would he devote a show to Cher? She is one over-exposed celebrity, with nothing new to say. Why the Bush family - who cares? I do, however, agree with DP that kids are over-medicated. They say that diet does play a role in hyper-activity. I would be very reluctant to put a little kid on Ritalin. I'm sure family dynamic plays a role in problem kids. The first couple were text-book cases. The husband didn't look very supportive and was very quick to blame his wife. How about participating in parenting, jerk?

While I will agree that people overmedicate their children, and I believe part of it is physicians fault for readily prescribing meds, without looking for signs of an emotional problem- Big Bully Phil's attitude pissed me off today. My sister has ADD, she was on Ritalin- it helped tremendously. My mom to this day has tremendous guilt- Deena was born premature and even though logically my mom- who was 24, healthy, and did not smoke or drink especially during pregnancy- did nothing wrong during her pregnancy, she still blames herself. If it is so easy to have kids diagnosed by looking at their brain waves, why is it not universally done? I have lived with someone with ADD. Its not fun. The last thing these parents need is Phil berating them.

While I'm sure that diet can have an impact on ADD and ADHD like it does with most medical problems, for the kinesology (sp?) guy to have been given the legitimacy he was was absolutely insane! Next will Shill predict the sex of babies by dangling a watch over their mother's bellies and seeing how it swings?! If I had been that kid, he would have to have pried that chicken finger out of my cold dead hands (actually, he probably still would). I would have loved to see the kid drop some of the healthy food and hang onto the junk, but then that's probably what ended up on the cutting room floor.

Frank Lawlis, who wrote the book on ADD, was Dr Phil's supervisor at the university where he got his Phd. He is also the advisor for the Dr Phil show. As well, there has been some rumours that Frank Lawlis was the ghostwriter for some of Dr Phil's books and the author of son Jay's books. I wonder if Dr Phil is getting a cut from the sale of Lawlis's book? Now I understand why he had the ADD show-another chance to promote a book he is involved in.

Here's an excellent snark from the Slate website today: http://www.slate.com/id/2107226/

If you want to read some great snark about Dr Shill check this out.
http://www.trailerlife.com/cforum/index.cf...id/14237954.cfm

The post on the second page discusses a school in Texas that just completed a new football field but it is off limits to junior varsity and freshman because Dr Phil is using it. I gather this has to do with the Elgin town.

That show with Cher was too much. I had taped it but could only sit through a few minutes. I was heartwarmed to hear that Robin is Cher's close friend. Isn't that nice! Blech, blech!!
Oh and wasn't it so sweet how Robin mentioned her husband's new book at every opportunity. Such a supportive wife. Isn't that nice!

And today's show was not much better. I had to turn that off too. After a few minutes of watching I realized the show centered around promoting Frank Lawlis's ADD book. (He is the content advisor for the Dr Phil show.) Another damn informercial!!!

I am really looking forward to seeing the Bush family on the show. I cannot decide which I am looking forward to more-my dentist appointment to get a filling replaced or seeing the Bush's on the Dr Phil show! Robin must be so proud. Now she and her husband are friendly with the Bush family. Isn't that nice!

Did ya notice how he was all--"Yeah, my son gets good grades, C+, B+, A+" Like he doesn't even know what the kid's actual grades are. How much you wanna bet the meds cost too much, he has no drug plan and THATS why he took the kid off meds.

Gemmadoll, you and I are snarkmates. I read posts without reading the name of the poster, and I can always pick yours out. You have quite a deft touch with the usage of metaphor!

Ew. Next we'll hear that they co-own a mountain retreat for male bonding, no hens allowed. That they like to frequent the baths for--you know--more guy type bonding. That they met on a moonlit stroll through the university commons, where the air was sweet with jasmine and magnolia. That they have a favorite Gershwin song, and love the same Thai food, argyle socks and aftershave. That they often complete one another's sentences, and ghostwrite nekkid, right out of the sauna.

Yes, I'm bleaching the keyboard. Sor-ry!! I'm not watching Philly interview either presidential candidate about child rearing. I want to know the two's stance on Iraq, jobs, health care and education. Don't care when the twins first made poo in the big girl potty, or how Kerry felt the first time he was called "Da da." Israel didn't care if Golda Meir was for breastfeeding nor Britain whether Churchill believed in time-out. Let's forget the (what are the critics calling it?) gonzo parenting? Guerrilla parenting? Anyway, Phil? No.


Thanks, parsleysage. If I couldn't snark well I'd have made a helluva Helen Steiner Rice.

So that explains why Dr. Shill would graciously condescend to let someone else promote his book on the show.

When's Robin's next book coming out? "How to be the Perfect Wife and Mother" episode with footage from the Stepford Wives movie intercut in as examples.


I wouldn't be surprised that Lawlis ghost-wrote the books. While his books were being written, Jay was in law school (and working the talk show circuit). My brother went to law school and it consumes every moment of your life.

Today's show is the Phil/Robin interview with President and Mrs. Bush. They will discuss parenting and the difficulties of raising a family in the public eye.

Anyone want to bet they try to hook Jay up with one of the twins?

divasahm:



Can Jay keep up with the Tequila Twins?

No surprise, Ms. Chicklet--Jenna's well-known around here for her partyin' ways. And Lil' Bar used to join her here in Austin when Yale wasn't in session.

Frankly, the Bushes are the last parents on earth from whom I'd take parenting advice. I'm sure Robin has her heart set on a sweet, ladylike daughter-in-law, but if there was a president attached, she'd take someone like the twins in a heartbeat.

The person I really, really feel sorry for is Cher. It looks like she's not going to be Robin's best, best friend any more now that Robin's in with the Bushes.

Edited because it's polite to spell other people's names correctly.

Word to that. "Textbook" indeed: a stay-at-home (I'm guessing) mom who's worn out from dealing with her hyper kid all day, then one sharp word from dad when he comes home from work and the kid behaves; so dad thinks mom's a bad parent. Sheesh. Just watching this, I felt so bad for the mom. Shill works his patriarchal/bad-parenting BS into a serious discussion on ADD, even.

BTW, if I had a kid with that kind of problem, I'd go by what two neurologists have to say about it, not some PhD in psychology (Lawlis) who wants to sell another book.



And one who won't ever, ever contradict or outshine Kitty, of course. Hey, that's why Kitty feels overwhelmed about raising a daughter: she might view another female in the family as competition. Sad, but I've seen it happen.

Gonna have to disagree. While Jenna's tongue sticking out might not have been the smartest choice- look at her age. So they go out and party a bit- they are KIDS. Lord, if someone had judged my parents' parenting skills by my behavior at 22- yikes! And my parents are awesome. These gals managed to both graduate from college between keggers, and they both have some very positive career aspirations. Neither of them are coke heads, as far as we know. I am not saying Bushie and Laura are perfect parents, but I have seen alot worse. Look at Hollywood.



Me too. My sister in law and her one year old daughter. I feel so sorry for that little girl because she is absolutely hateful to her, while the 3 year old son can do no wrong. Can someone explain this mentality to me? Because I cannot even fathom it.

Wow, I'm with you, Borokat! I can imagine that type of behavior when the daughter reaches puberty. Competing with a toddler who deserves nothing but unconditional love is just....wrong.

I can't watch Shill these days. I just can't stand the patriarchal pomposity anymore.

Well, I'd edit that statement a bit to add: These gals barely managed..., and thanks to their last name, they both have....
I've seen 'em in action, folks, and they are airhead central. If it weren't for the last name, I don't think most businesses would hire Jenna to do anything more complicated than answer an office phone. (I'd be reluctant to hire her for that judging from the number of "like" interjections in each spoken sentence. Yes, that's a pet peeve of mine! If you have, like, career aspirations, like, you need to learn to speak, like, standard comprehensible business English, like, not, like, a coed recapping the latest party on sorority row. Then again, their father wasn't exactly a model for proper speech!)

The underage drinking bust happened at an establishment not far from where I live. The restaurant actually called 911 to get them busted. That was pretty clearly a cheap political shot on the restaurant's part, but the twins were dumb enough to try the underage drinking stunt again after a recent bust at a place down the road had landed one of them in the national news. Not too bright! At least learn from your mistakes and party smart, girls.

Not that any of this is in anyway exclusive to the Bush twins. Kennedys, anyone? As someone pointed out upthread, why should I give a snickerdoodle what any of these celebs and politicians have to say about parenting? How about getting the nannies for the Bushes and Kerrys on the show? They've got the real stories.

I hear ya, borokat--I'm just basing my opinion on eight years of Jenna Bush running hog-ass wild in this town and everyone winking and smiling at her antics because she's a Bush. I agree that a college degree and no obvious drug problems are definitely points in the plus column, but I've just heard too many stories about (and on a couple of occasions, witnessed myself) what a brat she can be. And 22 is old enough to hold it together in public, if you ask me.

That said, I'm sure it hasn't been easy growing up in public and having every little move documented, and she may yet mature into a lovely young adult. However, her parents are famous around here for never saying a word when the girls misbehaved, and letting them publicly embarrass themselves to learn a lesson seems almost a little sadistic to me. They didn't choose to be born in a spotlight--don't compound the problem by not teaching them how to survive it.

So glad to read the snark, and not have to watch the show anymore. I can't stand SHill and KittyBotox.

BTW, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is doing a report on Elgin, TX, tonight. The mentioned "a tv psychologist" but no names--yet!

Was W's shirt, around the front pocket area, dirty?

We discussed the "Frank Lawlis ghostwrites Dr. Phil & Jay's books" rumor here a few months ago.
This web page has a post from someone named "Dr.Philth" who claims her boyfriend & several friends have worked for Dr. Phil. All of her predictions have so far come true, except this one:

I'm sure we're all heartbroken that it hasn't seen the light of day yet.

I really hope someone here is planning to watch & recap the Bush show. I think my head would explode if I had to endure the spectacle of Phil & Robin and their close, personal friends George & Laura -- especially for an entire hour.

Jesus Christ, Dr. Phil, why don't you just unzip Bush's pants and give him a Lewinksy?

This week's interview with a presidential candidate:
Dr. Phil: So, Your Highness, tell us how your children are so wonderful and how you had everything to do with that.

Next week's interview with a presidential candidate:
Dr. Phil: So, Poodle -- I mean John, tell us how your wife lets you ski near one of her mansions.

ETA:
Also, I'm glad Bush noted his hypocrisy when telling his children not to drink.

Remember, Phil persued Hollywood celebrity after rubbing up against it. Now that he's gotten the scent of political power in his nostrils he may decide to head for Washington himself. Build your bunker now.

WORD, TheSmell!! Same goes for Kittles McGraw too. I could only watch so much before the worship became too much to handle. I used to like Laura, but she came off just as bad. Maybe its because I already don't like W, but the whole thing just made my stomach turn.

Don't give him any ideas Gemmadoll! The bunker is being built.

I couldn't watch. I guess those good ole, Texas boys really bonded!

I managed to watch 2 minutes of the Phil and George W show and then I had to turn it off. What does Laura Bush know about good parenting? I find I am watching only a few Dr Shill shows these days. I used to love the show and now I am starting to hate it. I often only read the recap of the show on the Dr Shill site (they give a detailed summary) just so I can follow the snark. Do you think the show has gone downhill? Is the end coming soon for the Dr Phil show? Do you know if the ratings are slipping?

Sorry -- not only are the ratings not slipping (I saw a Reuters report that said DP's ratings are up 8% over this time last year), but his prime time special attracted so many viewers that CBS will probably want to do more. And his book is #1 on the New York Times' "advice, how-to and misc" bestseller list. On the up side, we TWoPers will have DP and Robin to kick around for a long, long time...