Did You See Dr.Phil?
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Did You See Dr.Phil?
| Thu, 04-28-2005 - 9:04pm |
Since MIL and FIL took DD tonight because I wasn't feeling a 100% and was overly exhausted..a hot shower refreshed me..I was watching Dr. Phil..Tonight he had on a man who had cheated on his wife a record 19 times in 14 years..To make matters worse, he cheated on her with her best friend and got them both pregnant at the same time! He said he was torn between both women and that he didn't know who he wanted..And that he had still been sleeping with the best friend..The wife didn't want to leave him because of the children..His "girlfriend" wanted him to leave his wife so that they could be together..And then she in a way justifies the affair by saying that since they were in love with one another, it made it ok..That she wasn't the "other woman," but his girlfriend...And that if he chose to stay with his wife, he wouldn't have access to his child with her..That her husband begged her not to come on the show and she was sure he was going to leave her..She didn't have the strength to leave him...But she wasn't sure if she wanted the guy she'd been sleeping with..He insists that he hasn't slept with anyone else, but that he's been talking to another woman that she knew about..That there was a list of 40 woman he had either slept with or talked to..But most of them, he said, didn't count as affairs because he didn't sleep with them..Can you believe the jerk?! Why don't both women leave him? He's an ass!

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That was a disgustingly stupid group of people, and the stupidest one is his wife, who stays with him, and puts up with his crap! The next most stupid one is the girlfriend.....who HONESTLY believes he'll be faithful to HER because she's special!
The best thing that could happen to him is that they both dump him, and he has to pay child support all around!
I like Dr. Phil. I don't always agree with him on everything but I like the fact that he speaks his mind and doesn't side step tricky issues just because he's on TV. He probably would be more popular if he did dance around those things.
So many people have gotten the deadly PC disease, that they won't give a definitive opinion about anything even if they're lives depended on it!
I have to disagree on him getting more audience by being more PC. Its his in your face style that makes him entertaining.
He is first and foremost an entertainer with a keen since of what will play well to his audience. He has some good advice. He also pushes a lot of his own values on his guests. (I'm reluctant to refer to them as clients) IMO For a therapist that should not be part of the picture.
I read one of his book and saw reviews on others. Its an Ok read but not something I would regard as powerful or impressive. More like "the world according to Phil" than a good therapeutic reference.
I enjoy watching him but the thing that hit me when I saw him is one thought:
"somewhere in a far away place PT Barnum is smiling"
The man is one hell of a showman.
Well, people are so unaccustomed to seeing a person speak their mind openly, sometimes, controversially, that yes, it can be entertaining to some.
But whether he "pushes his values on his guests," or not is debatable. I don't think so. No one can do that. You'd have to be pretty weak in your own belief system to have anything forced on you. And we are talking about adults here. These people ARE guests, they aren't paying clients, so it's likely that they do have mixed motives for being on the show.
Yes, he can be forceful in expressing his views but he also will expose motives that guests may want to keep hidden, too. As he always likes to say..."you can't change what you don't acknowledge."
And as far as the episode in question, the husband wrote to Dr. Phil, not the wife, so I'm quite sure he KNEW what he was in for!
Bottom line, though...if it's not entertaining, it won't stay on the air for long.
Edited 5/3/2005 5:51 pm ET ET by katmandoo2001
Last I heard, because I was heading out the door to pick up DH from the airport was that she was still teetering on whether she should tear up her family or stay with him because of her children..G'lord, get rid of him!
I personally find that some of what Dr. Phil makes sense and is good advice. He is entertaining. And sometimes he has shows that I say, "Ok, I want to watch this!" Like tonight is the show "Inside A Cult." And I know that the show is centered on those radical Mormons that still believe in polygamy and marry their children off at young age to men old enough to be their fathers that already have a few wives. They are creepy people. I saw that Primetime special once. I'm not against Mormons, but those radicals are odd. Anyway, sometimes he pushes his views and values on others, but then in this day and age, who doesn't? I try not to, but sometimes I start teetering that way. I'll correct myself..*L* Its all good.
At the end of the show, HE (the husband) was sent to counselling....Dr. Phil told the wife that before marriage counselling would work he had to get HIS head together, but he also said that he doubted it would happen. The guy just continued to blame everything but himself for what he'd been doing. I hope she gets enough backbone to get herself out of that mess. I feel for her, because I was the same way once upon a time. No one will ever understand that unless they've lived thru it. It's easy to say how stupid she is, but when you're in the situation, you're not thinking properly.....you become numb to all of it. Particularly when he's been so busy putting her down, and tearing away her self respect.
I don't believe for one minute that these things are fabricated. The guests are picked from people who ask for help. But, at the same time, it's TV, and he's not going to have much of an audience if he doesn't have hot topics. No one is going to watch him if his guests have a problem baking a good cake! The people who's son was a child molester certainly didn't make THAT up!
I actually don't think even Jerry Springer "fabricates" his guests. I DO believe that most of them are sitting in their trailers and thinking, "Hey, if I come up with some stupid story, I'll get a free plane ride to Chicago, get to stay in a fabulous hotel, why not?" I can't stand that show, if for no other reason than the constant "bleeps"...and I don't like to think that such sick people exist in this world. And I can't help but wonder why the majority of them have no teeth! LOL
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