The Oprah Winfrey Show
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$400 Million
While considered by some to be a controversial figure because of his practices by some, there’s no doubt that Phil McGraw has found success over the past two decades thanks to television. McGraw once teamed up with the most famous talk show host of all-time, and in recent years has become one of the most prominent of his own. McGraw has now had his own show for more than 15 years, and with the success its had, it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
McGraw was born on September 1, 1950 in the northern Oklahoma town of Vinita, eventually making his way to Kansas where he had finished out high school. McGraw was a standout football player while growing up, and went back to Oklahoma for college when he played at the University of Tulsa. After the team had struggled mightily, though, McGraw moved south to Texas, attending Midwestern State University where he received a bachelor’s in psychology, and then his masters and Ph.D. at the University of North Texas.
McGraw wanted to pursue a career in psychology, though he didn’t hold a practicing license. Still, he was able to team up with a psychological consulting firm for court trials during the early 1990s that made massive profits, and the firm was able to reach out to Oprah Winfrey. During the middle of the decade, Winfrey had been involved in a trial with the Texas Beef Group, and McGraw became a big asset for Winfrey during the case.
Because of this, Winfrey asked McGraw to appear on his massively successful talk show that was airing at the time following the trial that lasted for three years. Like many of the guests that have appeared on Winfrey’s show throughout the years as a friend of hers, McGraw became an instant celebrity. Viewers wanted to know more about him, and McGraw started to appear every week.
Winfrey’s show was produced by her own company called Harpo, and she knew that McGraw would be able to operate his own talk show after the success he found on her show. With that, McGraw was given the series known as “Dr. Phil” that debuted in the fall of 2002, touching on a wide range of subjects that included relationship advice, weight loss, finances and just about every other personal issues that people face.
“Dr. Phil” is no longer under production from Harpo, but has remained a major success. The talk show has aired more than 2,100 episodes over nearly 20 seasons, and it won’t be ending for several more years as McGraw inked an extension that lasts through at least the spring of 2023. After that, it will likely be up to McGraw on whether he wants to continue the show or go into a lavish retirement like Winfrey did.
There have been some very memorable moments on “Dr. Phil” with guests that really stood out, including ones that went viral. Who can forget the 2016 episode with the “Catch me outside” girl that became an internet sensation, or the fact that some of the biggest YouTube celebrities have reviewed episodes of “Dr. Phil”. Not everyone has been a fan, though, as there are some critics about McGraw’s approach to psychology and the possible exploitation of some of the guests. This has even led to some lawsuits, but McGraw has been able to power through and is now worth an estimated $400 million.
On top of his talk show series, McGraw has also written many best-selling books, starting in 1999 with “Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters”. Since then, he’s written more than a dozen, especially in the topic of weight loss, with his most recent book coming in 2006. That one was about relationships, called “Love Smart: Find the One You Want - Fix the One You Got”.
Outside of his series and Winfrey’s, McGraw has made cameo appearances on several other TV shows and films. This includes big screen appearances with “Scary Movie 4” and “Madea Goes to Jail”, with shows like “Frasier”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Hannah Montana”. Believe it or not, McGraw even guest hosted an episode of the long-running professional wrestling series “WWE Monday Night Raw”.
Overall, McGraw has appeared as himself in over 100 different productions, mostly coming from guest appearances. He’s gotten into the production side of things, as well. In 2016, a show with “CSI” actor Michael Weatherly first aired to high ratings called “Bull” with McGraw being a producer on the series. It turned out that McGraw had based some of the storylines from his own personal experiences from before his television days.
Talking about “Dr. Phil”, McGraw said he approaches his show in a certain way because of his son. “Jay said to me, ‘You have to ask yourself this question: If someone is only ever going to see one ‘Dr. Phil’ episode in their life, would you be okay with it being this one? If the answer is no, don’t do it.’ I try to approach everything with it in mind.”
When it comes to the advice that McGraw would give for success, he likes to deliver a metaphor. “I tell you, if you’re in the front row of the parade and you stop walking, pretty soon you’re back in the tuba section,” he said. “And if you want to lead the parade, you’ve got to keep moving...I grew up in athletics, where people keep score. Life is a full-contact sport, and there’s a score up on the board.”
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