Dr Phil has become synonymous with the modern crowd and millennials have mostly grown up hearing the noun used as an adjective or verb to describe all things sound advice. The origin of the name, however, dates back to the 90s when Dr Phillip McGraw started appearing as a resident expert on The Oprah Winfrey Showbefore landing his own television career with the Dr Phil chat show.
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Dr Phil (2002-Present): An Abridged History
Phillip C. McGraw popularly known as Dr. Phil is an American television personality born on September 1, 1950 in Oklahoma, United States. The Internet describes its platform as one that offers the most comprehensive forum on mental health issues in television history. Dr. McGraw holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and uses his decades of experience in the sociological and psychological fields to address issues plaguing today’s times.
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While working for Courtroom Sciences Inc. (CSI) which he co-founded with attorney Gary Dobbs in 1990, McGraw met Oprah Winfrey and began working with the famed talk show host. Although he was only used by Mrs. Winfrey for her company’s legal services in the fight against the Amarillo Texas Beef Trial (1995-1998), she was so impressed with the man that she hired to work on his show. 4 years later, in September 1992, Oprah Winfrey helped launch McGraw’s own syndicated TV show, Dr Phil.
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Dr Phil Firing employees after allegations of racism and abuse
The chat show has currently completed 20 seasons of successful television presence. However, the leader was not without a few blemishes on his personality after all these years in the spotlight. Phillip McGraw had been accused by more than a dozen current and former employees of allegedly treating them in ways representing “verbal abuse, fear, bullying and racism” and doing them “to perpetuate racial stereotypes on screen”. Workplace treatment reports have been claimed as nothing but “click bait” by Phillip McGraw’s attorney, H. Patrick Morris.
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The show’s spokesperson claimed, “Entering Season 21, we streamlined production to ensure longevity. As is typical of this process, we discovered some roles we could scale back while still delivering our dynamic, forward-thinking program.” However, the sacking of 25 employees comes at a time when the drastic action could be seen as a way to shut down the public chatter without threatening cancellation.
Dr. Phil Season 21 will air on September 12, 2022.
Source: News
