The Dr. Phil show, one of the most iconic daytime programs in television history, will air its historic 2000th episode today, April 8, 2014 (check local listings). The show will update viewers on some of its most memorable guests.
Among the past guests who will return are Joshua who appeared in the very first season when he was four-years-old and weighed an astounding 150 pounds, Brandon from Season 2 who was the subject of the very first live drug
Intervention done on television, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the "female" voice behind the Manti Te'o hoax and "Survivor China" winner Todd Herzog who was battling a life-threatening alcohol addiction when he went face-to-face with
Dr. Phil last fall.
Now in its 12th season, the show was the first spin-off from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and premiered to
Syndicated television audiences on September 16, 2002. It debuted as the highest rated talk show since Oprah's launch 16 years prior. For nine seasons,
Dr. Phil ranked behind only Oprah, and in its 10th season
Dr. Phil became the leader in daytime talk. During its dozen seasons on air,
Dr. Phil has averaged over 120 million unique viewers a year, while over the same span of time a total of 30 daytime talk shows have come and gone.
Over the course of 2000 shows,
Dr. Phil has welcomed nearly 15,000 guests, received letters from five million viewers asking for help, made available $21 million in guest support services, referred 61,000 hours of therapy from a network of over 500 psychotherapists and impacted countless lives across the U.S. and around the world.
"It seemed like just yesterday that Oprah announced on her show that I was 'loading up the truck and movin' to Beverly,'" said Dr. Phil. "These past 12 years have truly been an incredible journey for me and my staff. Every person I have had on the show has been for a purpose. You can't imagine how much gratitude I have for the show guests who've been willing to open up their lives and become teaching tools for
America and the world."
As host of this groundbreaking program,
Dr. Phil has been at the center of such series as the "Dr. Phil Families," "Anatomy of a Divorce," "Get Real Retreat," "The Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge," the "Dr. Phil House" and "End the Silence on Domestic Violence." The program was the first to put cameras in the homes of guests and to have an advisory board made up of the top minds in psychology and medicine.
Dr. Phil also became the first daytime talk show to interview a sitting U.S. President when George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush sat down with
Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw in 2004.
"I've had the best seat in the house and witnessed some of the most memorable moments on daytime television," said executive producer Carla Pennington, who was Dr. Phil's first hire on the show 13 years ago. "It's been a privilege to have worked with Phil since the beginning, and I give a lot of credit to the hardest working and most dedicated staff in television."
The
Syndicated series, DR. PHIL, was created by Harpo Productions, and is produced by Peteski Productions in association with
CBS Television Distribution. DR. PHIL, now in its 12th season, is the #1 ranked
Syndicated daytime talk show, a position held since the conclusion of The Oprah Winfrey Show in May, 2011.
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