Dr. Phil
When psychologist Phil McGraw met Oprah Winfrey while helping her prep for a libel trial in 1996, it was the beginning of a relationship that would eventually make McGraw one of America’s most popular self-help experts. Oprah was taken to court by the cattle industry in 1996, after claims one of her programs on mad cow disease prompted an $11 million downturn in the industry. Oprah was vindicated, but the real winner of the case was the young head of the trial consulting firm Oprah hired to assist her legal team. So taken was Oprah with McGraw that she invited him on her program in 1998, shortly after the trial ended. McGraw, rebranded as Dr. Phil, proved one of Oprah’s most popular guests, earning himself a weekly time slot, and in 2002, his own syndicated TV show, Dr. Phil, produced by Oprah’s Harpo Productions.
Next: The Secret's Rhonda Byrne
Related Topics: Television The Secret's Rhonda Byrne
If you ask founder Rhonda Byrne, the secret of The Secret‘s success can likely be chalked up to the power of positive thinking. But surely, much of the credit goes to Oprah, who bought into Byrne’s quasi-philosophical claims that you can get just about anything you want by wishing for it really hard. Oprah devoted two 2006 episodes of her daytime talker to discussing the film and book series’ New Age claims, catapulting The Secret to the top of U.S. best-seller lists. But some of her followers took the guidelines a little too far. After a woman with cancer wrote to Oprah, saying she was forgoing chemotherapy in favor of taking a Secret-based approach to treatment, Oprah had the woman on her show, successfully convincing her that some things are better left to medical science.
Next: Bob Greene
Related Topics: Television
