Time was a sure way for anyone to ingratiate themselves into practically anyone’s good graces was to have an association with Oprah Winfrey. Her absolute domination of afternoon television for a quarter-century not only made her a billionaire, but it also allowed her to put her imprenteur on practically anyone or anything she happened to have even a slight interest in and make that an immediate hit. There wasn’t a successful book or a Christmas gadget that didn’t have her endorsement. One could make a strong case said endorsement even helped get an obscure young senator from the state where she produced her show elected president.
And dozens of similar but nowhere nearly as successful personalities’ talk shows got launched because, hey, stations who didn’t own her show had to put something on as counterprogramming. If you happened to be an executive at a station who did own her show, you were more than likely number one in your time slot with a similarly performing local news and you probably made a few millions in your own right. Trust me, I’ve known plenty.
But for those of more recent vintage it’s sure looking like Oprah’s touch is anything but Midas-like. Witness the trajectories of late of two of her more popular disciples with advanced degrees–neither of which has made her taste in colleagues age well.
My one-time Sony colleague Mehmet Oz has been quite active with his gifted role as a willing stooge in the clown college known as the Trump administration. We were all over it when he announced his intention to run from his rapidly declining ratings into politics when he first announced his intention to seek the Pennsylvania governorship nearly four years ago, even then suspicious because of his choices of segments and his emotionally abusive treatment of many of my colleagues when new studio management–including a chairman who was once one of those heavily bonuses station executives who happily gave her show a shot as a way to usurp WHEEL OF FORTUNE and JEOPARDY! from his competitors–bent over backward to try and prop up his dying carcass of a program. I still seethe at the thought of how he sat in front of a hundred people ordered to brainstorm ways to better collaborate and, rather than even thank us for our efforts. went off on a tirade on how inept we were that we couldn’t sell an English-language daytime show with less than a 1 rating in Turkey.
So I’m particularly motivated to point out whenever he’s reduced to merely being a background extra every time his boss and his fellow charlatan RFK Junior hold a press conference to babble about all things MAHA, and I especially take notice when he’s given a chance to expound it–or not. Such was the case last week, as NBC NEWS’ Berkeley Lovelace, Junior noted:
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, suggested Wednesday that President Donald Trump has a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act — but provided no specifics about the proposal.
“I fully believe the president has a plan,” Oz told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “We’ve been talking about it quite a bit. There’s all kinds of ideas.” “The issue, Kristen, is which specific parts of the plan do you prioritize, which are the ones you want to focus on,” he added. When pressed for specifics about Trump’s plan, Oz said, “The plans that were originally offered during the One Big Beautiful Bill fell out, which is fine.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Oz’s remarks.
Perhaps that word salad was a blessing when one considers what spews when he does provide details, as JEZEBEL’s Danielle Han noted earlier this month:
On Thursday, Donald Trump announced his new, minor plans to lower IVF costs—which are not even close to the promises the self-described “father of IVF” made on the campaign trail. Nevertheless, the White House held a press conference, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Medicare and Medicaid Administrator, credited the president for solving the problem of infertility. “It’s about one in three families that don’t have the number of babies they desire,” he said, “They’re underbabied.” Oh.
It’s not exactly clear where Oz got his new vocabulary word—or that data. In the U.S., about 9% of men and 11% of women are affected by infertility, and globally, that number’s about one in six. He also suggested (or threatened) that the news probably means “there are going to be a lot of Trump babies.” Huge yikes.
But at least at the moment Doc Oz is personally guilty only of willful stupidity in line with his new colleagues. He’s fairing slightly better than another doctor who owes his livelihood to guest appearances on Winfrey’s show, more of which came to light yeseterday courtesy of DEADLINE’s Dominic Patten:
A federal judge today ruled Dr. Phil cannot clean his own slate with a Chapter 11 for his now dead Merit Street Media and the multi-million dollar deal he had with Trinity Broadcasting. Scolding Phil McGraw for not being forthright in his deals and the recent trial, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett said Tuesday he wants the MSM proceedings transferred into a Chapter 7, and the assets sold off to pay off debts.
“Candor to the court is critical,” Judge Everett declared in the just completed hearing, noting how cruical communications had been erased and specific creditors to McGraw’s Merit Street Media were being paid over others The Texas-based judge also made it clear in the summary judgement ruling he thought McGraw was juicing one business to launch another as MSM “was as dead as a doornail when the bankruptcy was filed.” “Mr. McGraw believed he was calling the shots”.
We’ve previously mused about these issues and how they’ve impacted the career and trajectory of a one-time supporter of mine. It would be both false and disingeneous to fully absolve that person of any responsibility for some of this–after all, it’s not like Phil’s advanced degree is an MBA. And I know this person well enough to know that what went into what was leaked to Patten that was supplied as rebuttal sure looks like his handicraft:
On McGraw’s side, this ain’t over and he likely won’t be paying up anytime soon. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and take issue with its comments concerning Dr. Phil McGraw,” a spokesperson for the Dr. Phil-owned Peteski Productions told Deadline just before the virtual hearing ended. “Dr. Phil is a leader of the highest integrity whose actions reflect honesty, ethics, and a life-long commitment to helping people. We are reviewing all of our options regarding an appeal, which is likely.”
(5:05 PM PT: Hours later, Dr. Phil’s Peteski had another, more strident take on what had gone down in the Lone Star state courtroom today. “We are filing an immediate appeal,” Peteski said. “We take great exception to the court’s improper assertions regarding the alleged destruction of evidence, which simply did not happen. We will not let this stand given all that Dr. Phil and Peteski Productions have done to protect Merit Street employees, distributors, and other interested parties and to resolve this unfortunate situation. Today’s ruling found that Dr. Phil became the sole director of Merit Street long after the company became overwhelmed by debt thanks to Trinity Broadcasting’s mismanagement. Dr. Phil is proud of his efforts to help Merit Street through this process but is also pleased that he can now devote his time and energy to his new network, Envoy.” However, it seems that an appeal has actually not been filed according to court records.)
Ya know, we haven’t seen drama like that unfold in the early afternoon since Oprah stopped invitingcelebrities to jump on her couch.
But this shouldn’t be all that surprising to folks who have dealt with her since those long-ago high-rated days. Her programming instincts and ways she handled many of the talented executives who helped her launch her eponymous network were anything but brilliant. She’d only choose to get directly involved when pet projects and personalities such as those that populated her SUPERSOUL SUNDAY tour de force were involved and pooh-poohed any and all ideas to take the network to levels that real cable networks were achieving. When she’d waddle into town with her fleet from her shangri-la in Montecito she ordered her team never to reference her directly in public lest anyone from VARIETY!, which once appropriately shared an office building with OWN across the street from the LaBrea Tar Pits, discover she was in town. Anyone who dined at the adjacent Marie Callendar’s was to refer to her as “Sophie”, the name of her beloved dog that often got better treatment in those offices than many of those beleaguered executives. Given how little positive news was otherwise coming out of the network at the time it eventually became a running gag and an open secret–and even those VARIETY! reporters knew better than to kick a horse when it was down. 
It’s perhaps fitting that the network, now one of the many zombie entities under the mismanagement (for the moment) of Warner Brothers Discovery’s temporary networks steward Channing Dungee, now programs reruns of AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS in prime time. I’ve seen their ratings. They’re not that far below those of what OZ was delivering in many of his key markets at the time he chose to leave.
But to be fair, they are still considerably lower than those of her bestie Gayle King, who at least as of this writing is still gainfully employed as a co-anchor of the perpetually third place CBS MORNINGS. All she’s gotta deal for the time being with is a boss like Bari Weiss, who keeps a lot of company with folks that are anything but fans of Oprah’s selections–especially those she chose to politically endorse.
All this said, none of these folks have much to worry about financially, and Oprah herself is more than content to remain more anonymous than ever, ensconched in Montecito more than ever and mostly choosing to distance herself from the doctors and anything else her one-time superteam has been doing of late. You don’t see too many other people connecting these dots–maybe because they’re able to take the sage advice expounded daily on Winfrey’s show to live their best lives. That sure seems to be the path the grande dame of daytime is on. Once again, Sophie’s choice.
Until next time…