Television
‘Dr. Phil’ to end after 21 seasons
After 21 seasons, ‘Dr Phil’ will air its final episode at the end of its 2022/23 season.
Dr. Phil McGraw’s run on daytime television will soon be over as his syndicated show, ‘Dr. Phil’, will end its run after the 2022/23 season.
The move comes as McGraw’s recent five-season contract extension, signed in 2018 with CBS Media Ventures, comes to an end.
The company is expected to offer stations library episodes of the show for the 2023/24 season and beyond, which will include new content as well as guest updates.
Start on The Oprah Winfrey Show
McGraw began his television career on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ in the 1990s before headlining his own spinoff.
Launched in September 2002, ‘Dr.Phil’ proved to be an instant hit, finishing second in ratings only to Oprah.
Since then he has hosted nearly 4,000 episodes featuring 20,000 guests, with an average of 2 million people still tuning in. Only ‘Live with Kelly & Ryan’ has more viewers according to Variety.
“I have been blessed with over 25 wonderful years in daytime television,” McGraw said. “With this show, we have helped thousands of guests and millions of viewers through everything from addiction and marriage to mental wellness and raising children.
“This has been an incredible chapter of my life and career, but while I’m moving on from daytime, there is so much more I wish to do.”
The announcement comes as McGraw has began to work on primetime projects, executive producing two CBS drama series, ‘Bull’ and ‘So Help Me Todd’. He also hosts two podcasts, ‘Phil in the Blanks’ and ‘Mystery & Murder: Analysis by Dr. Phil’.
McGraw hinted at a new TV project to come, which is set to launch in early 2024, but details remain sparce at this time.
Recent changes to daytime talk shows
The end of ‘Dr.Phil’ is the latest change to the daytime talk show landscape.
Over the past 12 months ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, ‘The Wendy Williams Show’, ‘Maury’, ‘Dr. Oz’ and ‘The Real’ have all ended.
Two other daytime syndicated shows executive produced by McGraw, ‘The Doctors’ and ‘Daily Mail TV’, have also been canceled.
Over the course of its run on daytime television, ‘Dr Phil’ has received 31 Emmy nominations and won five PRISM Awards for the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse and addiction.
It’s also received a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) Media Award.