With Dr. Phil McGraw’s claim to daytime TV fame, The Oprah Winfrey Show having ended over a decade ago in 2011, the time has finally come for his everlastingly popular spin-off show Dr. Phil to come to an end, according to reporting from Deadline.
McGraw is pulling the plug on the show as Dr. Phil’s most recent contract with CBS nears the end of its five-year run. Like Judge Judy and many other lapsed daytime staples, old Dr. Phil episodes will continue being syndicated by the network.
While we won’t be getting any more of the tried-and-tested format of McGraw walking his guests through life’s various challenges, it reportedly isn’t the end of Dr. Phil’s involvement with television.
His works will return to our television screens in some form by early 2024, which is set to make the leap to a prime time slot. McGraw commented on the purpose of the project and the reasoning behind the shift to prime time, per Deadline:
“I am compelled to engage with a broader audience because I have grave concerns for the American family, and I am determined to help restore a clarity of purpose as well as our core values.”
Dr. Phil first debuted on CBS on Sep. 16, 2002, and ran for 21 seasons before the show’s host Dr. Phil McGraw and the network finally called it a day. It joins The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Maury, and Dr. Oz, along with other daytime talk shows that have been axed in the last year.
