iHateAmpersands

Link: ‘Dr. Phil’ tried to revamp itself in final months as sponsors fled: sources The article makes it sound like the sponsors disappearing is a recent thing, but I suspect it actually started during his at-home shows; it would explain why we started seeing constant promos for Solitaire Grand Harvest and Bingo Blitz once they returned to in-studio filming. However, he won't be completely gone from the airwaves: Will this "strategic primetime partnership" include Robin and MySonJay? Stay tuned...

He's jumping on the Dahmer train this week with three episodes:

The first week of sweeps is coming up, and... It's the same boring topical crap we've seen since the beginning of the season. Carry on.

More of the same next week: This entire season so far is so dull to the point I'm thinking of retiring from posting these every week and only mentioning the episodes that are even slightly interesting.

New month, same headline ripping:

That's exactly what it is, and it should be no surprise that the concept has become popular thanks to TikTok despite such a concept existing for many years. And of course, the topic was also used to promote the new show So Help Me Todd which is produced by the father-son duo of Phil and MySonJay. The most interesting part of the whole thing is when they reveal that Todd the slacker ne'er-do-well has an older brother who's the "golden son" of the family (golly gee, does this sound familiar!) As for the show as a whole, this is the first episode I've seen this season and the promo they aired seems to indicate that this is now officially a discussion show, similar to Donahue or the early seasons of Jerry Springer.

The headline ripping continues into next week:

Next week: more headline ripping. If this is their way of cutting costs like they did with the staff layoffs, then I suspect we won't be seeing too many catfish episodes this season since they no doubt are expensive to produce.

They don't have the descriptions yet, but the TV listings on Zap2It show the titles for the first week and they're all topical "ripped from the headlines" stuff: Monday: Abortion Tuesday: Anti-Asian Hate Wednesday: Anti-Semitism Thursday: School Shooters Friday: Inclusivity in Schools If this is what the whole season is going to be like, I suspect it's another way of cutting costs since I imagine these kind of shows are cheaper to produce.

Next week is the annual pre-Season Premiere Burn-Off Extravaganza; here's the episodes that weren't good enough to air during the regular season:

The show has laid off 25 staffers before the new season starts. Hopefully this is a sign that the end is near, but I have a feeling it's going to be renewed yet again.

Just when we thought the show was done for the season, the good ol' doctor is capitalizing on doing an episode today about the Texas school shooting:

Next week:

Bolded part #1: He did that with the hoarder on last week's show. He determined that a brain injury she had as a child was likely the main cause of her hoarding issues and gave her 10 Doctor on Demand sessions. Bolded part #2: If it's not renewed again, next season will be the last one. I have a feeling he wants to beat Oprah by getting to 26 seasons but I don't see how he could; his heart and mind are clearly over it and his health seems to get worse every season.

This is what Sundae is (other than something delicious): He explains here why he's involved with them (he doesn't just sponsor/promote the company on the show, he's also a paid spokesperson).