Dr. Phil and Maury

In 2008 over 30 million people in the United States admitted to watching day time TV talk shows, and that number is progressively climbing. These talk shows range from cooking secrets, to bizarre life situations, to more serious national news stories such as interviews with the parents of Treyvon Martin. Two of these TV talk shows include: the serious psychologist, Dr. Phil McGraw and the syndicated tabloid talk show host, Maury Povich. Although, Dr. Phil and Maury are both national TV talk shows, they differ in content, targeted audience, and national news.

The most noticeable difference between Maury and Dr. Phil is the content of each talk show. Maury is a bizarre, outrageous talk show that includes topics such as; paternity test, lie detector test, shocking sex secrets, controlling and abusive men, out of control teenage girls, transsexuals, and transformations. The most famous topic is paternity testing; for instance, a mother appears on air in an attempt to prove or disprove that a man is the biological father of her child or children. Usually the man is certain that the child is not his, acts with hostility, and accuses the mother of being a lair.

On the other hand, Dr. Phil covers a wide variety of topics, including weight loss, financial planning, errant children, mental health issues, drug abuse, depression, suicide, child abuse, domestic violence, personal and social issues; however, the list continues on and on. For example, Dr. Phil has taken on the task of interviewing the family of Treyvon Martin and the best friend of the accused killer. Since there is a huge content difference, naturally there is also a difference in the viewing audience. Right now, Maury has the youngest audience of any talk show out there.

His targeted audience is between the ages of 18 and 35; the younger audience is drawn to the real life comical drama the show brings. While not as popular and not in as many markets today as it once was, Maury maintains a solid audience base; thus, has led to its contract renewal through 2014. Dr. Phil is a clinical psychologist who would often appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show, so those who viewed Oprah also tune in to Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil often tops the TV talk show viewer ratings, and has been nominated for multiple Daytime Emmys because of his dynamic and hard hitting topics; therefore leading him to the #1 Day Time talk show in the ation. Dr. Phil’s topics range from bullied children to war veterans suffering from PTSD; consequently his viewers are ageless. Another difference between the talk shows is the National News stories. While Maury in his early days focused on National News stories such as, interviewing one of the jurors of the OJ Simpson trail; he no longer tackles those issues and focuses on his amusing drama. Dr. Phil on the other hand, has created more than 1,500 hours of national television devoted to helping people create better lives and families.

Because of his broad education, training and experience in the field of psychology, and his unique ability to effectively communicate in common sense language. Dr. Phil is repeatedly called upon for his expert opinion on current events by major national and international news outlets, including the Today show, Good Morning America, The Early Show and Anderson Cooper 360. (Dr. Phil Biography) Some examples of Dr. Phil’s tackled national news stories are: football star Terrell Owens, the mother of Lindsay Lohan, Olympic swimmer and model, Amanda Beard and many more.

Many people from all walks of life enjoy Daytime TV Talk shows and it’s the differences that make them entertaining. Some may enjoy the serious, informative content of The Dr. Phil Show; while others find the wacky situations and outcomes of Maury humorous. Although, both shows deal with real life situations they are obviously not the same because of the content, target audience, and national news stories. Maury may have the younger viewing audience focusing on laughter and the shock effect, but I would much rather broaden and enrich my mind with compelling stories from Dr. Phil. How about you?