Dr. Phil to guest on Frasier

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Dr. Phil McGraw will guest-star as himself on NBC's Frasier this
March, the first foray into prime time for TV's self-help guru.

On the show, Dr. Phil's visit to Seattle makes Dr. Frasier Crane
uncomfortable when he compares his career to Dr. Phil's.

When Frasier tries to figure out how Dr. Phil got so successful, he learns
that the woman behind it all is Bebe, Frasier's old agent, played by Harriet
Harris.

After premiering last fall to the best ratings of any rookie talk show since
Oprah in 1986, McGraw's appearance last Monday helped David Letterman
to score his best ratings for CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman in a year-and-a-half.

Now he's coming to prime time in the Paramount Television-produced sitcom.

Paramount also produces McGraw's daytime show, Dr.
Phil.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.