Phil McGraw's production company, Peteski Productions, has sued Gawker Media for publishing footage from Dr. Phil's interview with the man behind the Manti Te'o hoax, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Jay Leno will leave The Tonight Show (again) next spring. What's he doing after that? More stand-up, he tells The New York Times, but no TV — for now. "I've done this job for a long time and I really enjoy it," he tells the paper. "Would I do it again? Believe me, the phone's not ringing off the hook. It will be nice if people seem interested. But I'll let it sit where it is."
Even if no one is calling right now (doubtful), it's hard to believe that Leno — who hasn't hinted at retirement since the Conan O'Brien Tonight Show succession plan was announced in 2004 — will be off our screens for too long. So what are his options? We weigh the possibilities...
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If Tracy Jordan were eulogizing NBC's 30 Rock, which is closing shop Thursday after seven wacky seasons of satirical bite-the-hand-that-keeps-you-on-the-air bliss — but not before we learn what acronym "bliss" represents for boss man Jack Donaghy — the fictional star of the thankfully fictional TGS would likely call it the end of an error.
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A lot of new big names have moved into the daytime neighborhood this fall, but viewers are choosing to spend more time with a familiar friend. The Ellen DeGeneres Show is off to its best start in its 10-year history, ranking as the No. 1 syndicated talk program among the advertiser-favored audience of women ages 25-54 through the first two weeks of the TV season. Its overall average of 3.3 million viewers is up 6 percent from a year ago, putting it behind Dr. Phil (3.8 million) and Live With Kelly and Michael (3.4 million).
When Oprah Winfrey ended her program in 2011, insiders in the syndication business wondered where her viewers would go. No program last year took immediate advantage of the upheaval, but daytime habits change glacially. "All the research indicated that after Oprah left there was a large opportunity for Ellen, and that may be playing itself out," says Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, which syndicates Ellen.
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America's Next Top Model alum Jael Strauss will appear on Thursday's Dr.Phil to undergo an intervention for her meth addiction.
In the preview, the model is barely recognizable after battling the addiction for the past six years. Strauss, who placed sixth in Cycle 8, appeared on the reality show only five years ago.
Cycle 7 winner CariDee English took to Gawker's comment section to share her thoughts on Strauss' illness, and she calls out Top Model for allowing an addict on reality TV in the first place.
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