Really Good Episode

The subject for today’s show was devastating divorces. The whole show was devoted to Danny Bonaduce, a former child star and his soon-to-be former wife Gretchen, who are are finalizing their divorce after 17 years. Danny has had alcohol and drug related problems that interfered with his marriage and children. He discussed how he still respects and loves his former wife, who has helped him in his recovery process. This show was one of the most emotional I’ve seen so far, because usually the male guests don’t cry, but it was very obvious how much Danny cares about Gretchen and he said something to the effect of her as a pair of wings short of being an angel, and that made him tear up. It’s also unfortunate that Gretchen is so happy to finalize the divorce, because the show kind of makes you feel like you just want them to get back together and have a nice life with their kids. The sad thing is that he wants to have a partner so badly that he said he expects to be married again within 3 weeks of the divorce being finalized.

At about 3:40, the show cut to Dr. Phil saying that the previous filming had been 1 week ago, and they would be back to talk with Gretchen. I was surprised to hear that she actually respects Danny too, but with his history, she said she can’t continue to have love for him. I really like how at the end of divorce-related shows, Dr. Phil always mentions a test on his website that you can take if you’re thinking about “calling it quits.” It basically makes sure you are ready emotionally, and sees if there’s anything you can do to salvage the relationship. That’s another reason I like the show--it really promotes healthy relationships.

I really loved the ending because it had humor and it came so naturally! Gretchen said she does want to remarry, but a lot of the “good” men in Hollywood are already taken...and she added “right Dr. Phil?” The audience laughed, and the camera cut over to his wife Robin. After the heaviness of this episode, you needed to laugh at the end.

Similarities to Radio

On today’s show, I noticed a few similarities to my radio broadcasting research. For the first set of guests, Dr. Phil couldn’t really get them to agree on a compromise, so he ending up giving one of them a brand new lawnmower, and the other a new camera. (They had been arguing over getting these items back from one another). The morning radio broadcasts almost always had some sort of give-away, so I thought that was interesting. Later he read some responses from an on-line “poll” asking, “Would you sue a third party for having an affair with your spouse?” Radio also has similar segments where they ask a question and take call-ins from listeners. Finally, there were a lot of NBC-related commercials. They advertised for their evening news and even a promotion through NBC12 for vinyl siding. I noticed in my radio listening that Radio Disney especially had a lot of advertising for their own company.

Interesting Use of Camera Angles

This post is all about camera angles on today’s show, Monday October 8. From our Mass Comm lecture recently we learned how in American movies, the camera angles can be used to make characters or scenes seem more important. There were only 2 guests on today’s show, a divorced couple in need of some counseling. Instead of cutting from one guest to the other as much as they usually do, they used angles that captured both of their faces in the shot. They also showed the audiences’ expressions as well as Dr. Phil’s more than usual. I laughed a lot at this episode because Dr. Phil looked bewildered half the time because he couldn’t get a word in with the 2 guests talking over each other. Near the end of the show, there were more close-ups as Dr. Phil was counseling them and saying things that could have hit some emotional strings. I noticed that while the camera’s shot was stationary on the audience and guests, it moved with Dr. Phil’s body movements.

Wednesday's Show

I chose Dr. Phil as my show to document and research because first of all, I appreciate that as the host, he sees both sides of the story. He always asks questions that aren’t misleading and unless one guest is hugely in the wrong (one time a father had been abusive to his wife and children), gives both equal representation. I watched the show on Wednesday, October 3. The subject was “mother/daughter controversies.” Two different stories were presented and again, viewers got to hear equally from both the mothers and daughters.

Another thing I enjoy is that their stories are further developed through video segments/interviews filmed and edited before the show airs. I think there’s a little sensationalism going on with these because with Wednesday’s show, the first daughter had previously been into drugs and was talking about that on the video clip. So they shot her with fake joints, and I personally don’t think they needed that.

For this particular episode, the target audience was most likely mothers, and maybe a small percentage of older daughters. He ended out the show with a music performance from one of the guests, because she recently signed with Wind-Up Records. I thought that was pretty cool that on the first episode I watch for my assignment, the television show and music or the recording industry have come together.