TVSquad

Please file this item under the "Duh" file: Dr. Mehmet Oz, Oprah's favorite medical expert, is getting a spin-off talk show. Harpo Productions, Oprah's company, is developing a Dr. Oz talk show to commence fall of 2009.

According to insiders, the Harpo team had meetings with distributor in Chicago last month. A medical talker with Doc Oz, which I bet will be called Ask Dr. Oz -- the name of his successful segments on Oprah's show -- would follow in the footsteps of Dr. Phil. Remember, Dr. Phil McGraw began his life as a talker by appearing on Oprah in infrequent hours that were a de facto pilot for his own talk show. Dr. Phil then launched in 2002, as a Harpo production, and has been a big time hit. He's even challenged Oprah in some markets.

Then, after the Dr. Phil experiment, Oprah pegged Rachael Ray as a rising star. She had the Food Network Energizer bunny on the Oprah show, and soon after put Harpo's muscle behind the creation of The Rachael Ray Show. Again, like Midas turning everything into gold, Oprah's touch made the RR show a hit. I think the show is lousy, but what can I tell you, it's done well. It even nabbed a Daytime Emmy nomination last year. Of course, RR lost to Ellen DeGeneres -- but so has everybody else for the last five years.

Back to Dr. Oz: He could go the syndication route -- as this news report suggests -- or he could be part of Oprah's new OWN; that's the Oprah Winfrey Network. We told you about that before. Could Dr. Oz be a big content provider for the new network? If so, he might be joining Kirstie Alley there, as well.

Dr. Oz is a real doctor. He's written books and had his own medical show on Discovery Health called Second Opinion. Gayle King, Oprah's best buddy, saw him on that show and that's how he came to Oprah's attention. One thing is certain: Dr. Oz adores Oprah Winfrey and her organization.

In an interview in Television Week last month, this is what he told me about working on Oprah: "It's a blessing working at Harpo. It really is a very humble organization. These are people who are not all caught up in themselves. It's not about them; it's not about her. She'll be the first to tell you it's not about Oprah. It's about the viewer. She is at once ordinary and extraordinary, which is what is so appealing to viewers. They see her as like them but she's so different, so unique, such a special individual. She's incorruptible and authentic, that they are also able to elevate her. If it was just one or the other, you wouldn't watch, so it's that tension that's crafted. And she understands all your issues and you get to understand how she sees them and that comes about because the focus is always on 'what is the viewer experiencing?' This is not show business for them, this is life."

[via Mediabistro]