It turns out the prescription for the ailing syndication business was tough love -- and lots of it. Dr. Phil McGraw's eponymous talk show beat all the competition except for ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' in its premiere week -- making it the first hit since Rosie O'Donnell burst on the scene in 1996. (Phil had a good pedigree from the get-go -- it's created by Oprah's company, Harpo.) So strong was ''Dr. Phil'''s performance -- a 4.4 national household rating, second only to ''Oprah'''s 6.0 and light-years ahead of ''The John Walsh Show'' at 1.1 -- that producers are finally feeling bullish about the future of daytime chat. (Next up for fall 2003: yakkers featuring Ellen DeGeneres, Sarah Ferguson, and the duo of ABC News' Jack Ford and actress Alexandra Wentworth.)
Even Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Executive VP Jim Paratore -- who has seen the ratings for his studio's ''The Caroline Rhea Show'' sink to a 1.1 -- is feeling the love for ''Dr. Phil.'' ''We've allowed the audience to be siphoned away to cable, so when you look at the business today, a two household rating has become the threshold of success,'' says Paratore. '''Dr. Phil' proves that you can create a quality show that the audience will find.'' Oprah must be so proud.
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