Luckily, the doctor really was in the house Monday afternoon at CTV. And that doctor was one Dr. Mehmet C. Oz. A one-on-one interview with the superstar host of The Dr. Oz Show quickly morphed into an episode of M*A*S*H, when a network publicist complained of a tightening throat and general discomfort after eating a handful of mixed nuts from a snack tray in a Toronto boardroom.
Oz sprang to action, prodding the slightly embarrassed staffer who just moments earlier had ushered me in to speak with him about his co-hosting gig on The Marilyn Denis Show this past Monday.
Several questions from Oz (“Have you ever had this happen before? What nuts did you eat?”) and a couple Benadryl pills later, she was given a clear bill of health.
Emergencies aside, Oz admits when he’s approached on the street people ask him for medical advice instead of an autograph. Such impromptu appointments don’t bother Oz – it’s what’s made him successful and beloved by millions of fans around the globe.
Every day on his syndicated program, the father of four — who still performs heart surgery weekly at New York Presbyterian Hospital — makes medicine more accessible through frank discussions about everything from diet to drugs, energy to erectile dysfunction, and secrets to supercharging your body.
With a television show to film, six New York Times bestselling books to his credit, magazine columns to pen and a daily talk show on Sirius XM Radio, how does Oz manage it all? By surrounding himself with a strong team that he likens to a rock band.
“You have to be able to riff a little bit,” he says. “Sometimes you’re going to have to play together, and sometimes you’re going to have solos. It’s remarkably like surgery too. Not every surgeon puts in their stitches. Sometimes it’s better for someone else to do the stitching. They have a better angle, they’re better at that stitch. Let people be who they are.”
He credits his Dr. Oz Show staff and producers — of which there are 200 — for program planning, and describes mass pitch meetings where ideas are posted on boards and whittled down to a monthly lineup.
Comparing show titles to leads in a newspaper (“if you have a good headline, people want to read”) or the cover of a magazine (“if the cover stinks, no one wants to buy it”), Mondays are devoted to in-depth studies and high-profile guests, science stories on Tuesdays that segue into weight-loss Wednesdays, playful Thursdays and by Fridays viewers “are tired and just want to escape,” leading to such laid-back episodes as “Fat-urday.”
It’s all delivered by the charismatic Oz, decked out in scrubs and exuding the confidence and knowledge of a cool uncle who has come to visit.
He knows a lot of stuff, and shares it in a relatable, accessible and entertaining way, a delivery perfected by Oprah Winfrey, who featured Oz as her health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show for more than five seasons. Through Winfrey’s delivery, an older generation of fans became empowered – something Oz has continued.
“A lot of people who watch the show think their best years are behind them,” he explains.
“They don’t think they’re worth it anymore, life didn’t turn out quite the way they planned. The main message of this show is that you are worth it. You’ve been on this miraculous journey. It may not have turned out the way you wanted it to, but it is what it is.
“We’re all flawed. We’re all messed-up. If you can just accept that you’re flawed – like I am, like everyone else is – we’ll figure out how to cope with that, which is what life is about. Then we’re in a conversation, and that’s what the show is about.
“This show is about life.”
The Dr. Oz Show airs weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on CTV.
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