Dr. Mehmet Oz has degrees from Harvard and the Wharton School, and has co-authored five YOU: The Owner's Manual books. It's hard to imagine him unwinding with "The Simpsons," but it turns out that the ubiquitous doctor is a student of television, too.
One of his earliest influences was the '60s sci-fi series "The Time Tunnel," but he can also talk "Two and a Half Men" with authority. He has a particular reverence for his set at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where "The Dr. Oz Show" is filmed. Thanks to Tina Fey, the rest of us now know it as the legendary "30 Rock," also the home of "Saturday Night Live" and NBC News.
"Aside from Oprah's studio, it's the best audience you could hope for," says Oz. "It's so eclectic. On any given day, you get people from 20 states and 10 different countries."
That fits right in with Oz's mission for the show, which airs 4 p.m. weekdays on WFLD-Channel 32. Now that he doesn't have Oprah Winfrey to co-host, Oz relies on audience volunteers to assist him. "The best person to take over Oprah's place is America," he says. "The show is for you, it's about you and it stars you."
Like Oprah's other spinoffs, "The Dr. Oz Show" has been an immediate success. Oz earned the best debut for any syndicated daytime talk show since "Rachael Ray" premiered in 2006, and has such attention-getting segments as "The Top Five Cancer Symptoms You Can't Ignore" and "I Survived a Brain-Eating Worm! A Dr. Oz Special Alert." Another popular feature: "Viewers Most Embarrassing Questions," which have included nervous peeing, testicle size and arm pimples.
"I like shows that have some level of intelligence to them," says Oz. "When it's not as predictable, when you don't know what's coming at you."
As he embarks on his own television career, Oz discussed some of his favorite TV personalities.
Captain James T. Kirk"I love 'Star Trek,'" Oz confesses. Dr. McCoy was OK, but William Shatner's Kirk was a real hero. "I completely idolized him," he says. One Oz's most thrilling moments was watching an Oprah episode when Shatner was a guest. "He said, 'I love this seat! This is Dr. Oz's seat!'" remembers Oz. "He knew who I was!"
Marcus Welby, M.D.
"Once the show died, the Marcus Welby in our society died," Oz says. "You don't have a family doctor anymore like you did when you were a kid, who treated you throughout your life. What we have now is doctors who are actually better technically at what they're doing in their specialty than 30 or 40 years ago, but we lost the relationship, when the doctor would look people in the eye and say, 'I care about you. We can do this together.' This show seeks to be Marcus Welby."
House
Surprisingly, the beloved Dr. Oz is a fan of the antisocial Dr. House. "I love 'House,'" says Oz. "I love him. Hugh Laurie and I share the same birthday."
Oz finds the cases fascinating, and tries to guess at the diagnoses. "They're esoteric diagnoses, and they don't give the audience all the information either, but the medicine is solid," says Oz.
He doesn't excuse House's (lack of) bedside manner, but he understands it. "He's flawed," says Oz. "We're all human beings, but some of us are more sophisticated at covering our flaws. We're just smart enough to lie to ourselves that everything is OK. So House lies to himself about his addiction. His best friend, who gives him the pills, is lying to himself, thinking that Laurie can actually cope with it."
House may have shortcomings, but they don't overshadow his accomplishments, says Oz. "A lot of patients will tolerate that bedside manner because they value the person behind it," he says. "They don't take it personally. He's not mean to his patients because he dislikes them, he's mean to his patients because he's flawed and has a difficult life."
The emotional side of medicine can be overwhelming, says Oz. "In my business, if I get too close to you and you die, it hurts me," he says. "And so you develop a natural inclination not to be close to the patient, so that if things don't work out ideally, you can still get up the next day and care for the next patient."
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