{"id":715,"date":"2019-02-25T11:25:11","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T17:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/?p=715"},"modified":"2019-03-09T11:25:35","modified_gmt":"2019-03-09T17:25:35","slug":"dr-phil-show-vip-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/dr-phil-show-vip-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Phil Show VIP Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-3 is-cropped\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.05-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"717\" data-link=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/?attachment_id=717\" class=\"wp-image-717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.05-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.05-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.05-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.05-1-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"894\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-25-08.20.42-1-894x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"716\" data-link=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/?attachment_id=716\" class=\"wp-image-716\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.42-e1552152142596-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"718\" data-link=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/?attachment_id=718\" class=\"wp-image-718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.42-e1552152142596-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.42-e1552152142596-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.42-e1552152142596-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019-02-26-09.35.42-e1552152142596-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to be a VIP\nGuest at the Dr. Phil Show today.&nbsp; Now,\ndo not confuse that with being a guest ON the Dr. Phil Show.&nbsp; I was merely an audience member, though\nhaving good seats and early access, gave us a tremendous view of the\nproceedings, including all of the pre-event work that goes into pulling off a\nproduction of that scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As someone who has put together events, it is impressive to\nme to see all of the moving parts come together.&nbsp; Even before we got into the studio, the\nnumber of people involved in organizing the crowd, taking and securing our cell\nphones, lining people up, moving people to the right locations, granting access\nin priority order and keeping people in the proper areas was impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once in the studio, there was a whole additional set of\nworkers placing us in seats and walking around during the pre-show hours to\nmake sure that nobody was chewing gum, had on a jacket or sunglasses or was\nholding a purse or anything else on their lap.&nbsp;\nThey seated people in groups fairly efficiently though there were\ncertain seating sections where they only wanted shorter people and my towering\n5&#8217;10&#8221; frame was apparently too tall J<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The set was quite elegant and heavily based on screens on\nwhich images could be projected set inside light wood frames.&nbsp;&nbsp; There were 5 large rolling cameras moving\naround the stage, as well as a large boom camera and one hand-held close up\ncamera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each day of shooting seems to consist of filming two\nepisodes.&nbsp; While we only see the finished\nproduction on TV, there is an enormous amount of work that goes into preparing\neach episode. When you look at the research into the backstory, the video\nproduction of the elements in the show, the film clips, securing the guests,\nand learning the substance of each show.&nbsp;\nDespite having a teleprompter and holding a binder with more details, Dr.\nPhil was impressive in his command of the facts and details surrounding the\nshow.&nbsp; The amount of information he has\nto process for each show is vast and even with a few misstatements or periods\nwhere you could hear&#8221; him re-processing info, his performance demonstrated a\nremarkable ability to capture info quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first episode was very interesting.&nbsp; The second, extremely disturbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first one dealt with the false reporting of a hate\ncrime, focusing on the incident in which Empire actor Jussie Smollett reported\nbeing attacked by two men in Chicago.&nbsp; There\nwas a very interesting discussion with a number of commentators about the\npotential for a chilling impact on other hate crime victims.&nbsp; Not surprisingly, at least to me, the\naudience poll did not seem to support the concept that they would be less\nlikely to believe a victim of a hate crime.&nbsp;\nIn fact, the reality seemed to be that the audience was not particularly\ninfluenced by false report.&nbsp; The bigger\nissue, was whether law enforcement would become more skeptical. The data seems\nto show that only a tiny, tiny fraction of incidents seem to have been falsely\nreported, though how that data is measured seemed a bit suspect (i.e. is it\nbased on proven&#8221; falsity, recanted claims or only those that do not result in\nprosecution). There was a lot of discussion of the Smollett case in particular,\nand while there are quite a few inconsistencies in his story, the facts that\nseem most compelling to me are the facts about the night of the attack.&nbsp; Here are the things that Smollett apparently\ndid after being attacked, having a noose placed on his neck and having bleach\nthrown on him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Went out in a polar vortex to pick up a Subway\nsandwich.&nbsp; This seems unlikely to me\ngiven that nobody wanted to go out in that weather. Seems more likely that he\nwould have ordered in and also seems to make it more unlikely that the\nperpetrators would be out on the street.<\/li><li>Walked calmly back to his building?still holding\nthe Subway sandwich bag that he apparently went out to pick up.&nbsp; Seems to me that if you got attacked, you\nwould not still be holding the Subway sandwich.<\/li><li>Walked into his building without mentioning\nanything to the doorman.&nbsp; Seems to me\nthat the doorman would know you fairly well at this point and there would be\nsome discussion or some likelihood the doorman would see the noose around your\nneck<\/li><li>Was still wearing the noose 45 minutes later\nwhen police arrived.&nbsp; Seems to me that\nyou would want that taken off. I realize that victims are told to preserve\ntrace evidence for forensics but I think most people would have removed it and\nput it on the counter.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To me, the weight of the evidence goes against Smollett, not\nbecause of the stories, but because the physical evidence doesn&#8217;t seem to\nsupport an attack. There should be more evidence of what happened given the\nmagnitude of the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will be interesting to follow this story more closely\nafter having seen this show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After filming most of the show, it was interesting to watch\nthe retakes of a few statements or intros that will be used on various parts of\nother episodes or substitute in for part of this episode.&nbsp; Dr. Phil came out to discuss a few points on\nthe issues involved in this show before everyone was led outside for a break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the break, they supplied energy bars and bottles of\nwater and people had a chance to hit the restrooms.&nbsp; After about 30 minutes, they led everyone\nback into the studio, in priority order again.&nbsp;\nPeople were put into different seats to give the appearance of different\nepisodes.&nbsp; I got separated from my\ncohorts who were able to get placed closer to the stage, a decision they would\nlater regret when they heard the content of the episode. I was placed in the\nlast row which is still close to the stage.&nbsp;\nThe entire studio holds less than 300 people per episode.&nbsp; Most notably, our row was given clear advice\nfrom the boom camera operator that we were not allowed to stand up, no matter\nwhat Dr. Phil asked from the audience.&nbsp;\nThe camera came within quite close range to our heads throughout the\nepisode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I mentioned early, the second episode was\ndisturbing.&nbsp; It involved a woman who had\nbeen physically abused, sexually abused and literally tortured by the people\npurporting to be her own parents.&nbsp;\nPurporting because they were not her birth parents and they never\nformally adopted her.&nbsp; They took her from\na home on a trial&#8221; basis to see if she would be a fit for the couple, a\npreacher and his wife.&nbsp; They used her as\na slave for the family members and the torture she suffered is truly\nunthinkable and unspeakable.&nbsp;\nNevertheless, I will attempt to give a few examples, and as you read\nthis list, keep in mind that this list is NOT exhaustive of the incidents that\nwe heard about (and certainly not exhaustive of the suffering she went\nthrough):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Thrown down the stairs strapped into her\nhigh-chair<\/li><li>Fingers smashed with a hammer against the floor <\/li><li>Portion of tongue ripped out with a pliers and\nhedge trimmer<\/li><li>Repeatedly sexually assaulted<\/li><li>Placed on a toilet and told not to move.&nbsp; Talc powder placed around the base of the toilet\nso that they could see if she stepped off the toilet. She was told that she\nwould be beaten if they saw footprints in the talc.&nbsp; And then left there.&nbsp; For several days.&nbsp; With no food.<\/li><li>Honestly, we heard so many other stories that I\ncannot recall right now, I am guessing because I blocked them out of my mind\nbecause they were so gruesome.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What was perhaps most disturbing in the story was hearing\nhow many times the system failed her.&nbsp; At\nmultiple points she was examined and evaluated, and each time, the relevant\nauthorities returned her to the care of the parents.&nbsp; She had over 200 wounds, and scars and yet\nwhen a hospital evaluated her, they continued to put her back in that home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately the parents were tried and sentenced.&nbsp; The victim still had feelings for her parents\ndespite everything that they had done to her.&nbsp;\nIt was amazing to hear her articulate that she still loved them in a\nweird way.&nbsp; She was nervous and fidgeting\nthroughout the show. Her leg was constantly tapping and at various points she\nwas in tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I cannot even fathom the abuse and torture she suffered,\nespecially from parents.&nbsp; I cannot even\nbegin to conceive of how another person could intentionally inflict this abuse\non an ongoing basis.&nbsp; It seemed like the\nmother&#8221; was the primary driving force and eventually was successful in\npersuading the father&#8221; to cooperate with the abuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walking out of the studio, the audience was mostly in a\nstunned silence.&nbsp; In contrast to the\nenergy at the break after an interesting first episode, the mood was completely\nsubdued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, it was a very interesting experience and unique\nopportunity to get a close-up view of the long running show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to be a VIP Guest at the Dr. Phil Show today.  Now, do not confuse that with being a guest ON the Dr. Phil Show.  I was merely an audience member, though having good seats and early access, gave us a tremendous view of the proceedings, including all of the pre-event work that goes into pulling off a production of that scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[179],"tags":[394,395,396,397,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roykessel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}